The details worth thinking about in "Jiang Ziya" include: the twelve golden immortals all wear masks, Jiang Ziya's character traits, the positive image of Shen Gongbao, the fateful lock between the fox clan and humans, the role of King Zhou, and the three gods Flower meaning.
1. The Twelve Golden Immortals all wear masks
The Twelve Golden Immortals represent the enforcers of order. They both believe in order and are part of it. Therefore, the movie does not want to highlight their personalities, but uses a metaphorical design to create a sense of portrait within the system.
2. Jiang Ziya’s character traits
Unlike free and passionate heroes such as Nezha and the Great Sage, Jiang Ziya is more like a tolerant middle-aged man. It hurts even more when he breaks his faith. The film hopes to explore more possibilities in animation by creating such a Chinese-style hero from Zi Tong's perspective.
3. The positive image of Shen Gongbao
Shen Gongbao in the film is a little man with a heroic dream. He regards Jiang Ziya, who protects him, as the beacon in his heart, and grows up in following him, becoming own hero. In the original work, there is no Jiang Ziya to redeem him.
4. The fateful lock between the fox clan and humans
Everything is Tianzun’s grand plan. He used the Fateful Lock to connect the Fox Clan with humans. On the one hand, he used this to restrict the Fox Clan; on the other hand, he sent Nine Tails to possess Su Daji to confuse King Zhou and cause corruption in the Shang Dynasty. In this way, he could take advantage of the chaos and let Jiang Ziya defeat Zhou, step in as a savior, and unify the three realms.
5. The role of King Zhou
The identity of King Zhou has a metaphorical function: in fact, after the Conferment of Gods War, the world did not get better. Although King Zhou was named the "God of Marriage", he lived in a shabby place and manipulated everything pathologically. This reflects that there are still many people in the world who have distorted their lives after the war.
6. The meaning of Tianzun’s three flowers
The three flowers represent the concept of Chinese hierarchy. In terms of character design, Tianzun's three flowers resemble a banyan tree and have a natural texture; while his twelve gold statues are rigorous and dull. This just shows that the appearance Tianzun gives people is not consistent with what he really wants to do.