Netflix's Love, Death + Robots didn't shy away from addressing toxic masculinity in Season 1. This was exemplified in "Sonnie's Edge" when Sonnie put her mind in a kaiju's body to kill competitors in a gladiator arena after being raped decades ago. Another such episode is "Good Hunting," which spanned two different eras to create the ultimate weapon against this same issue with the Huli Jing, a shape-shifting, fox-like spirit.
The episode focused on young Liang and his dad hunting down one of the foxes in a mini-war in 20th century China because it seduced men in their beds. This led to the father killing this particular beast, Tsiao-Jung, but when asked if he'd seen any pups, Liang lied. He covered for Yan, the lone pup, who made it clear mankind wasn't entranced, they were just greedy and wanted to use the creatures for sex. As such, with the guilt of watching Yan seeing her mom decapitated, Liang offered Yan a second lease on life.
They became friends and when his dad died, Liang decided to move to China to become a train engineer. While Yan was glad for him to be part of the modernization movement, she was heartbroken. Not only was she losing her only friend, but her magic was also dissipating from the world, preventing her from changing.
As fate would have it, Liang reconnected with her years later in the mainland, where she now worked as an escort. She couldn't escape her human form, so she was forced to do the same thing her mom was accused of: luring men and tricking them. However, the governor ultimately drugged and mutilated her, turning Yan into a cyborg sex toy. She eventually killed him but realized Hong Kong was filled with other predators she needed to destroy too.
She approached Liang to help with her quest for revenge, and he turned her into a steampunk killer, with a flexible chrome body that allowed her to become a robotic fox. It was his way of getting back at humanity for its nasty ways while helping Yan become the symbol of justice she craved.
Having seen it all firsthand, Yan had gotten sick and tired of corruption, sexual abuse and the behavior of some males. She embraced her animal mode, no longer caring for her human form. It was much more subtle than Sonnie's kaiju. Yan glided around the city incognito, and Liang wished her "good hunting." The Love, Death + Robots episode ended with some men trying to rape a girl, only for Yan to leap off the roof and begin her official crusade against toxic masculinity.
Love, Death + Robots Vol. 2 releases on Netflix May 14. Vol. 3 will be released in 2022.
0 Comments