A killer success

"I didn't deliberately use the style," he says. "It just came naturally. Chow's approach may have had its time, and will probably not reach those heights again, but while it continues to be a live comedy genres, I will keep following it."

The biggest selling point of the series is probably the creative action scenes, the show's fast pace and the characters' amusing accents, mixing Mandarin and Cantonese.

To obtain the latter, He invited "amateurs" to contribute voices, and an even greater realism and proximity to ordinary people's everyday life. As for He, he himself dubbed Seven's voice.

The director was also surprised that Killer Seven, which started with a "zero fan base," is now being lavished with praise.

TT Film, an influential cinema-centric WeChat public account, says: "If we can see an animation of such high quality each season, it will mark the rise of Chinese animation."

The show also climbed into Bilibili's Top 5 all-time list of Chinese animations and numerous online stores have began selling unlicensed, derivative souvenirs of Killer Seven－usually the sure sign of a cultural zeitgeist.

As a result of its success, Killer Seven may spark greater expectations for future animated productions from the director.

Speaking about the animation film scene in China, Zou says: "We used to have 'Chinese-style animation', but then, we lost it. Now, however, it's time for the genre to rediscover its Chinese identity."

In the 1950s and 60s, Chinese animations had a great reputation in the world; by mixing traditional Chinese paintings into modern animation, those early animators were able to create unconventional visual effects.