New Century Anime Warrior

Voices of a Distant Star has gone mainstream.

Whether on major platforms or small forums, many netizens are intensely discussing this animated PV, which has a completely different feel from existing domestic animations.

Some science and engineering students were discussing very advanced physics concepts such as light-years, inter-universe communication, and space jumps.

Humanities students were discussing noble qualities such as longing, budding feelings, and perseverance.

Art students are also studying the music, painting style, 3D modeling and other audiovisual elements of this PV.

But no matter what angle you discuss this work from, or how much you marvel at its excellence, nothing is as impactful as the information revealed in the short end credits.

[Production/Director/Screenwriter/Storyboarding/Editing/Original Animation/3D Modeling/Animation Production/Male Lead Voice Acting/Music: Si Hua, No.1 Middle School of Zhongnan City, Guangnan Province]

Female lead voice actress/Theme song singer: Lin Lin, No.1 Middle School of Zhongnan City, Guangnan Province

Theme song "Through the Years and Far Away" composed/written/arranged by: Si Hua

Special thanks to: Linzhong Xiaolu Studio, No.1 Middle School, Zhongnan City, Guangnan Province

Special thanks to: Lin Lin

This film is dedicated to

Dedicated to all those light-years away

People who still believe in the phrase "I am right here".

The universe is vast, but echoes are slow.

2005 Si Hua. All rights reserved.

This film is a student project for non-commercial use and is prohibited from being used for any profit-making activities.

-----------------

Among high school students, the love for "Voices of a Distant Star" is overwhelmingly widespread.

"We're all high school students, so why is Si Hua so different from me?"

"Are the male and female leads childhood sweethearts? It's so sweet yet so bittersweet, waaaaah."

"Wow, high school students can be this good? I wish I could be this good too."

"I'm devastated! Isn't this just like my long-distance relationship?"

"First, I want to report the upstairs neighbors for having a relationship too. Second, that mecha is so cool! I want to pilot that robot too. Is it only allowed for middle school students like us?"

"I need high-resolution original design images! I want to set them as my phone wallpaper!"

-----------------

In the comment sections of the official video accounts for the original audiovisual competitions on Tudou and Bilibili, people's focus was mixed with a lot of professional thinking.

"I counted, and there are about two minutes of hand-drawn footage in the whole film, let's say 200 seconds, at 24 frames per second... 4800 original drawings? Is that something a human could possibly produce?"

"The person upstairs is exaggerating. There aren't that many. If you watch it slowly, you'll see that some of the frames are a bit distorted. It's probably because they used computer tweening technology. In reality, only four or five keyframes per second are needed."

"I agree with the comment above. Moreover, there are many fixed-perspective scenes in 'Voices of a Distant Star,' which can be drawn in a few frames per second. There are also many static depictions of characters, such as their mouths moving, the corners of their clothes, and their hair. These are very easy to draw."

"That's a huge workload... and there are so many highly detailed 3D models."

"In short, this student named Si Hua is unbelievably strong..."

Are all high school students these days monsters?

"...Seeing everyone so enthusiastic, I'll just say something objective: is it possible that the team produced it and then it was registered under their name?"

"You know what, you really shouldn't say..."

-----------------

Discussions on public social media platforms like Weibo and Douban were even more chaotic and heated.

"It takes eight years for a confession to arrive; this is a cosmic-level romance for our generation."

"Stop being love-struck. Use your not-so-developed brain to think about it. Can one person alone create such depth of emotion and such a high level of production?"

"Without lengthy battles or long, tedious dialogue scenes, it just used a song, a few scenes, and a few lines of narration to make me cry like a fool."

"You're all love-struck, aren't you just an idiot? Just shut up."

"It turns out that the hardest science fiction is the softest emotion."

"Damn it, humanoid mechs are completely useless in combat... and there's life on Sirius? How come NASA doesn't know?"

"Looking for reality in works of art—are you crazy, or am I crazy?"

"It's a conspiracy! It's absolutely a conspiracy. How could an animation of this caliber be produced by just one person?"

"When I slowly type a question mark, it's not that I have a problem, but that I think you have a problem."

"Anyway, I insist that this is not something a high school student could do."

"Should we open the market?"

