Line #5 Series/AmericanBornChinese2023


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e7715650_eaeb_4330_8cee_d18dcd33bced.jpeg]]
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3	''American Born Chinese'' is a 2023 fantasy action series developed by Creator/KelvinYu and executive produced by Yu, Creator/JakeKasdan, Creator/DestinDanielCretton, and Creator/GeneLuenYang, loosely based upon Yang's [[ComicBook/AmericanBornChinese graphic novel]] of the same name. It stars Ben Wang, Jim Liu, Creator/MichelleYeoh, Creator/DanielWu, Yeo Yann Yann, Creator/ChinHan, and Creator/KeHuyQuan.
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5	The series follows Jin Wang, an Asian-American teen struggling to fit in, as he is drawn into a struggle of mythic proportions with the arrival of a new foreign exchange student. The series premiered on Creator/DisneyPlus May 24, 2023. In January 2024, it was announced the series was canceled after one season, with the creative team planning to shop it to other outlets.
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7	'''Previews:''' [[https://youtu.be/05CFtFdwGr0 In Production Featurette]], [[https://youtu.be/OA4NO0XQDxc Locker Reveal teaser]], [[https://youtu.be/RAeemjfVvM0 Worlds Collide teaser]], [[https://youtu.be/YrV3pOo3ycU Official Trailer]]
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9	----
10	!!''American Born Chinese'' includes examples of the following:
11	* ActionizedAdaptation: The original comic was largely introspective and contained relatively little action, while the series has a heavy focus on martial arts and a war between gods.
12	* ActorAllusion: Jamie Yao was an actor who gave up acting and started working behind the scenes, much like Creator/KeHuyQuan did for several years.
13	* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: With her increased prominence, Amelia now has issues struggling with her StageMom's visible interest in pushing her daughter into acting regardless of her wishes and relates to Jin's own parental angst.
14	* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: In the graphic novel, Wei Chen was sent to live among humans without sin for forty years to train him to follow in the footsteps of his father, Sun Wukong. After his falling out with Jin, he abandoned his mission out of disgust for humans' self-centeredness. In the TV series, Wei Chen ran away from home and now hides among humanity because he had a prophetic dream about a divine uprising and thinks Jin can help him stop the coming war.
15	* AdaptationalNationality: Wei Chen's human identity, originally a Taiwanese national in the source material, is now identified as a Chinese national instead.
16	* AdaptationPersonalityChange: Suzy is an activist type and is the leader of various school clubs who will stand up on lunch tables to deliver impassioned speeches that embarrass Jin greatly, whereas in the comic she was a very subdued girl.
17	* AdaptedOut: Chin-Kee, the extremely stereotypical Chinese cousin [[spoiler:who turns out to be the Monkey King in disguise]], is absent from the series. Instead, his broader role as a microcosm of anti-Asian racism in western media is filled by Freddie Wong, a character from a ShowWithinAShow who serves as an in-universe equivalent of Long Duk Dong from ''Film/SixteenCandles'' (i.e. a stereotypical fictional Asian who inspires racist insults from white fans).
18	* AdvertisingByAssociation: The Worlds Collide trailer proclaims the series is "From the director of ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings''".
19	* AllPartOfTheShow: The climactic battle between the Bull Demon and Wei-Chen takes place in front of an audience at a soccer game. Everyone thinks it's an opening act put on by the cosplay club.
20	* AscendedExtra: Jin's parents were barely present in the original graphic novel, but here get more focus and characterization.
21	* AspectRatioSwitch: In the first episode, the Heavenly Realm is portrayed in 2:35:1, Earth is in 1:85:1, and the in universe series ''Beyond Repair'' is in 4:3.
22	* AwfulWeddedLife: Jin's parents. Christine is frustrated with Simon for his timidness and reluctance to ask for raises and promotions. Simon resents the criticism from someone who [[{{Housewife}} has no job at all]].
23	* BigBad: Season 1 has Niu Mowang, the Bull Demon and the former BestFriend turn ArchEnemy of Sun Wukong who wants revenge on him and Heaven for denying him the position of Great Sage. [[spoiler:The SequelHook sets up Mowang's wife, Princess Iron Fan, being the one who kidnapped Jin's parents]].
24	* BigGood: Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, who supports Wei-Chen on his mission to find the Fourth Scroll.
25	* BilingualBonus: In the first episode Jin hears his parents arguing over "fried squid" in Chinese. The term for fried squid (炒鱿鱼 or chǎo yóuyú) is also an expression for getting fired. This is mentioned by Wei-Chen later in the episode, but eagle-eyed Chinese-speaking viewers may pick up on it earlier.
