Preamble

The Guofeng Expression in Chinese Animated Films: A Case Study of Ne Zha: The Devil Child's Havoc in the Sea

An Jing¹,², Li Jiaqi¹*
¹ Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China 999078
² Beijing Television Art Promotion Association, Beijing, China 100027

Abstract

[Purpose] In recent years, Chinese animated films have achieved remarkable global box office success, particularly Ne Zha: The Devil Child's Havoc in the Sea (hereinafter referred to as Ne Zha 2), which has attained unprecedented international performance. As of March 25, 2025, its total box office has exceeded 15 billion yuan, with over 300 million viewers, making it the first film in Chinese cinematic history to surpass 300 million viewers. Ne Zha 2 has become the highest-grossing animated film and non-English language film worldwide. The Guofeng expression in Chinese animated films has undoubtedly become their winning formula. This paper explores how Chinese animated films enhance cultural identity and elevate international influence through Guofeng expression, using Ne Zha 2 as a case study to analyze how it achieves unique artistic style and narrative expression through the fusion of traditional cultural elements and modern technology.

[Method] Employing case study methodology, this paper examines Ne Zha 2's Guofeng expression in character design, visual style, narrative structure, and music/sound effects, analyzing how the film utilizes traditional Chinese cultural symbols and combines them with modern animation technology to construct a unique cinematic language.

[Results] The study reveals that Ne Zha 2 employs traditional artistic styles such as Chinese painting, ink wash painting, and fine-brush painting in its visual design, while simultaneously utilizing new technologies including 3D animation and AI rendering to achieve a fusion of tradition and modernity. Narratively, it centers on Chinese mythology while bearing contemporary values, enhancing resonance with global audiences. Musically, it integrates ethnic instruments with symphonic scoring to reinforce Guofeng aesthetic values.

[Conclusion] This research demonstrates that Guofeng expression has become a crucial innovative pathway for Chinese animated films. Through the combination of cultural inheritance and technological innovation, Chinese animated films have not only strengthened cultural identity among domestic audiences but also broadened possibilities for international dissemination. Ne Zha 2 provides a successful model for future domestic animation and confirms the market potential and cultural value of Guofeng animation.

Keywords: Chinese animated film; Guofeng expression; Ne Zha: The Devil Child's Havoc in the Sea; cultural symbols; global dissemination
Classification Code: G244
Document Code: A
Article ID: 1671-0134(2025)03-18-05
DOI: 10.19483/j.cnki.11-4653/n.2025.03.003
Citation Format: An Jing, Li Jiaqi. The Guofeng Expression in Chinese Animated Films: A Case Study of Ne Zha: The Devil Child's Havoc in the Sea[J]. China Media Technology, 2025, 32(3): 18-22.

Ne Zha: The Devil Child's Havoc in the Sea (hereinafter referred to as Ne Zha 2), released in 2025, achieved over US$1 billion in global revenue, setting a new peak for Guofeng exploration in Chinese animation. Its success not only demonstrates the tremendous international influence of Chinese animated films but also reveals the unlimited potential of Guofeng expression in Chinese animation.

The Guofeng expression in Chinese animated films can be traced back to the mid-20th century, which nurtured the uniquely Chinese "Fine Arts Film" school. In the 1960s, the Shanghai Animation Film Studio created classics such as Havoc in Heaven, which integrated fine arts and opera elements, and The Nine-Colored Deer, which adopted Dunhuang mural styles, establishing the aesthetic foundation for Guofeng animation. However, under the influence of globalization, domestic animation gradually converged with overseas styles, diluting its ethnic characteristics. Since the 21st century, supported by national cultural policies and market demand, Guofeng animation has been revitalized. Monkey King: Hero is Back (2015) sparked a domestic animation boom, with "Guofeng" and "Guochao" gradually becoming industry trends that promote the integration of traditional cultural elements and modern narratives. Ne Zha: The Devil Child's Descent (2019) refreshed records with 5.035 billion yuan in revenue, becoming a new benchmark for Guofeng animation. Ne Zha 2, released in 2025, further advanced this trend.

