Ne Zha 2 is finally streaming on HBO Max — and it’s a must-watch

Ne Zha 2 is one of the best animated movies I’ve seen in 2025. Yes, that includes anime like Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle and Chainsaw Man Movie — Reze Arc, and yes, even KPop Demon Hunters and all the other nominations for Best Animated Feature at the Golden Globe Awards. It was initially released in China on January 29 to coincide with the Lunar New Year, and it was a certified hit, grossing more than $2.2 billion worldwide on an $80 million budget. Ne Zha 2 is the highest-grossing animated and non-English-language film of all time, the first animated film to surpass $2 billion, and the top-grossing release of 2025, ranking fifth on the all-time box-office chart. And yet, as 2025 draws to a close, the movie feels somewhat overlooked outside of its native China.

With Ne Zha 2’s English dub, distributed by A24, arriving on HBO Max on Dec. 20, now’s the perfect time to catch a landmark animated film that treats Chinese mythology with the same reverence and explosive action as Dragon Ball, while delivering sincere emotional lessons, often right in the middle of the most sophomoric gross-out jokes imaginable.

Ne Zha 2 doubles down on the emotional core that made its 2019 predecessor Ne Zha resonate, framing epic, world-shaking battles around intimate fears of loss, failure, and love. Writer-director Jiao Zi continues the story of demon-boy Ne Zha and dragon warrior Ao Bing, whose bond of friendship is tested by impossible choices as gods, dragons, and former allies collide. As Ao Bing once again gives his life to protect Ne Zha’s home, Ne Zha absorbs his friend’s spirit and embarks on a perilous quest to restore his body, turning the film’s colossal clashes into expressions of sorrow, wrath, faith, and the desperate need to protect those we love.

One of the things I love about Ne Zha 2 is how deliberately it builds on the original movie’s themes. Rather than stopping when the protagonist learns to accept himself, the sequel pushes him toward full self-ownership, demanding he embrace every flaw, strength, and contradiction without compromise. Ne Zha and the first film’s villain, Shen Gongbao, arrive at the same truth from opposite paths: It’s better to live honestly than to become what others expect. Gongbao ultimately learns to live up to his principles, while Ne Zha realizes he never needed to be anything but himself. Fittingly, the film’s true villain thrives on hypocrisy and lies, underscoring that truth is stronger than pretense. Even Jiao Zi’s unapologetic embrace of crude humor feels purposeful, mirroring Ne Zha’s journey toward fully owning who he is.

The film is also a visually breathtaking spectacle, featuring full-fledged photorealistic CG and eclectic battles that at times rival Dragon Ball Z‘s emotional intensity. The choreography is incredible and could compete among the best anime fights of 2025. Ne Zha 2 proves that CGI has matured into its own art form, capable of capturing detailed movements in a way only this technology can.

Despite the action and intricate subject matter, this is still a PG-13 movie with humor aimed at kids: There are enough gross-out gags to make dignified aristocrats scoff. The film includes booger and poop jokes, a boy who drinks a cauldron of disgusting stew, vomits it back up, then drinks it again, and scenes where highfalutin aristocrats daintily sip glasses of urine-infused water. The world-shaking battles and the body-effluvia humor should clash, but it all coincides with Ne Zha accepting who he is, a demon child with a temper and a crass sense of humor.

Image: CMC Pictures

Ne Zha 2 is an achievement in filmmaking, and that’s before we talk about all the accolades and box-office numbers. But somehow, it got lost in the shuffle during a significant year for animation: one where Demon Slayer beat Superman at the box office, Zootopia 2 crushed release records, and KPop Demon Hunters became the biggest animated IP since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Make sure to check out Ne Zha 2 for the holiday season. If you haven’t seen the first film, it’s also available on HBO Max, and it’s streaming on Tubi for free.