As her 16th birthday approaches, a not-so-average teen rediscovers the fiery powers she’s long suppressed and is forced to face her demons — literally.
I love cartoons, and I love a good coming of age story told via animation, obviously a big fan of Invincible Fight Girl in recent days. So when I stumbled upon the trailer of Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld, I knew that I wanted to see more.
Synopsis: The series follows Jentry Chau (voiced by Ali Wong), a Chinese-American teen living in a small Texas town, who finds out a demon king is hunting her for the supernatural powers she’s been working her whole life to repress. With the help of her weapons expert great-aunt and a millennia-old jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire), Jentry must now fight an entire underworld’s worth of monsters while balancing the horrors of high school.
Created by Echo Wu, Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld is a new animated series that follows a Chinese-American high schooler whose life is turned upside down when a dangerous demon king tries to steal her powers. But, make no mistake, Jentry is also navigating her share of traditional teenage problems — like exploring romantic interests, grappling with an adult who always thinks they know best, and contorting to maintain high social standing among her peers. Despite its heavy serving of all things supernatural, it’s largely rooted in true-to-life themes that’ll resonate with folks of all ages, from all walks of life.
“Sometimes finding your self-identity is coming face-to-face with your own demons,” Wu tells Tudum. That sentiment was the writers room’s north star as they worked on the series. “There are different layers to what that means. [It] rings quite true in Jentry. [She’s] trying to figure out what these powers mean to her. Are they part of her? Are they cursing her? You see this character trying to figure out who she is.”
Here at BNP, we’re big fans of Ali Wong and as my favorite comment by @Germania9 on the official trailer noted this series is giving “Really strong Jake Long/Juniper Lee vibes here.” My God, what a early 2000’s throwback–I love that Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld looks like a throwback to cartoons of old and still something new, something worth watching. I love a good story with a supernatural twist and I’m excited to see this series pop off with these strong coming of age vibes. As a big fan of folklore from around the world, I cannot wait to see this series interpretation of the jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire) in a modern day setting. All in all, here’s to an exciting new series debuting on Netflix, soon!
Main Theme Song by KATSEYE: The trailer includes a new song from rising K-Pop group, KATSEYE, titled “Flame” that will be featured as the series theme song. The official single released today. Listen here.
OFFICIAL SOUNDTRACK
On December 5, fans will be able to listen to Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld, the official soundtrack, on all streaming platforms. The soundtrack will include new songs from artists including KATSEYE, Jessi and eaJ among others. The soundtrack will be a double album featuring original songs and series score by Brian H. Kim.
Premieres: December 5, 2024 Creator: Echo Wu
Executive Producers: Echo Wu, Ali Wong, Aron Eli Coleite
Studio: Titmouse with Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, Antonio Canobbio, and Ben Kalina also acting as Executive Producers
Cast: Ali Wong, Bowen Yang, Lori Tan Chinn, Lucy Liu, Jimmy O. Yang, Sheng Wang, Woosung Kim, and A.J. Beckles
Episodes: 13 x 30 minutes
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