Will ‘Odium Zero’ bring in a new era of Hong Kong animation?

“In reality, I feel the local film market is simply too small,” Hung says candidly. “The industry desperately needs variety, whether that means expanding our cinematic genres or diversifying the platforms through which we share our narratives. So I thought, why not give animation an earnest try and see if it can enrich and diversify our local film ecosystem?”

While Hong Kong cinema is globally celebrated for its high-octane martial arts choreography and gritty triad crime thrillers, its homegrown animation sector has remained comparatively niche. Since the dawn of the 1980s, the city’s prominent animated outputs can be counted on two hands; notable historic examples, apart from Another World, include Old Master Q, Astro Boy, the beloved McDull franchise, DragonBlade: The Legend of Lang and Yonfan’s No 7 Cherry Lane.

With Odium Zero, which took a full year of intensive production to complete, Hung aims to break out of the traditional boundaries of regional releases. He is determined to anchor the project's universe deeply within the native Cantonese language and local cultural psychology—distinguishing it from sci-fi properties that merely borrow Hong Kong’s iconic, neon-lit cityscape for visual aesthetic, as seen in Ghost in the Shell. Though the overarching themes of Odium Zero possess universal appeal, the dialogue and character philosophies are crafted entirely from a homegrown perspective, spotlighting the fierce will to survive and the complex questions of identity that define the local population.

“I feel that the local will to survive is unique,” Hung says. “We have always been fierce believers in our own capabilities, and we instinctively find creative ways to solve seemingly impossible problems. Even in our classic police-and-robber films, the protagonist maintains a powerful conviction and a sense of mission that completely overrides the rigid boundaries between black and white. These distinct cultural genes of Hong Kong cinema and its people are woven directly into the fabric of Odium Zero. A foreign studio simply would not conceptualise a story this way.”

Hung recalls that after the voice cast completed their recording sessions, veteran actor Simon Yam, alongside co-stars Ali Lee and Jeffrey Ngai, expressed immense satisfaction at working on a project that permitted them to use their authentic native tongue, mirroring the precise way local people communicate and think.

“Jeffrey has dubbed major foreign animations before, but in those instances, the visual frames were already finalised, meaning he was restricted to matching pre-existing lip movements to deliver translated dialogue as best as he could,” Hung says. “The true beauty of Odium Zero is that it provided our actors with the exact opportunity to shape a genuine Hong Kong story from its inception. Audiences will not experience that jarring, detached sensation commonly found when watching a Japanese anime or an American cartoon dubbed into Cantonese; the entire psychological background of this film is rooted fundamentally in our city’s way of thinking.”

Hung is convinced that Hong Kong holds far greater latent potential within the global animation market than mainstream commentators assume. “We possess an incredible abundance of creative talent, from visionary screenwriters and directors to world-class actors and post-production crews,” he says. “Hong Kong has historically always functioned as a premier exporter of artistic talent. However, because our animation history is relatively young, we have yet to establish an infrastructure that proves to the next generation of visual artists that this sector can provide a stable, sustainable career path.”

To counteract these systemic limitations and maximise the narrative’s commercial footprint, Hung has structured Odium Zero as a multi-platform intellectual property ecosystem. The project is designed as a single, cohesive 12-part cinematic chronicle. The initial 30-minute opening chapter will receive a targeted, limited theatrical release, providing audiences with a dedicated, focused environment to absorb the intricate world-building away from the digital distractions of their smartphones. Massive cross-media expansion plans are already underway, including a dedicated Trading Card Game, physical merchandise, an adventure title on the PC gaming launcher Steam and an experiential VR installation engineered to transport users directly into the ground-zero outbreak zone.

“I refuse to view Odium Zero as merely a standard television series or a feature film that arrives and disappears as a simple one-off project,” Hung says. “I want to cultivate a living, self-sustaining ecosystem. In this current digital era, contemporary storytellers cannot afford to confine their creative narratives to a single artistic medium.”

The director senses that the cultural tides are shifting in Hong Kong’s favour, accelerated by a string of local animated projects capturing international festival attention. “The core production team behind Odium Zero is lean, yet our success proves that a streamlined, highly focused studio right here in Hong Kong can independently create a world-class franchise and export our culture to a global audience,” Hung says. “Ultimately, international film buyers want to experience authentic, homegrown storytelling. A genuine Hong Kong film must, by definition, be manufactured locally on our own soil to preserve its soul. It makes little creative sense to outsource production elsewhere; even if the minds behind the project are local, manufacturing it overseas dilutes that vital cultural identity. Odium Zero remains, at its absolute core, an authentic piece of Hong Kong cinema.”

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