In recent years, there has been a steady increase in the temperature of the national production of cartoons, which have become an important track in the national theatre market. As a typical example of the different dimensions of creation, Swords of the heavens and earth, ” Under the Inhumans ” , ” Spirits Street ” , presents the findings and realities of the cartoons in IP development, type innovation and indigenous expression. Using these three works as an entry point, the paper examines the creative ecology, core bright spots, issues highlighted by the current state-of-the-art cartoons and prejudges future trends to inform high-quality industry development.
What are the characteristics of the creation of the National Production Momentum?
The current state-of-the-art drama is characterized by the development of “precisions and disputes, breakthroughs and bottlenecks” and the widening of the gap between head IP and small and medium-cost projects, with a polarized level of creativity.
In terms of the IP development model, two pathways were developed: “Serialization Development” and “Single Water Testing”. As the third work of the true humanization of the “Foot Sword” IP, “The Heart of Heaven and Heaven” continues the former worldview structure and follows the path of the “IP cosmos”; “The Inhumans” uses the “seat show” as a deep till, with two bean bean petals scoring eight points, and the second season of “The Final War! The Village of Beague” reaches 8.3 points, one of the highest national productions in 2025; and “The Sage Street” as a representative of early change, with its unique “The Spirit of Town + Dead” set the market open.
From the feedback received from the audience, the fate of the work is the twin of ice. Under Inhumans achieves the dual recognition of original fans and street viewers, with “breathing” transmission through precision reduction and high-quality productions; the heart of the heavens and the earth is embarrassed by “diplomatic displeasure”, with changes in the scenes causing disaffection and a pattern that makes it difficult to attract new viewers; and, while Viscount Street is supported by a core fan, partial adaptation of the controversy and crude issues limit its reach. This polarization is essentially a reflection of the dilemma of the balance between “respect for original writing” and “visual innovation”.
How can we make a breakthrough in the incoherence?
(i) Organic integration of worldviews with indigenous expressions
Successful comics have always been rooted in the original core world view, accompanied by localization consistent with three aesthetic aesthetics. Under Inhumans digs deep into the traditional cultural cores of the original book, incorporating elements such as the Dows’ concept of “twirl”, Zhang’s “twirl flow” and Zhang’s “twirl twirl” designs that both preserve the avidity of blood and the cultural perception of the United States. Violin Street, in turn, combines the phantom design of the two sides of the Sun and Chinese architecture, traditional folklore and the creation of a spiritual world with its own identity, breaking the monopoly on similar subjects abroad. This “diverse shell + traditional culture kernel” creative model has become the core of the competitiveness of national production.
(ii) Speculation and production upgrading
Success under Inhumans cannot be achieved without a double “face-to-face” and industrialization. Director Hsu Hong-woo adheres to the principle of “Mom’s Changing Faces”, and actors like Peng Qianqiang and Wang Qing are not only well suited to the role, but are also more precise in restoring the character of the character, and the new role of Chen Do and Ma Shin-hoon become the focus of the show. At the production level, the show was prepared over a period of three years, in order to achieve excellence in special effects, photography, editing, etc., and the re-establishment of such high-profile events as the Boydo-A Great War, the “Temporary Corps battle Ma Jinhong”, such as the one in which the flower towers were stunned. This concept of precision creation has broken the industry bias of “mixed theatre = low cost”.
(iii) Innovative integration of narrative rhythm and type elements
Good comics are good at optimizing narrative structures based on the preservation of their original essence and incorporating multiple types of elements. The second quarter of Inhumans has been reduced to 13 episodes, using a “short set, high-quality” creative model that avoids the problem of the drama, while adding the element of skepticism and focusing on the deep theme of “individual self-awakening” to make the story more ideological. In the same way, “Sweet Street” combines the elements of phantom, action and family affection, and the emotional temperature of the hard-core phantom is being injected into the hands of the soldiers and his brothers. This type of “type integration + theme improvement” has enhanced the artistic value and audience coverage of the comics.
What are the salient issues to be addressed?
(i) The drama of “magic” and role distortion
This is one of the most prominent common issues in comics. The Sword Heart of the heavens and the earth has caused a large amount of vomiting due to the pattern of drama and the departure of character from its original nature, the transformation of the spider’s fresh pupil into a “speaker” and the luxurious manner in which the king’s rich and rich is served is too luxurious and not in keeping with the cold and lonely image of the living.
Some creators blindly modified the core story to suit the market, leading to a breakdown in the story logic and loss of role glamour, hurting both the emotions of original fans and making it difficult for the viewers to understand the story, and eventually falling into the trap of “unsatisfied” .