26	* CatchTheConscience: Bull Demon is a shapeshifter hiding in a crowd at a soccer game, [[spoiler:so Jin and Wei-Chen draw him out by putting on a play that depicts him in a very unflattering light, provoking him into revealing himself.]]
27	* CanonForeigner: Anuj, Jin's primary friend before the start of the show, is show original to inform Jin's updated interests and demonstrate his self-absorbed tendencies over his insecurities from being a Chinese-American ClosetGeek.
28	* CompanyCrossReferences:
29	** [[Series/TheMandalorian Baby Yoda (Grogu)]] is mentioned in episode 2.
30	** Jin calls [[DrunkenMaster Ji Gong]] [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean "Chinese Jack Sparrow"]].
31	** Some Creator/MarvelComics can be seen in the background of Jin's room, though interestingly, Creator/DCComics, Creator/ImageComics, and manga are more represented.
32	* CondescendingCompassion: Principal Finney starts out by pronouncing Jin’s last name as “Wang” rather than Wong, she pairs up Jin and Wei-Chen because they “have a lot in common”, and then in episode 7 when Jin’s parents are called in for a meeting about him getting into a fight with the school mascot she blatantly uses cultural misconceptions to describe her theory about Jin’s predicament at home.
33	* CoordinatedClothes: Subverted. Jin wears the jean jacket he shoplifted to school the same day Wei-Chen wears an identical one. The latter draws attention to it, making the former feel embarrassed instead of cooler like he wanted it.
34	* CreativeClosingCredits: The end credits of each episode feature a montage of Gene Luen Yang’s sketches of characters from the graphic novel.
35	* CulturalCringe: Jin towards Chinese and other Asian culture. He doesn't bring Chinese food to school and doesn't discuss manga in front of white people. So he's very uncomfortable when the principal pairs him with Wei-Chen and when the Culture Club shows support to him after Greg posts the racist Freddy Wong meme on him.
36	* DragonTheirFeet: After the [[spoiler:climactic battle at the soccer game]], Jin comes home only to find [[spoiler:Princess Iron Fan on his couch. She reveals she's kidnapped his parents.]]
37	* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Jin performs a HeroicSacrifice to prevent the Iron Staff from connecting Heaven with the mortal realm. He survives, most likely thanks to being the [[LivingMacGuffin Fourth Scroll]].]]
38	* EthnicScrappy: Like Chin-Kee in the original comic, the character of Freddy Wong from ''[[ShowWithinAShow Beyond Repair]]'' is an intentional reference to characters considered this in universe.
39	* EveryoneHasStandards: Ji Gong helps Wei-Chen escape after being disgusted by Bull Demon's unnecessary brutality.
40	* FormerTeenRebel: Present-day Sun Wukong is a member of the Jade Emperor's inner circle and is a stern, mature father. He's very different from the rebellious prankster we see in the flashback and the original stories.
41	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: During the reunion episode of his OldShame sitcom, Jamie Yao gives a monologue saying he hopes Asian kids watching know that they don't have to be jokes and hopes for better representation in the future.
42	* LivingMacGuffin: [[spoiler:Jin is revealed to be the Fourth Scroll in episode 8.]]
43	* OfficialCouple: Jin [[spoiler:and Amelia become this after much flirtation in the Season Finale]].
44	* OnlyInItForTheMoney: The reason Jamie Yao agrees to do a reunion episode of a show where he played an in universe EthnicScrappy.
45	* {{Otaku}}: Jin is shown to decorate his room with anime and manga merchandise and has a knowledge of popular manga. He is out-geeked by his friend Anuj who is part of the Cosplay Club.
46	* PlotParallel: Wei-Chen and Jin's increasingly tense friendship is reflected in [[spoiler:the Monkey King and Bull Demon's own fractured relationship with an assertive headstrong man and his more introverted and awkward friend. The second pair serves to show the worst possible outcome for the two teenage boys who come to know each other over the course of the show. This is best showcased in the finale when Jin acting as the Bull Demon makes a speech about his flaws and insecurities that could easily as well apply to him]].
47	* PragmaticAdaptation: The series only carries over the characters and initial premise of [[ComicBook/AmericanBornChinese the original graphic novel]], with the story being substantially different. According to [[https://web.archive.org/web/20230520110054/https://time.com/6281202/american-born-chinese-disney-interviews/ an article]] from ''Magazine/{{Time}}'' magazine, the radical overhauling was done in order to reflect how much American society had changed since the book's publication in 2006, with the new story aiming to recontextualize its core ideas for an audience nearly 20 years removed from that of the source material.
