Introduction
Hey, hey, fellow adventures! Blaziker is back for another animated movie adventure, and with the beginning of autumn, we got no time to waste because we got six animated movies to explore this time!
The first movie, A Boat in the Garden, chronicles a boy and his family building their Bessel in their garden by the Marne River in 1950s France. A Boat in the Garden debuted at last year’s Annecy Film Festival, but it is a movie that is admittedly hard to find unless you saw it at a film festival. However, now that I was able to access it via my own sources, is this worthy of its showing at last year’s Annecy Film Festival?
The second movie, The Legend of Hei 2, sees the return of the cute cat spirit Hei as he teams up with another disciple to expose a conspiracy that threatens their spirit world and the real world. I got to see the first movie, and I can understand why this movie has a fandom of its own. With the sequel being released to critical acclaim and me getting a chance to see this movie in my neighbours in Malaysia, so the question is: is this yet another top-tier sequel to a top-tier Chinese animated movie?
The third movie, Mahavatar Narsimha, is an Indian animated movie epic based on Indian folklore about the Hindu god Vishnu who appears as the half-human, half lion god Narsimha on a quest to defeat a demon who declared himself a god and challenges Vishnu’s throne while protecting the demon’s son, who is a devotee of his. Indian animated movies are usually terrible on average, with only one animated movie from that country, Bombay Rose, being worthy enough of a recommendation. In fact, India’s animation output is so frustratingly terrible, it is almost laughable. This was why this movie somehow ended up as being a huge hit in India, becoming the highest-grossing Indian animated movie by a country mile. With me getting a chance to see in on Netflix, is this movie proof that perhaps, not every Indian animated movie is bad?
The fourth movie, The Worlds Divide, focuses on a girl who was teleported to a world full of vegetation. Guided by her childhood companion and an old warrior, she must face the Queen of the land and find the god of the land, her father. It is always exciting to find animated movies from relative unknowns who are passionate about animation, and this is a true indie animated movie directed, animated and produced by a single person. It is even more impressive when this movie was selected as part of last year’s Annecy Film Festival (in the Annecy Presents category, which is usually of slightly lower quality compared to movies in other categories). However, now that it got a limited online release, will this movie be worthy of its Annecy presence?
The fifth movie, Zak & Wowo: The Legend of Legendys, focuses a boy in an imaginary world filled with monsters discovering Wowo, a pachyderm who was turned into a little, cute furball thanks to a magical stone the boy has possession with. I have heard a lot of bad things about this movie, but one significant red flag was how this movie was funded, because apparently, this was a movie funded by NFTs. I don’t think I had mentioned this before, but anything related to cryptocurrency in general, including NFTs, made me rage, and that is to not mention the low ratings this movie has gotten. Is this movie really as bad as what the reviewers had said?
The sixth and final movie, Kayara, takes place during the Incan Civilisation about a young Incan girl challenging societal norms in her male-dominated tribe. Peru (and most of Latin America in general) might have an animation industry, but the problem is that most of their animation output is so low-quality that it is as if they do not have a strong identity in animation at all despite their prominence. With me feeling disappointed in another Latin American animated movie with Dalia and the Red Book earlier this year, will Kaya be any better?
Without further ado, time to begin an autumn of animated movies!
A Boat in the Garden
Key Information
- Director: Jean-Francois Laguionie
- Animation Studios: JPL Films, Melusine Productions
- Country of Origin: France and Luxembourg
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 29 January 2025 (in France)
Trailer
The Review
It has to be enough said that this is another good quality French animated movie, especially given France is a country that continuously produced great animated movie after great animated movie, so every new and upcoming great French animated movie would inevitable be compared to other French animated movies that rise above all. With that said, A Boat in the Garden is easily the most French animated movie France has ever Frenched, because seriously, this movie was a good quality French slow burner.
I honestly feel this is quite an easy movie to talk about, so to go straight to the point, A Boat in the Garden is a simple and quaint slow burner about a family building a boat in their backyard in 1950s France after World War 2, with great incorporation of 2D and 3D elements from the same director behind 2011’s The Painting, a nice and flowing soundtrack that captures the vibe of the era where this movie takes place.
