There is no doubt that the animated short "echoing others," just like its title, carries a biting sense of irony. It is a naked, dystopian dark fairy tale that mercilessly tears away the fig leaves of certain people, hiding deep-seated truths within seemingly exquisite modeling and storytelling.
The old man in the story was originally the last craftsman in the imperial palace. However, as the dynasty was about to fall and other imperial relatives began to flee, those handicrafts that once symbolized status and prestige completely lost their value. Consequently, this craftsman chose to join the others in their flight.
On the road of exile, he was fortunate enough to be taken along by a minor aristocrat who had always appreciated him, and was allowed to bring his family along to escape.
And so, the group embarked on a journey to drift overseas.
The first half of the video describes the splendor of the imperial palace, as well as the shattering of the nation.
In the face of national disaster, human lives were like blades of grass; regardless of one's status, high or low, no one could escape the crushing force of modern weaponry in that era, and countless people sacrificed their lives as a result.
Many viewers who saw these scenes couldn't help but marvel at the creator's ability to adjust AI animation to capture the desolation and tragedy of that era, even imbuing it with human-like sorrow and pity. Even though it was just an AI work, it still deeply moved people; this is truly something not every AI creator can accomplish.
The second half of the video tells the "power fantasy" story of this craftsman bringing his family abroad and starting from scratch.
This craftsman was worthy of being a royal craftsman; his work became very popular overseas. Even though he still faced discrimination and bullying, there is no doubt that he relied on these skills to successfully establish a foothold for himself and his family abroad.
The battlefields and wilderness, once filled with the blood and tears of the nation, transformed back into the flashy social scenes of the British upper class.
The old man, who had once been displaced and lived in constant fear of the future, still kept his queue, but his attire was magnificent, his posture was arrogant, and his achievements were astonishing.
Even in later generations, when the old man's descendant returned to their former motherland and stood on the podium as a successful person, the descendant had the same style and the same posture. The only change was that the queue had been cut off. When speaking, the descendant held their head slightly high, greeted by cheers and applause from the audience.
If the story were viewed simply like that, it would naturally be perfect.
But clearly, the truth of the story goes far beyond that.
"'echoing others' is truly the most substantial AI work I have ever seen. It's clear that the creator has very solid creative skills; especially regarding the modeling details in certain parts, I think they must have been manually adjusted by him."
A video analysis Blogger on Bilibili was analyzing it with a straight face.
"Did you really understand the ten details inside? Now, please follow me as we carefully analyze 'echoing others' once more..."
Xiao He was eating breakfast while listening to the Blogger's analysis. After swallowing a slice of bread, he started to recall: "Did I really bury that many details?"
Uh, maybe?
Sigh, I was rushing to finish it overnight; my brain is mush now, I can't remember clearly.
"So, Brother Xiao, is what the animation says true?" Xiao Chen, sitting to the side watching the projected video behind them, asked curiously, "They say the Yun Family isn't actually some so-called Yellow Banner or White Banner, but just the descendants of a craftsman who usurped the nest and was heartless and ungrateful?"
Liu Rulan also looked at Xiao He.
"Mm, pretty much."
Xiao He said in a flat tone, "This matter is actually quite easy to investigate. After all, the existing descendants of nobles in Beijing still hold their genealogies. The Yun Family has developed so much now, but their influence was basically brought back after they left, which in itself proves that they didn't have that much power in Beijing."
"And the forgery techniques that those descendants inherited also have an origin."
This kind of craft can only be passed down through family inheritance; otherwise, some people might never know these things in their entire lives, let alone take the initiative to contact and obtain channels for them in that era.
The video analysis Blogger in front of them was also talking about this point.
"There is a detail here: before the nobleman appears, there is an emerald ring on his finger. This is actually a metaphor for his status and the wealth he carried with him when he fled."
"And in the second half of the video, when the 'protagonist' of the animation officially sets foot on foreign soil, there is suddenly a green gem on his hand, and the people around him treat him with great respect—not at all like they are treating someone similar to a servant who has no status or position."
"So, this isn't them coming overseas, relying on their own skills to start from scratch and struggling to build a huge fortune; rather, they directly took the master's belongings for themselves!"
"As for the subsequent segments of 'making crafts' and 'utilizing the value of their own skills,' I personally, combined with the information I have learned, have roughly guessed the truth—"
The Blogger paused the video at the scene where the protagonist was collecting money, then zoomed in.
In this scene, the protagonist is communicating with several wealthy foreigners, and behind them is a workshop.
In a very cornered position, a young craftsman raises a small hammer, working hard, but he is not hammering anything else—he is hammering an antique vase that looks a bit dirty.
The vase shattered upon impact, and then he carefully picked out the parts he needed, finally throwing the remaining shards into the trash bin.
"Many people who see this scene might not understand what they are doing. This brings us to an antique forgery technique—that is, using old materials for new work, imitating the old with the old! This is not refining an artwork, but rather a form of desecration!"
It was clear that the Blogger had indeed researched a lot of knowledge beforehand. He went straight to the point and began to talk incessantly about this "imitating the old with the old" forgery technique, and the audience listened with great interest, their eyes opened to new things.
The comments section was already filled with cursing, expressing utter disdain for such forgery methods. Some people even extended this matter to the currently trending incident of Emperor Chen's authentic work being burned, and netizens who had originally remained neutral began to suspect the truth behind the destruction of the cultural relic.
How could it be such a coincidence?
The Yun Family knows forgery techniques, and Emperor Chen's authentic work, which hadn't returned to the country for years, was burned as soon as it did?
This is so coincidental it's like a setup!
The Blogger naturally didn't dare to explicitly state the deeper implications of this video, but he wouldn't miss such important information either, so he spoke very subtly, hinting at it just enough.