48	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Sun Wukong gives one to the gods and smashes the Peach of Immortality. Ao Guang admires his courage and makes him the Great Sage.
49	* RedOniBlueOni: Wei-Chen is the more energetic and confident Red Oni to Jin's more reserved Blue Oni. This becomes a major source of tension.
50	* {{Retraux}}: Sun Wukong's flashback about his past with Bull Demon is presented as a late [=70s=] TV show, including a title sequence and credits and effects and framing more like a television production from then.
51	* SequelHook: After [[spoiler:Bull Demon's uprising is stopped]], Jin comes home to find [[spoiler:his parents missing and Princess Iron Fan revealing she kidnapped them]].
52	* SettingUpdate: The original graphic novel was set contemporaneously to its 2006 publication date. The TV series, accordingly, bumps up the time period to its own contemporary era, TheNewTwenties.
53	* ShoutOut:
54	** Jin's room is filled with pop culture ephemera, such as more ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' merchandise, figurines of (''Franchise/{{Injustice}}'') ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' and ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'', and various comic books and manga including volumes of ''ComicBook/AntMan'', ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'', ''Manga/DragonBall'', ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'', ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', and all the volumes of ''ComicBook/{{Amulet}}''.
55	** ''ComicBook/SwampThing'' comics are mentioned in episode 2, with artist Mike Perkins being explicitly mentioned. Jin's father is also revealed to be a big fan of ''Music/BonJovi''.
56	** Jin is shown wearing a [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pikachu]] hooded onesie in episode 3 as part of his soccer team hazing. He's also made to sing [[Music/LuisFonsi "Despacito"]] while in it.
57	** In Episode 4, Sun Wukong's extended flashback is a tribute to ''Series/{{Monkey}}'', right down to starting with an "intro" that copies the show's imagery and uses a similar song.
58	** Anuj cites ''Manga/DragonBall'' and ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}'' as examples of how Sun Wukong's story has been adapted countless times in comics.
59	* ShowWithinAShow: ''Beyond Repair'', an old sitcom about a man who runs an apartment building and his tenants.
60	* SoapboxSadie: Suzy Nakumura and the Culture Club, who lead protests about a video of Jin that became a racist meme, much to the introverted Jin's displeasure.
61	* SocialMediaIsBad: An old 90's sitcom becomes a racist meme on social media. Jin is later the target of one of those memes.
62	* SomeOfMyBestFriendsAreX: Amelia's friend tries to assure Jin she can't be racist because she's a fan of ''Music/{{BTS}}''. Amelia quickly tells her to stop.
63	* StylisticSuck: The old sitcom ''Beyond Repair'' is presented as being very hackneyed. In-Universe, the main reason it's gone memetic online is solely because of the character Freddy Wong, a Chinese stereotype who serves as the show's ButtMonkey and suffers numerous AmusingInjuries.
64	* UnwantedAssistance: After an embarrassing incident in episode one is turned into a racist meme, the culture club attempts to rally around Jin in episode 2, much to his chagrin.
65	* VaguenessIsComing: Yeoh’s character mentions that “dark forces” are approaching in the Worlds Collide trailer.
66	* WeUsedToBeFriends:
67	** Kicked off with Jin and Anuj, the latter of which distances himself from him after Jin did nothing to stop Travis from pulling a cruel prank on Anuj. They reconcile in the later episodes, and Anuj goes as far as to help Jin and Wei-Chen stop the Bull Demon in the Season Finale.
68	** [[spoiler: Sun Wukong and Bull Demon were once supportive best buddies before the former was named the Great Sage.]]
69	* WireFu: In the Worlds Collide teaser, Yeoh’s character is seen gliding into a forest, like a character in a {{Wuxia}} film.
70	* YearOutsideHourInside: Wei-Chen returns to Heaven with his father but leaves after a day. Jin tells him that he's been gone a whole month.
71	* YouAnsweredYourOwnQuestion: When Jin tries to defend himself after he questions Anuj for distancing himself from him, he basically tells him he "didn't do anything" regarding the cruel prank that Jin's soccer teammate, Travis, did to Anuj. Anuj points out those ExactWords to him: he didn't do anything, as in he didn't do anything to ''stop'' Travis from bullying Anuj.

Context Series / AmericanBornChinese2023