Funding Note: This paper represents a阶段性成果 of the 2024 National Social Science Fund Art Project "Research on Multimodal Interaction Design Based on Spatial Computing" (Project No.: 24BG143). Corresponding author.*

1. Character Design and Guofeng Expression

Character design constitutes a core element of Guofeng expression in Chinese animated films. Ne Zha 2 thoroughly excavates traditional Chinese mythological elements in its character design and creatively transforms them through modern aesthetics, endowing classic characters with new vitality. However, audiences from different eras harbor distinct aesthetic expectations and value aspirations for heroes. Ne Zha 2 continues and intensifies the rebellious spirit embodied by Ne Zha while incorporating modern society's emphasis on individual liberation and self-identity. In character visualization, the film boldly breaks from Ne Zha's previously dignified and handsome traditional appearance, crafting a new Ne Zha with both righteous and demonic qualities—a "devil child" temperament. The image of Ne Zha with dark circles under his eyes, disheveled hair buns, and a mischievous yet defiant smile left a profound impression on audiences. This bold modification of a classic image and unconventional character creation has endowed Ne Zha with unprecedented vitality. Although this redesign initially sparked controversy, audience acceptance of this distinctive new characterization proved extremely high, generating widespread resonance. The new Ne Zha retains the spirit of a traditional hero while resonating more closely with contemporary audience aesthetics and emotions.

Simultaneously, the film reconstructs a rich gallery of characters with distinctive Eastern aesthetic features, successfully portraying a series of vivid figures, each endowed with traditional cultural symbolism while conforming to modern audience emotional experiences. The antagonist Shen Gongbao is no longer the one-dimensional villain from Investiture of the Gods but is instead endowed with richer psychological dimensions and emotional motivations. His story reflects social prejudice and identity struggles, presenting a more profound character arc than traditional mythology. The film skillfully uses the experiences of the Shen family (Shen Gongbao and his relatives) to refract the unjust fate of "being born a demon," thereby conveying sympathy for the weak and criticism of prejudice. This character transformation elevates Shen Gongbao from a negative symbol in traditional culture to a flesh-and-blood, empathetic figure, demonstrating the creators' creative transformation of traditional elements. This deep characterization of a traditional villain reflects the progress and breakthrough of domestic animation in character development.

1.2 Application of Traditional Cultural Elements in Character Design

The film strengthens characters' cultural depth through the application of traditional symbols. Ne Zha's classic magical weapons—the Universal Ring, Hun Tian Ling, and Wind Fire Wheels—remain intact, enhancing cultural identification visually. Furthermore, the film incorporates rich traditional Chinese costume elements and status symbols into character costumes and armor designs. Character design follows a "three-layer logic": first, highlighting biological prototype characteristics, such as retaining octopus or shark forms for demon tribes; second, assigning identity-appropriate attire, such as armor for demon warriors and plain cloth for commoners; third, enhancing realism through environmental integration, such as rusted armor and tattered clothing for undersea demon tribes. Additionally, the film enriches its character roster, constructing a comprehensive Eastern mythological system. Most impressively, the West Sea Dragon King Ao Run is established as female, with an elegant, mysterious, and resourceful image whose combat prowess rivals male characters, expanding gender dimensions. The North Sea Dragon King Ao Shun appears as sinister, his body covered with blades, forming a contrast with positive characters. These modifications endow traditional characters with greater depth, making mythological figures more contemporary and dramatically compelling.

2. Exploration of Guofeng in Visual Style and Animation Technology

Chinese animation developed a unique ink-wash animation style between the 1950s and 1980s, exemplified by works such as Little Tadpoles Look for Their Mother and Feeling from Mountain and Water. However, this tradition gradually declined due to production costs and technological limitations. In recent years, CG technology has facilitated the revival of Guofeng animation, with films like White Snake: Origins, Goodbye Monster, and Ne Zha 1 drawing on traditional arts including fine-brush painting, ink-wash, and landscape painting to rejuvenate Guofeng animation. Ne Zha 2 presents a rich Eastern aesthetic conception visually, earning acclaim as a "visual feast of Guofeng aesthetics." The production team integrated traditional artistic styles with modern 3D animation technology throughout scene design, color application, and special effects, building upon its predecessor's style to elevate domestic animation's expressive power to new heights.