(ii) Compositing short-boards and non-conformity
Despite the upgrading of productions such as ” Under Inhumans ” , the production of most cartoons remains a problem of roughness and dissimilar style. Some of the works, because of their short production cycles and limited costs, are difficult to recover from the phantom scenes in the aerobics, and the exaggerated binary is set to appear “middle-two” in humanization, undermining the audience’s sense of insinuation.
(iii) Fuzzy targeting and cracking difficulties
The core audience of the comics is original fans, but over-reliance on small-circle aesthetics limits the reach and blindly caters to the mass market loses its core fans. Some of the works are based on an understanding of a secondary culture, replicating only the medium-two lines and exaggerating, failing to exploit the sub-cultural core behind them, leading to a lack of depth and dissemination.
How to construct sustainable creative ecology?
(i) Attitude to the original core and grasping the modified scale
At the heart of the change is “respect” rather than “subversion”, the creators should read the original book in depth, mastery of the world view, the relationship between the person and the core theme, and, on that basis, make a rational visual transformation. Drawing on the experience of the adaptation of ” Unanimous ” , and while preserving the lead-line drama and reputation, the narrative rhythm can be optimized and the details added, both to meet the emotional expectations of original writings and to lower the threshold of understanding by new audiences. At the same time, communication mechanisms between IP parties and creators should be established to balance business demands with artistic expressions.
(ii) Enhanced industrialization production and upgrading of quality thresholds
Industry should invest more in the production of comics and establish a mature industrial production system. Special effects can be produced in a way that draws on the experience of ” Inhumans ” , so that technology can be integrated in depth with the drama so as to avoid “special effects piles”; and in a way that suits the original style, so as to balance beauty and role suitability and eliminate homogenization. At the same time, the production cycle should be extended to give the creators sufficient time to grind and to fundamentally improve the quality of the work.
(iii) Accurate targeting of audiences and integration of circles
Comics should identify their audiences and adopt a two-tiered communication strategy of “core fans + broad audiences”. For the core fans, the enhanced playback and detail egg; for the general audience, the viewing threshold is lowered by popular narratives, universal emotional themes (such as kinship, friendship, growth). At the same time, the topic could be marketed through short video platforms, which could attract potential audiences through content such as face-to-face clippings, character readings and so forth, and achieve “breathing”.
How can precision, IP and localization be deeply integrated?
(i) Mainstreaming IP series development
With the serialization of IPs such as The Inhumans, the Fox Demon Reds, future comics will focus more on the construction of the IP universe. Through a combination of works, the world view structure is enriched, a stable audience is nurtured, and the continued release of IP values is achieved. At the same time, serialization can reduce the risk of creation and create a virtuous circle of “a bomb-driven follow-up work”.
(ii) Continuing upgrading of typology and thematic depth
Future comics will break the traditional boundaries of phantom, action and so forth, moving in a multifaceted direction, such as urban phantom, suspense and science fiction. At the same time, the work will focus more on the subject depths, moving from mere “hot-blooded freaks” to the exploration of human and social issues, such as the “self-awakening” focus on “under the Inhumans”, to the promotion of cartoons from recreational to intellectual and to a broader audience.
(iii) Deep integration of traditional and secondary cultures
In the context of the rise of national tides, cartoons will become an important vehicle for the spread of traditional cultures. Future works will explore traditional cultural resources in greater depth, and will create an organic combination of elements such as the spirit of the warrior, the philosophies, folklore, etc., and the secondary dimension, creating a Chinese-style “middle superhero” narrative. This “localized innovation” not only enhances the cultural visibility of the work, but also contributes to the transformation of national production to international markets.
(iv) Production industrialization and creative specialization
As competition increases in the industry, the “coarse and indiscriminate” comic strips will be eliminated from the market and the trend towards precision is inevitable. The future comics will be professionalized at the corner, special effects, narratives, and the industrial production system will be progressively improved. At the same time, more creators with artistic aesthetics and industry experience will join the course and promote the transition of the comics from “IP dependence” to “the king of content”.
In sum, the National Production Momentum has passed the “wild growth” stage, entering a critical period of “competition for precision”. The success of The Inhumans has proved that it is possible to break the wall by holding to the core of the original, to the quality of deep-tilled production and to grasp the needs of the audience, while disputes over some of the works warn the industry that blindly accommodates the market and ignores the original value. In the future, it is only through a deep integration of IP, precision and localization that national production can truly emerge from the “sub-wall” and become an important pillar of the national theatre market.