With that said, the pacing is quite slow and that would not vibe well with certain cinemagoers, and the writing can be too boring at times. Honestly, this kind of movie is what I hope to see more, because considering the presence of chaotic and thrilling animated movies in recent years, movies like A Boat in The Garden should be in great demand to cut through the chaos from more exciting animated movies.
Overall, I like A Boat in the Garden for what it was aiming to achieve, but it is not the most exciting animated movie in this Rundown, let alone this year. Speaking of…
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
The Legend of Hei 2
Key Information
- Directors: MTJJ, Gu Jie
- Animation Studio: Beijing Hanmu Chunhua Animation Technology
- Country of Origin: China
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 18 July 2025 (in China)
Trailer
The Review
To prepare for this movie, I covered the first movie, which was released in 2019, and needless to say, I was excited to see the sequel, and needless to say, this movie is yet another 2025 animated movie sequel that is better than the original!
The writing, which is already fantastic in the first movie, is taken to a whole new level in the sequel. The worldbuilding is even richer in the sequel, which helps those who had never watched the original web series and web comics prior to the two movie. The comedy, which not that many, is subtly hilarious when needed, and the pacing is on point despite its long two-hour runtime.
Additionally, compared to the simplistic beauty the first movie possesses, The Legend of Hei 2 is more epic and engaging. The sequel has new characters, but both the returning characters and the new characters have great personalities that carry the story. Obviously, Luo Xiaohei (Shan Xin) remains one of the cutest main characters in animated movie history, whether in his human form or his even more iconic cat form, with his master Lord Wuxian (Liu Mingyue) also being a great supporting character despite his limited presence. However, it’s the new characters that also carry forth the movie, with Luye (Zhu Qing), one of Wuxian’s disciples and Xiaohei’s temporary guardian, having a key role to take this already fantastic writing. Her presence and story arc complements the messaging the writers were striving for, which is what the sequel needs. Speaking of new characters, huge shout-out to the story’s interpretation of Ne Zha (Also voiced by Shan Xin) who is just as fun.
As for the animation, if you think the simplistic hand-drawn animation in the first movie is exquisite, the animation in the sequel elevates that style to a whole level. There are more fight sequences compared to the chill and calm in the first movie, and that is also a good thing to differentiate from the already great first movie. There is one sequence involving an airplane that had my jaw dropped, and it was not surprising when I found out that sequence took the animators a whole year to craft. Seeing that sequence, it shows the level of dedication and detailing for this sequel.
The music score is just as great as the writing, and as for my level of enjoyment, seeing the sequel in theatres just made me excited for the future of Chinese theatrical animation. China has come a long away from producing low-quality stuff and mockbusters to becoming one of the fastest growing animation industries in the world. It is clear this movie is yet another fantastic example, and given this is the fourth Chinese animated movie of 2025 that blew my socks off, it definitely shows.
Overall, I am so happy with The Legend of Hei 2, because not only is this proof that Chinese animation is locked in, but it also shows that hand-drawn animation still deserves to stay in the movie theatres. I seriously cannot wait to see a third movie if that is in the works, because I can’t wait for more adventures with Luo Xiaohei!
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Mahavatar Narsimha
Key Information
- Director: Ashwin Kumar
- Animation Studio: Kleem Productions
- Country of Origin: India
- Rating: M18
- Release date: 25 July 2025 (in India)
Trailer
The Review
If you ask me which country has the biggest theatrical animation black hole in the world, I would say India. For a very long time, I had covered a lot of terrible animated movies from India, to a point where there are numerous articles and blog posts about how bad the Indian animation industry is. With the exception of Bombay Rose, I had not been impressed with any other Indian animated movie… Until now, because Mahavatar Narsimha is exactly what I am hoping to see from an Indian animated movie that is actually enjoyable.
