Yun Jin: Reactions and Reflections (Shenhe cutscene)

I'm still thinking about Yun Jin's beautifully animated 兰花指. Wow 🥺

The erhu photo at 08:36 is of Feng Wang performing for the William & Mary Confucius Institute!

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:30 Cutscene start
03:30 Diaspora feelings stew
05:56 Some thoughts on Yun Jin's haters
08:07 Quick multicultural music reflections
09:20 I'm a sucker for found family narratives
09:52 My turn

#GenshinImpact #YunJin #Shenhe

[ying_verse]

God. What a Big Diaspora Mood™.

I'd already watched the story teaser on Genshin Impact's YouTube channel before I played the story quest, but in the context of Shenhe's backstory this hit even HARDER. Wanted to share some thoughts I had after.

Trust me when I say that I could have ranted another full hour trying to communicate the feelings that welled up in my chest as I watched Beijing opera showcased and celebrated on the global stage in such a truly magnificent way, with all the delightful multicultural influences that make Genshin Impact the game it is.

It remains to be seen whether the regions we get next will have a similar level of respectful attention to detail in terms of honoring the cultures they're inspired by, but I'm excited to see how it all unfolds!

[Sierracat]

i didn’t fully understand yun jins opera voice when she was first officially revealed- i didn’t make fun of it or anything, but it was definitely jarring to hear; i’ve never seen or heard any chinese opera before this. but let me tell you. when i heard her sing and perform in game i cried a bit😭😭 her singing is so beautiful and it gives me chills every time i hear it, i have it saved in my playlist and i’m so happy they put it the game and that they kept it in for all the languages. i think it’s really wonderful that a video game is opening up to so many different cultures and introducing people to them!!! i can’t wait to see what they bring us for the other regions too :-) even if the cultures seem foreign or strange to us at first, i hope we can learn to appreciate them !

[DanniShelton]

Genshin KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK with this cutscene. This is art. Yang Yang’s singing, the music, the animation. And the fact it’s a beautiful tribute to an actual historic Chinese art form.

I’m hoping Mihoyo can bring some Korean culture to the game, because I know they will do it justice!

[Moon_Jam]

You know what's even better? We saw Yun JIn's opera performance for free!!! Like, an amazing performance, amazing visuals, amazing vocals? For free!?!?!?

[robvfx]

The adepti-like creatures appear in a 2400 year old book called "The Classic of the Mountain and the Seas" which is like the Chinese Silmarillion, a legendary history of China. I recently picked up a big illustrated edition in Chinese which is so beautiful, it actually has a character that looks identical to Cloud Retainer. As a Chinese diaspora I'm so thankful for what they've done and continue to do with this game. Little by little I hope that our friends in the West or anywhere will have an interest in Chinese civilization. Due to historical circumstances it wasn't exported for people to really understand, but things are changing, what this game did was a very good example.

[mariapazgonzalezlesme]

The first time I hear Yun Jin's opera singing and along with the amazing animation about Shenhe's backstory, and for the first time I feel that I was witnessing an epic retelling of an ancient story.

[kxlyn]

4:02 is so relatable :(( As a Chinese person who was born/grew up in Canada, it felt amazing to see something i've heard of briefly as a kid (chinese opera) be included in a game that's so popular internationally, but it was also disheartening to see so many ppl on western social media just criticizing and insulting Chinese opera when yun jin's teasers started coming out. On the bright side, there are even more ppl who have become interested in learning about Chinese opera and Chinese culture in general, which is pretty cool. As for the diaspora feeling, the mixed feelings and the painful in-betweenness are so relatable 🥺 for me, there are times when I feel like I can't relate with a lot of my friends here because they aren't interested in Chinese media, like dramas, music, celebrities, etc. At the same time, I've only experienced bits and pieces of Chinese culture from what my parents and grandparents taught me, so it can be hard to fully relate to some of my international friends from China. At the end of the day, I'm at least happy that Chinese culture is being more widely spread and appreciated through games like genshin or dramas. ☺
ALSO I CANT- 2:18 has me in tears and chills every single time ;A;