"If this is truly a personal work, I'll eat shit while doing a handstand!"

"There's no need to deliberately reveal your hobbies..."

"Ignore him upstairs, he's just here to freeload."

-----------------

In the education sector and among parents, abstract rhetoric and complex mindsets coexist, creating a similar disconnect.

"Top-tier middle schools are really different... By the way, can you get into this school just by paying money?"

"Will this kind of exam give me extra points? Can I get a guaranteed admission to university? If so, I'll enroll my child in a prep course..."

"What do these kids eat to grow up like this? My brat can draw a straight line and spin twice..."

"As a teacher, I suggest that the government ban this kind of competition. My students are secretly watching the animations on it and even say they want to learn how to make animation. They don't want to study anymore! How are we supposed to manage our students in the future?"

"I'm a parent, and I support this teacher's suggestion. Besides, the film promotes early romantic relationships among middle school students—isn't that spiritual opium?!"

"Drawing? Can you put food on the table? If all the kids go to learn this, what will happen to their college entrance exams?"

"These children are wasting their time now; if they become illiterate in the future, who will be responsible?"

-----------------

"Voices of a Distant Star" has broken out of its niche, but more importantly, it has brought about a wave of criticism.

Overwhelming.

No one could have imagined that there would be such a genius who could complete an animated work all by himself.

This original audiovisual competition originally encouraged individuals to produce their entries from scratch.

A special award for craftsmanship has been established within the special awards, which is awarded to individual works.

For these individual works, the judging panel will further evaluate the degree of personal involvement, the ability to demonstrate skills, and other factors.

This single award alone has attracted many students who want to gain some personal experience to participate.

The organizers also really made a killing in terms of publicity.

Of the works that qualified for public display, more than half were marked as individually made, but most of them were simple Flash animations with some online songs.

It's not fundamentally different from the currently popular catchy pop music videos.

The works that make it onto the special attention list and are significantly superior in quality to other participants are basically all produced by teams.

Either rely on a large number of skilled children to diligently draw a large number of original drawings.

It's either a project created by a group of students who collaborated on it using their extracurricular skills derived from their hobbies.

Most of these are art, music, or computer clubs from top high schools or affiliated high schools of art colleges.

Of these 13 works that received special attention, only Si Hua was listed as an individual.

Moreover, it sets it apart from other works that pay special attention to quality by a significant margin.

Some large domestic animation companies and studios have publicly stated that "Voices of a Distant Star" is already at the top level in the industry and is no worse than commercial works on the market.

Some obscure music critics took advantage of the buzz to comment on the high quality and mature arrangement of the theme song for "Voices of a Distant Star," saying it was something that an ordinary high school student could not have created.

Now, those who hold conspiracy theories, believe theories of fabrication, and claim they can't stand the "dark side of the world" have straightened their backs, almost to the point of developing herniated discs.

These are such good bullets.

"Even professionals believe this is the level of quality only a professional team could achieve, and they say this high school student named Si Hua didn't fake it?"

"Do you believe I'm Qin Shi Huang, or do you believe this kid can single-handedly form an army?!"

"According to an industry insider who wished to remain anonymous, a senior executive surnamed Chen from Global Asia Pacific has recently been frequently seen visiting Linzhong Luming. You know what I mean?"

"Friendly reminder, doesn't the name of the music company 'Deer in the Forest' sound very similar to 'Deer in the Forest Studio' in the special thanks section of a certain royal production?"

"That's right, they're all companies under the Nanlin Group!"

"Also, Nanlin's CEO's surname is Lin! Tell me loudly, what are the surnames of the singer, the female lead's voice actress, and the special thanks mentioned in the end credits?!"

"It matches up! It all matches up! And you still say 'Voices of a Distant Star' isn't rigged?"

-----------------

Originally, Si Hua was just curious to see what everyone was up to, but as soon as she saw this post, she couldn't hold back anymore.

Are these passersby really that powerful?

Even Chen Yan knew about the deer's cry in the forest?

Or has Global Times been completely infiltrated?

However, to say the least, he only went once and yet it's been rumored that he frequents the area...

Great, it fits my stereotypes about online communication context very well; this layering of emphasis makes it very authentic.

But that's it?

There aren't any more extreme angles?

The firepower isn't very good...