2.1 Borrowing from Traditional Chinese Painting Styles in Ne Zha 2

The film extensively borrows from traditional Chinese painting styles to shape its fantastical and magnificent mythological scenes. Most notably, it employs the artistic conception of "ink-wash painting": when depicting scenes such as the East Sea Dragon Palace, it creates fantastical visual effects reminiscent of splashed-ink landscapes. The production team developed a specialized "dynamic ink-wash rendering engine," successfully integrating the unique diffusion and flow effects of traditional ink-wash painting into 3D animation scenes. In a crucial sequence at the East Sea Dragon Palace, surging seawater and clouds appear in ink-brush strokes, with variations in ink density simulating water's power and rhythm like a flowing ink-wash scroll. This technological innovation immerses audiences in the wonderland depicted by classical Chinese painting, skillfully combining Eastern aesthetic appeal with digital effects. Notably, the film's special effects team achieved the fusion of ink-wash imagery and modern animation technology through AI algorithms and proprietary rendering technology, enabling the fluidity of traditional brushwork to flow across the screen. This breakthrough fully embodies the concept of technology serving cultural expression: computer algorithms precisely simulate ink diffusion on paper, which is then embedded in three-dimensional fluid effects to create a unique "ink-wash special effects" visual experience. Ne Zha 2's digital application of ink-wash style both pays tribute to and develops the 20th-century tradition of "Chinese ink-wash animation," establishing a new benchmark for the integration of domestic animation technology and aesthetics.

Beyond ink-wash elements, the film integrates traditional artistic elements from Dunhuang murals and Western Region paintings. The Kunlun fairyland and Chentang Pass draw on Chinese architecture, sculpture, and landscape painting styles, emphasizing warm-cool contrasts that align with the "unity of heaven and humanity" conception. Character costumes also reference fine-brush painting and opera facial makeup designs, with the Dragon Palace's rich color layers and flowing celestial garments manifesting unique Guofeng aesthetics that immerse audiences in an Eastern fantasy world.

2.2 Fusion of 3D Animation Technology and Guofeng Aesthetics

In terms of animation technology and visual effects, Ne Zha 2 has reached a new peak for domestic animated films. The film's production spanned five years, involving over 4,000 animation professionals—far exceeding the 1,600 who worked on its predecessor. The film contains more than 2,400 shots, nearly 1,900 of which feature special effects. This massive production effort aims to present more grand scenes and stunning audiovisual experiences. The film's visual effects team achieved numerous technological breakthroughs through relentless effort. For instance, in a fantastical sequence depicting the "Jade Void Treasury," to create a dreamlike atmosphere, the effects team crafted a flowing river composed of 100,000 small fish—a three-second shot that took a year and a half to produce meticulously. These swimming fish appear like ink dots, winding into rivers within the Jade Void Palace's space, symbolizing the flow of life and spacetime. Another example is the climactic "Great Flood Battle" scene, involving hundreds of millions of characters and particle effects. To portray the spectacular sight of pouring floodwaters and countless demon beasts, the team referenced the movement patterns of bird flocks and employed swarm algorithms to create surging yet individually dynamic "flood" effects. Astonishingly, every demon beast appearing on screen underwent independent 3D modeling; even the thousands of minor demons in the background possess their own motion trajectories and lighting changes. This meticulous craftsmanship enables the film to achieve international advanced standards in detail presentation for large-scale scenes, creating stunning audiovisual spectacles. This success proves that China's profound artistic heritage can be newly promoted through contemporary digital technology, demonstrating that the proper integration of traditional aesthetics and advanced technology releases tremendous artistic power.

2.3 Cultural Symbolism in Color and Scene Design

The film's treatment of color and lighting also reflects cultural symbolism and aesthetic considerations. Ne Zha 2 employs vivid colors with strong yet harmonious contrasts. Scenes related to the protagonist Ne Zha predominantly use warm red and gold tones—when Ne Zha unleashes his power, his body erupts in blazing flames, symbolizing fiery vitality and indomitable fighting spirit. Conversely, dragon clan and ocean scenes use deep blue and cyan as primary tones, such as the East Sea Dragon Palace's dark blue waters and the emerald waves and black clouds surrounding the Dragon King's appearances, conveying mysterious and formidable authority. This strong warm-cool contrast between red and blue not only creates visual impact but also mirrors the elemental conflict of "water and fire overcoming each other" in traditional Five Elements theory, hinting at character fate antagonism.