To get the major negative out of the way, Mahavatar Narsimha has pretty bizarre animation that is of low quality due to how poor the rendering is. Admittedly, it seems they ran out of the budget needed for the rendering, because almost every sequence felt like they were in a PlayStation 2 game, because there is a lack of quality detailing and rendering. With that said, the main positive is that at least the animation has a distinct style and personality, which plays to its strength during the key fight sequences, and I cannot say that for most Indian animated movies since the animation in them are way, way worse.
However, despite the low quality animation, the writing is so great that I am willing to look past the faults in the animation. This is a story rooted in Indian mythology, especially one about one of the great Indian gods with Lord Vishnu, and is as epic and bombastic as some of the best Bollywood action movies as of late. As someone that loves great Indian movies like RRR and Jawan, Mahavtar Narsimha would not be out of place because the writing is so comprehensive and yet not so overwhelming. It is a movie inspired by its folklore and it shows, even for someone not experienced in it. This movie is also filled with a whole lot of violence and gore, but that is needed to showcase how epic the writing in the movie is.
No great Bollywood movie would be complete without an epic music score, and Mahvatar Narsimha has that in spades too. The songs and the music tracks heighten up the already epic writing, and while not as memorable as the songs from RRR and Jawan, to be fair, that is a very high bar to clear. As for my level of enjoyment, seeing Mahvatar Narsimha on Netflix, I can understand its high 9.0 IMDb score and great box office returns, because this movie deserves such a high score after years and years of endless mediocrity and terribleness of Indian animated movies. This movie defies its virtually impossible odds to make me like an animated movie from India and for that, I had a lot of fun with it.
Overall, Mahvatar Narsimha proves that there is still hope in the Indian animation industry. Despite its bizarre animation, the writing carries this movie a lot and its dedication to its roots about Indian mythology that is more interesting that so many terrible Indian animated movies. I am happy to see such an enjoyable animated movie from the biggest animation black hole in the world, and I am grateful there are at least animators in India who still care about producing great animation, despite everything bad about Indian animated movies in general.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
The Worlds Divide
Key Information
- Director: Denver Jackson
- Animation Studio: Cloudrise Pictures
- Country of Origin: Canada
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 15 September 2025 (worldwide as an online release)
Trailer
The Review
I always find it exciting to cover animated movies from up-and-coming directors who are passionate about producing their own animated movies, but it is as equally exciting if said animated is animated, written and directed by a single person with limited help from other parties, and one mainly backed by small donations with an overall micro-budget. These types of animated movies can challenge the norms and rules of animation, and I am happy to report The Worlds Divide managed to respond to the challenges well.
In terms of the big negatives, the writing is not as well developed as what I would have hoped, and because it was produced on a micro-budget, there are moments where there is a lack of rendering in the animation sequences. With that said, given this was produced with limited manpower and budget, it is acceptable that there will be shortcomings in certain elements.
However, in terms of the positives, there are a good number of positives to highlight. This steampunk world-building is as comprehensive and exciting as what rare steampunk animated movies come. It is also a story that is not limited by its imagination, as there are impressive writing moments and twists that keep the plot as fresh as possible. The characters and voice acting are also commendable, as their presence and development carry the story a lot.
The animation, while not as high quality as some of the best animated movies of this year so far, is still quite a feat, especially since this was by a single animator. It felt clear that a lot of thought and attention to detail was made in the animation sequences, because the character and background designs are rich and exciting. There are also certain action sequences that heighten the tension and thrill this movie needs for a steampunk animated movie. For an animated movie mainly done by the director, the animation quality trounces a good number of animated movies this year produced by more animators and bigger studios, so the animation in The Worlds Divide deserves some praise.
The score and sound design is also amazing, and listening to the movie via my headphones, the sound design captures the atmosphere and excitement in this movie. As for the other elements, I love that this was a movie that felt truly independent and the marketing and promotion felt as organic as it could be without feeling pretentious. As for my level of enjoyment, I was honestly blown away by how much director Denver Jackson had worked on making his movie a reality, because while there had been animated movies done by single people or a small group of people who are passionate about animation, I can feel the energy and excitement The Worlds Divide brings, and that deserves to be seen by passionate animation fans who love to explore fresh ideas and perspectives.