[dulupeepa]

The last part where she goes, “where she is bound- a home” always gets me for some reason. Idk I get so emotional to those sort of words when someone fits in, finally. And how’s she stretches it out makes me just go, “🥺”

[fiqsonmingi]

When I was still a toddler, my family travelled to China. Yun Jin's performance suddenly brought back a memory that I went to Beijing's Traditional Opera Museum. The surge of emotions that ran through me when I watched the cutscene made me realize that I was lucky enough to see it (somewhat) live, and of course now that I'm older, I'm able to appreciate the beauty of the Chinese culture more

[jessicazhang]

What you said about the in-betweeness resonates with me so much and in so many ways of my life, and I believe for many other immigrants or children of immigrant parents and probably even mixed children too. While I am American and identify as American, I never feel like I am completely American as I like to keep in touch with my culture and roots, but yet no matter how much I like to keep in touch with the Chinese part of me, I will never be fully Chinese either. Sometimes it feels quite painful to know that I am a part of both, yet not a part of either, especially as tensions grow between the countries and sometimes I feel like and outcast on both sides. All this to say I have quite the identity crisis and I don't think this is going away anytime soon 😂

[cheesestick]

I related to so much you said in this video! As a Chinese Singaporean, even though I studied Chinese formally for 10 years in school, my proficiency is shockingly bad and I never learnt Classical Chinese either. When I first saw the teaser of Yun Jin singing in opera, I admit I was like huh wtf?? I’d seen bits of opera on TV before but was never into it because I never understood the appeal.

But when I finally watched the cutscene, I got so emotional like you and it finally clicked! I feel like I have a newfound appreciation for Chinese opera that would never have happened if it wasn’t for this game.

Editing to add: Thanks for uploading videos to YouTube! I love your content but don’t have time to watch streams, so these clips are great!! :)

[jamie]

it’s really incredible seeing such a niche aspect of chinese culture showcased in such a mainstream game. it’s so nice seeing people become interested in chinese opera. and yeah it’s really a mixed bag of feelings about this because of the reasons you stated.
- a fellow chinese diaspora person

[anoria]

As a Mexican I have never heard Chinese opera, and it made me cry so much her singing is so good. It really makes you appreciate other cultures.

[artistbervucci]

I've watched this video a lot, but was the first time I watched the "my turn", and... well hell, I never knew I would get rickrolled in that type of situation.

[Softerhaze]

I think shenhe’s story itself really resonated with me as never quite feeling like I ‘fit in’ anywhere as a UK born Chinese person, and I guess the second part especially of yunjin’s opera, where she sang about shenhe finally finding her home in her new found friends and being accepted, that part really made me sob

[wanderer_simoune]

3:15 I... was holding back my... tears

[crashheart]

As an American white male who has had mixed exposure my whole life to the eastern world I've always been fascinated by Asian media especially music. This was absolutely beautiful and I never thought it was weird even the very first time during the live stream. Yun Jun is wonderfully talented, I hope this isn't the only performance we get to witness from her.

[shinitaan]

As someone from the Diaspora who can’t even speak Mandarin or my father’s dialect, Genshin has been so comforting to me in a way. It’s silly but I has made me want to try learning a bit of Mandarin, just because why not? I cried numerous time while watching Yunjin’s opera and even now, after listening to it again and again, I still feel very emotional about it. You expressed why so perfectly. By the way I just love your videos a lot. You’re so full of energy and cute, keep up the good work :)

[amychang]

I actually lost it when Yunjin started narrating in between song. 😭 I’m also really happy that something so big in relation to China or Chinese culture is getting positive attention around the world. It was pretty disheartening these past couple years with all this negativity and hate centered around Chinese people. 🥲

[dayodraws]

literally made me cry for a couple minutes lol. love Yun Jin <3