''Pili'' (Traditional Chinese: 霹靂, Pe̍h-oē-jī: Phek-le̍k, "Thunderbolt") is a

glove puppetry Glove puppetry () is a type of opera using cloth puppets that originated during the 17th century in Quanzhou or Zhangzhou of China's Fujian province, and historically practised in the Min Nan-speaking areas such as Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, the Chaos ...

show from

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. It is made by Pili International Multimedia. The TV series debuted in 1984, and it still continues today. It is one of the most popular TV shows in Taiwan. Unlike traditional puppet shows, ''Pili'' uses

computer generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images ma ...

(CGI) during action sequences. The delicate design of the appearance and characteristics of each puppet has made ''Pili'' a well-known TV series in Taiwan. In 2000, the spin-off film ''

Legend of the Sacred Stone ''Legend of the Sacred Stone'' is a 2000 Taiwanese puppetry feature film written and directed by Chris Huang, a spin-off from the glove puppetry ''wuxia'' television series '' Pili''. It reflects the traditional Taiwanese style of glove puppetry kn ...

'' was released. It was released on VHS and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

in Taiwan and Japan (the Japanese edit significantly shortened). The Japanese release includes some unintentionally funny English subtitles, while the Taiwanese release has no English, so the only imports and bootlegs of the film generally found in North America have been of the Japanese version. In February 2006, the American company

Animation Collective Animation Collective was an American internet and television animation studio based in New York City, best known for its internet and television series using Adobe Flash, Maya and other software. Founded and owned by Larry Schwarz in 2003, Animati ...

, known for ''

Kappa Mikey ''Kappa Mikey'' is an American animated television series created by Larry Schwarz. The show was created by Schwarz's studio Animation Collective. The series premiered on February 25, 2006 and ended on September 20, 2008. 52 episodes were produced ...

'' and '' Speed Racer: The Next Generation'' created an edited version of ''Pili'' on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

titled ''

Wulin Warriors Wulin may refer to: * Wulin is the fictional society of Chinese martial arts heroes in Wuxia fiction. Wulin is considered a part of the broader term ''jianghu'', which refers to the underworld of bandits and other elements that live outside the ma ...

''. Many fans of the original series complained about the poor quality of the scripts and changes made for the American version. One example was the character Ye Hsiao-Chai (Scar in ''Wulin Warriors''), who is a mute in the Taiwanese version of the series, but in the American version he speaks frequently. Many Cartoon Network viewers were hostile to ''Wulin Warriors'' because the programming of the series was part of a shift in the channel's focus to include live action programs. Although Cartoon Network stopped airing ''Wulin Warriors'' after only two episodes, all thirteen episodes could be seen on Kids'

AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017� ...

, but were taken off after a few years and can now only be found on YouTube. In 2016,

Nitroplus Nitroplus Co., Ltd., currently styled as NITRO PLUS, formerly stylized as nitro+, and formerly known as "OKStyle", is a Japanese visual novel video game developer that has developed a number of visual novels, including eroge. They also have been ...

Good Smile Company is a Japanese manufacturer of hobby products such as the Nendoroid and figma product lines, as well as scale figures. In addition to production and manufacturing, its business includes design, marketing and distribution. Its products are usual ...

, and Pili International Multimedia launched a website to announce ''

Thunderbolt Fantasy , also known as ''Thunderbolt Fantasy: Sword Seekers'', is a Japanese-Taiwanese glove puppetry television series created and written by Gen Urobuchi and produced as a collaboration between Japanese companies Nitroplus and Good Smile Comp ...

'', which premiered the summer of 2016. ''Thunderbolt Fantasy'' is a spinoff of the main Pili series, set in a similar wuxia setting with new characters. The show features slight differences from Pili's usual production approach, including half hour long episodes and anime-inspired character designs. ''Thunderbolt Fantasy'' is standalone from the main Pili series, with the exception of minor character cameos. Pili International Multimedia currently runs their own

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...

account where they occasionally stream Pili. '' Pili Fantasy: War of Dragons'', a remake of ''Pilis 6th season, premiered on Netflix on July 12, 2019. This makes ''War of Dragons'' the first installment of the main Pili series to air in English speaking countries in an uncut format.

References

External links

Pili International Multimedia
- English language web site of the series' creators
Taipei Times
- Pili mourns loss of valuable puppets to fire, October 2010
Epilinet on Twitch
- Pili being aired 24/7 on Pili International Multimedia's Twitch stream Taiwanese wuxia television series Taiwanese television shows featuring puppetry Glove puppetry 1985 Taiwanese television series debuts {{Taiwan-tv-stub

See also

References

External links