The film's cinematography and artistic style also demonstrate borrowing from traditional Chinese drama and martial arts aesthetics. Characters' movements and techniques in action sequences incorporate the kinetic aesthetics of Chinese martial arts: Ne Zha's spear techniques bear traces of Shaolin or Ne Zha spear forms, his soaring kick postures resemble heroes in Chinese martial arts films, and Shen Gongbao's whip-wielding scenes evoke opera martial arts performances. In camera work, certain segments adopt effects similar to the "freeze-frame pose" on Peking Opera stages: when characters execute special moves or emotional outbursts, the camera suddenly pauses momentarily while the background transforms into specific patterns (such as ink-wash flames or lightning motifs), as if stage lighting effects are projected to highlight characters' emotional intensity. This treatment endows the film with a dramatic aesthetic tension, guiding audience emotions toward traditional opera aesthetic experiences.

Ne Zha 2's exploration of Guofeng visual style manifests not only in static artistic design but also throughout dynamic narrative rhythm and audiovisual atmosphere. The film's overall visual pacing is brisk and varied, presenting multiple distinct settings—including heavenly palaces, immortal islands, undersea realms, and towns—within its 144-minute runtime. Despite diverse scenes, the artistic style consistently revolves around the "Eastern fantasy" theme, maintaining unified cultural tonality throughout. At the production level, the film's Guofeng character design and IMAX-level special effects achieve industrial standards, with the modernization of traditional elements winning recognition from domestic and overseas audiences. Ne Zha 2 has, through unprecedented technological investment and artistic innovation, forged traditional Chinese aesthetic spirit into modern animated imagery, creating stunning audio-visual spectacles that captivate audiences.

3. Narrative Structure and Cultural Values

3.1 Traditional Narrative Patterns and Modern Adaptation

The film creatively rearranges classic plot points, replacing the traditional self-sacrifice trope with a "heart mantra," extending Ne Zha's struggle from the level of fate to modern themes of individual growth and awakening. This adaptation avoids the tragic connotations of extreme filial piety, making it more acceptable to modern audiences (especially youth and children) and aligning better with contemporary family values. Additionally, the film adds original plotlines such as the Kunlun Mountain immortality examination and the Chentang Pass defense battle, enriching the story and satisfying audience expectations for multi-threaded narratives. Through this multi-layered, well-paced structure, the film not only portrays Ne Zha's personal growth but also presents a group portrait of advancing characters.

3.2 Integration of Cultural Values

The film deeply excavates and promotes values esteemed in traditional Chinese culture while incorporating contemporary ideological connotations, forming rich thematic layers. The spirit of resisting fate and self-struggle runs throughout, with Ne Zha's growth from "Demon Pill" to hero mapping the traditional heroic spirit of "fighting against heaven." The film not only embodies this spirit but elevates it in Ne Zha 2 to "fighting for all beings" against powerful evil forces, manifesting the great righteousness and homeland sentiment in traditional Chinese culture and endowing Ne Zha's heroic image with deeper significance.

The strengthening of family and friendship themes represents a major highlight. The film downplays father-son conflicts from the original work, transforming Li Jing from an authoritarian strict father to a deeply caring parent, while Ne Zha's mother, Lady Yin, demonstrates selfless maternal love. Ne Zha's growth becomes not only personal struggle but a journey supported by family, making the story's tone warmer. The relationship between Ne Zha and Ao Bing shifts from antagonism to cooperation, symbolizing reconciliation and trust between different ethnic groups. The joint combat of young heroes including Ne Zha, Ao Bing, and Yang Jian, along with Shen Gongbao's final awakening, bridges the distance between mythology and reality: audiences can perceive the value of friendship and unity rather than merely supernatural power contests.

3.3 Narrative and Audience Emotional Resonance

In narrative rhythm and style, the film employs a tight structure with dense action sequences, interspersed with comedic elements and warm moments to create well-paced emotional tension that suits modern film audience preferences. For instance, Taiyi Zhenren's humorous interjections and Ne Zha's mischievous childish remarks relieve dramatic tension. This comedic color not only meets modern commercial animation's entertainment requirements but also aligns with the humorous style common in Chinese folk tales, making the film suitable for all ages and both entertaining and educational. The narrative also creates pathos and emotion at key moments, such as Ne Zha's suffering under the Heart-Piercing Mantra, parents' anxious protection, and the final hero's return, all successfully triggering emotional resonance. The film achieves a balance between tradition and modernity in narrative style: it possesses both the epic quality and educational significance of Chinese mythological stories and the fast-paced rhythm and emotional diversity of modern genre films.

