Local voices for foreign films

The film, which was originally produced in 2001, had not been released on the Chinese mainland before its June 21 opening.

To ensure the film's success, the distributors made sure that, in addition to its original Japanese version, there was a Mandarin version with an all-star cast comprising actresses Zhou Dongyu, Wang Lin, actors Jing Boran and Peng Yuchang, and director Tian Zhuangzhuang.

The film dominated China's box office for a week until it was knocked down by Marvel's Spider-Man: Far from Home.

Meanwhile, the Mandarin version evoked mixed reviews online.

One netizen on Douban said that the 29-year-old Jing's dubbing for Haku - a deity with the avatar of a teenage boy in the film - sounded "much older" than the character, which became a distraction that affected the viewing experience.

Speaking about the trend for introducing local voice-overs into foreign films, a veteran of the business, Cao Xiaohui, the deputy head of the animation institute at the Beijing Film Academy, says voice-overs are an important way to create ambience and develop characters.

"And the best way to do a voice-over is to bring all the artists together on the set. So, when one is speaking his lines, he can perform much better and with natural reactions if the others playing opposite him are there."