Overall, I am happy that I got to see such a rarity of an animated movie, one that was produced to break as many animated movie rules and conventions as possible. The Worlds Divide is worthy of a true indie animated movie that animators should highlight more, because it goes to show that with passion, care and dedication to the animation medium, there are no limits to theatrical animation.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Zak & Wowo: The Legend of Lendarys
Key Information
- Directors: Jean-Baptise Cuvelier and Philippe Duchene
- Animation Studios: 2 Minutes Animation
- Country of Origin: Canada, France
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 3 July 2024 (in France)
Trailer
The Review
We have more French animated movies coming our way later this year after Zak & Wowo, but the spoiler alert is this: Zak & Wowo does not deserve its French citizenship status.
I personally do not feel this is worth discussing, so to keep the story short, Zak & Wowo is a waste of time. It’s one thing to be an animated movie that has such an amateurish and poorly executed animated movie, filled with a disjointed story and terrible pacing, such that despite its 80-minute runtime, this movie felt even longer. It is also a movie filled with annoying characters and a lack of any character development or voice acting quality, not to mention its ugly-looking animation with its lazy and badly rendered character and background designs, unintentionally hilarious animation sequences and lack of attention to detail in the animation quality. The minor elements are not worth taking a look at, and I did not enjoy this movie at all.
However, there is one more reason Zak & Wowo is not worth discussing: apparently, most of its US$25 million budget was funded by NFTs. During my research, there was a website about how it was funded, including the fact that this movie was promoting its Metaverse and Web3 projects, and if you know me from my social media accounts, there are two things in life that I have an absolute hatred for: generative A/I and cryptocurrency, and Zak & Wowo lands on the latter. That was enough for me to wave the red flag and conclude this is just not worth discussing.
Seriously, the fact that this is on the same level as Sneaks and Smurfs, my two least favourite animated movies of the year so far, is why Zak & Wowo is an animated movie that should be forgotten to the sands of time. Truly, a waste of time, money and animation space. Avoid this if you can.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Kayara
Key Information
- Director: Cesar Zelada
- Animation Studios: B-Water Studios
- Country of Origin: Peru, Spain
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 6 March 2025 (in Peru)
Trailer
The Review
For the past few years, South American animation has been on a standstill, with only a handful of decent animated movies that could be worth seeing, but not a must see, and the rest of their animation output being, shall we say, underwhelming to be honest. I already covered one South American animated movie this year with Dalia and the Red Book, and unfortunately, as do Dalia, Kayara is not that great.
Just like with Zak & Wowo earlier, I do not think this movie is worth an extensive review, since some of the issues I mentioned in Zak & Wowo can apply to Kayara: disjointed story, especially in the third act where it went an abrupt shift without a clean transition, under-developed characters and really bad English voice acting and low-quality and under-rendered animation that looks very cheap compared to better quality family-friendly foreign CG animated movies this year, such as Benjamin Bat, The Lost Tiger, Into the Wonderwoods, Jumbo and even Grand Prix of Europe.
However, there are some redeeming elements that at least make Kayara more watchable: for one, this movie has a clear Incan inspiration, which was used throughout its story and its vibrant animation, making it slightly more palatable to cover compared to Zak & Wowo. Additionally, the animation is slightly better quality compared to Zak & Wowo which does make the viewing less painful to sit through.
Still, Kayara was a movie that just tried way, way too hard to impress, and leaves me underwhelmed after the experience. It may be more watchable than Zak & Wowo but compared to the other four animated movies in this Rundown, you are better off with any of these four than yet another underwhelming South American CG animated movie.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Conclusion
We begin the autumn with yet another top-tier sequel to an already great first movie, but ended off with two animated movies that are just not worth your time. Sometimes, we need to cover a few bad apples to discover the ones that are truly worth seeing.
As we ramp up a very busy final months of animation, it is time we take a short break but next time, we are going head deep into some animated movies I am very, very excited to share with you. Until next time, see you on the next adventure!