Ne Zha 2 successfully achieves Guofeng expression in narrative structure and thematic conception. Through bold innovation of traditional mythological stories, it endows ancient legends with new vitality and contemporary significance. This narrative strategy of blending ancient and modern not only enables the film to achieve broad emotional resonance but also demonstrates to the world the enduring vitality and universal significance of Chinese culture.

4. Guofeng Expression in Music and Sound Effects

Music and sound effects constitute vital components of animated film narrative. Ne Zha 2 skillfully integrates ethnic music with modern scoring techniques, highlighting intrinsic Chinese sentiment and epic orchestration. Early Chinese animation works attached great importance to ethnic music, with Havoc in Heaven extensively employing Peking Opera scoring and percussion to impart operatic rhythm to animation plots. Ne Zha 2 inherits this tradition while conducting cross-cultural innovation.

4.1 Embodiment of Traditional Music Elements

The film's overall musical style presents a "combination of Chinese and Western elements," blending Hollywood-style symphonic scoring to heighten grand scenes and momentum while extensively incorporating traditional operatic instruments and local ethnic music elements, ensuring the film retains Chinese cultural spirit within an international atmosphere. The Dong ethnic chorus—a treasure of Chinese minority music—appears in the film as unaccompanied choral singing, creating a sacred atmosphere with its ethereal tones and imparting ritualistic significance to Ne Zha's rebirth. At the film's climactic moment when Ne Zha battles demon hordes, the soaring sound of the suona (a double-reed horn) intertwines with symphonic orchestration, with the suona's passionate timbre accentuating Ne Zha's heroic spirit. This fusion not only embodies heroic grandeur but also generates emotional resonance, demonstrating that ethnic music can serve dramatic narrative functions in modern films.

4.2 Fusion of Modern Scoring and Traditional Musical Styles

The film's scoring incorporates operatic music elements to enhance the rhythm and intensity of action sequences. Fight scenes occasionally feature percussion passages from Peking Opera martial music (the percussion interludes in Peking Opera), providing powerful rhythmic support for action and increasing impact while forming high coordination with visual rhythm. This application of operatic percussion not only enhances the观赏性 of action scenes but also promotes traditional Chinese dramatic martial arts aesthetics, immersing audiences in familiar ethnic rhythms. In terms of modern musical elements, some scoring integrates electronic sound effects and Western musical styles, using rich sound layers. Electronic synthesizer timbres enhance futuristic sensations when depicting techniques or high-tech elements, while Baroque-style harmonies appear in certain character theme music, creating layered character images. The combination of tradition and modernity enables the film's music to possess both local cultural flavor and global audience auditory habits.

4.3 Role of Music in Emotional Expression and Cultural Transmission

The film skillfully employs ethnic instruments including the pipa, xiao, Mongolian khoomei, and Tibetan morin khuur for different characters and concepts to enhance characterization and emotional expression. For example, the pipa's resounding timbre is used in war scenes to heighten historical gravity; the xiao's melodious tones suit farewell or contemplation scenes, expressing inner solitude; Mongolian khoomei's deep resonance intensifies the mysterious atmosphere of divine and demonic scenes, presenting transcendent dimensions to fairylands and demon realms. This application of diverse ethnic music enriches the film's sonic layers while showcasing the breadth and depth of Chinese musical culture.

4.4 Modern Innovation of Traditional Music

Ne Zha 2's music not only conveys emotion but also undertakes the mission of cultural transmission. Through deep integration of different ethnic music elements with modern music, the film presents the richness of Chinese culture at the auditory level, revitalizing traditional music in the context of modern animated films. Ne Zha 2's outstanding musical performance validates through practice that ethnic music is not only suitable for historical题材 films but can also enhance narrative expression in high-tech modern animated films through innovative application. Overall, the film's music and sound design create a strong ethnic atmosphere and emotional resonance at the auditory level, making important contributions to its Guofeng expression. Music not only successfully shapes emotion but also transmits culture, allowing audiences to directly experience the beauty and power of Chinese tradition through melody and timbre. The modernization of ethnic music in animated films not only enhances artistic appeal but also provides valuable reference for future Guofeng animation music innovation.

5. Future Trends and Challenges for Guofeng in Chinese Animation

Ne Zha 2's unprecedented success confirms the tremendous potential of Guofeng animation, but future challenges remain severe. How to expand global markets and cultural export while maintaining Chinese cultural characteristics, achieving a balance between artistic and commercial value, remains a crucial issue for Chinese domestic animation.

