Genre: Coming of Age, Comedy, Fantasy, Action-Adventure.
Created by Kelvin Yu
Based on American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Starring: Ben Wang, Yeo Yann Yann, Chin Han, Ke Huy Quan, Jimmy Liu, Sydney Taylor, Daniel Wu & Michelle Yeoh.
Music by Wendy Wang
Executive producers: Kelvin Yu, Destin Daniel Cretton, Asher Goldstein, Jake Kasdan, Melvin Mar, Erin O’Malley, Gene Luen Yang.
Producer: Samantha Brooks
Cinematography: Brett Pawlak, Alan Poon
Editors: Gina Sansom, Yu Jung Hou, Jane Choi Albanez, Louis Lee, Matthew Barbato
Production companies: Mister John, The Detective Agency, Family Owned, 20th Television
Network: Disney+
Plot: Jin Wang, an average teenager, juggles his high school social life with his home life; when he meets a new student on the first day of the school year, even more worlds collide as Jin is unwittingly entangled in a battle of Chinese mythological gods.
Season 1 of American Born Chinese was Great.
Pros: I like having a series focusing on all the characters are Chinese and the culture being represented redline. I adored both Jin Wang and Jimmy Liu as a pairing. The action in this series were so well done. Both Michelle Yeoh & Ke Huy Quan do go strength to strength as actors in there separate performances and This series will leave you with so much tear-jogging, heart-warming and enjoyable moments.
Cons: Too bad we didn’t get a lot of Michelle Yeoh in action sequences throughout the season. A lot of the Chinese Dialogue was difficult to under stand sometimes and that’s it.
Casts & Characters:
Main:
- Ben Wang as Jin Wang, an American born Chinese 10th grader at Sierra Mona High School
- Yeo Yann Yann as Christine Wang, Jin’s mother
- Chin Han as Simon Wang, Jin’s father
- Ke Huy Quan as Jamie Yao, a former actor known for playing the accident prone Freddy Wong in the sitcom Beyond Repair
- Jimmy Liu as Wei-Chen, the son of Sun Wukong
- Sydney Taylor as Amelia, Jin’s love interest
- Daniel Wu as Sun Wukong, a Chinese legendary figure commonly known as Monkey King
- Michelle Yeoh as Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy
Recurring:
- Mahi Alam as Anuj, Jin’s best friend outside of soccer who is a part of the Cosplay Club at Sierra Mona High School
- Stony Blyden as Andy, one of Jin’s soccer friends
- David Bloom as Josh, another one of Jin’s soccer friends
- Justin Jarzombek as Travis
- Brian Huskey as Mr. Larkins, Jin and Amelia’s Biology 2 teacher at Sierra Mona High School
- Larry Bates as Coach Garrett, the boys’ soccer coach at Sierra Mona High School
- Sophie Reynolds as Ruby, Amelia’s friend
- Josh Duvendeck as Danny / Marty K. Morris
- Leonard Wu as Niu Mowang
- Ronny Chieng[a] as Ji Gong, commonly known as the Mad Monk
Notable guest stars:
- Rosalie Chiang as Suzy Nakamura, a student activist and the president of the Culture Club at Sierra Mona High School
- Brian Le as Zhu Bajie, also referred to as Pigsy
- Lisa Lu as Ni Yang
- Poppy Liu as Princess Iron Fan
- James Hong as Jade Emperor
- Jimmy O. Yang as Ao Guang, commonly known as the Dragon King
- Stephanie Hsu as Shiji Niangniang
I highly recommend watching this season only on Disney+.
Rating: 9 out of 10 Stars
Ryan Balkwill:
Resident TV reviewer,
Level Best Art Cafe