In recent years, Chinese animated films have gradually expanded their influence in global markets. Ne Zha 2 became the first non-Hollywood animated film to exceed US$1 billion in global revenue, demonstrating that works with Chinese cultural elements can also gain overseas recognition. However, to truly penetrate international markets and balance cultural differences, enabling Chinese stories to achieve global consensus requires continuous breakthroughs in content creation while exploring the internationalization of visual expression to reduce language barriers through visual narrative. Additionally, expanding overseas distribution channels, strengthening promotional strategies, and utilizing social media dissemination can enhance the international image and overseas market presence of domestic animation.

Technological innovation is also key to future breakthrough development in animated films. Ne Zha 2 has already achieved breakthroughs in AI-assisted ink-wash effect rendering, and future applications of new technologies such as VR, real-time rendering, and simulation in animated films are inevitable trends. Independent research and development of animation production models, such as intelligent ink-wash rendering systems and large-scale character layout simulation, will facilitate the digital articulation of Guofeng aesthetics. Applying technological innovation to content will upgrade animation's expressive power, endowing traditional culture with new dimensions of modern representation.

Regarding the balance between cultural inheritance and commercialization, creators must still deeply understand traditional culture rather than simply piling up symbols. Excellent animated works should consider the deep integration of traditional culture and modern audience needs. Through personalized character development and deep IP cultivation, Guofeng animation IP commercialization can develop more diversely. For instance, Ne Zha 2's collaboration with POPMART to launch figurines and blind boxes has been highly popular. Future expansions could include Ne Zha-themed games, derivatives, theme parks, and other diversified forms to expand the market value of Chinese animation IP. However, quality content should remain paramount during commercialization to ensure the work's longevity.

Subject matter expansion and innovation remain central to the development of Chinese Guofeng animated films. Currently, Guofeng animation concentrates heavily on mythology and classical themes, such as the Monkey King, White Snake, and Ne Zha series. Although these works are market-popular, long-term reliance on classic traditional IP is not sustainable. Future Guofeng animation needs to broaden its thematic scope, such as deeply mining ancient texts including Classic of Mountains and Seas, Investiture of the Gods, and Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, while attempting to combine traditional elements with modern settings to create entirely new stories. Additionally, original stories also represent a direction for Guofeng animation development—as long as they incorporate Chinese aesthetics and values, they can similarly showcase Guofeng charm.

The path of Guofeng expression in Chinese animated films is promising yet challenging. Domestic animation possesses both a massive local market and powerful cultural resources while facing challenges of international competition and market support. Only by maintaining cultural confidence alongside technological innovation, respecting tradition while daring to break through, can Chinese animation establish a firm foothold in the global animation market. Ne Zha 2's success confirms that modern expressions of Chinese stories can move global audiences. In the future, Chinese animation should continue exploring the combination of Guofeng aesthetics and modern technology to create more internationally influential excellent works, enabling Chinese culture to shine on the global stage.

Ne Zha 2's phenomenal global success has undoubtedly injected strong confidence into domestic animation creators. Centered on Guofeng expression in Chinese animated films, it has organically integrated traditional Chinese cultural elements into modern animation creation, forming a unique national style and aesthetic system in character design, visual design, narrative structure, and animation scoring. These efforts have not only won broad resonance and support from domestic audiences but also gained attention and acclaim internationally. However, we must also clearly recognize that the path of Guofeng expression in Chinese animated films remains under development. Future creators must continue balancing multiple relationships: art and commerce, tradition and modernity, local and overseas. On one hand, they must uphold love and respect for excellent Chinese culture, deeply excavate its spiritual connotations, and avoid superficial symbolic collage; on the other hand, they must continuously innovate narrative methods, adapt to changing aesthetic tastes, absorb beneficial international experiences with an open and inclusive mindset, and launch more excellent animated film works.

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Author Information

An Jing (1983—), female, Beijing, Master's student at the Faculty of Humanities and Arts, Macau University of Science and Technology, Deputy Director of the Research Department at Beijing Television Art Promotion Association. Research interests include interactive media art, film and television art, gaming, interactive art and AI-generated content (AIGC), future narrative and interactive design.

Li Jiaqi (1989—), male, Macau, Faculty of Humanities and Arts, Macau University of Science and Technology, Ph.D. supervisor in Digital Media. Research interests include fundamental game studies theory, anime and gaming-related subculture research, AIGC and digital media applications, etc.