Filmmaker Reacts: Overwatch Animated Short - "Dragons" 

What Overwatch Short should I watch next?! Who is your fav character? Follow my Twitch, I'm streaming tonight!: twitch.tv/philiphartshorn Also check out my main RU-vid Channel with 170K subs: ru-vid.com

The feather symbolizes Genji from his "former" life as a Shimada. He was the youngest carefree son, His father used the word "Sparrow" to try to insult Genji but he adopted it as his alias. After their fathers death Hanzo is order by the elders to make Genji join the family or to kill him. The feather is used by Hanzo as an offering to him and later when Genji vanishes he leaves the feather to show his brother that he is still his younger brother he knew before.

There is a overwatch cinematic „The last bastion“ and there’s not a single dialouge but still touches you until the end.

i cry everytime i watch this, whenever there's an emotional story about brothers especially when there's conflict between them. the music and themes remind me of the farm scenes in the original ninja turtles live action movie. the brothers all get emotional taking care of Raphael and eventually having their powerful moment with Splinter around the campfire.

also, I'd recommend watching Gaku Space (Genji VA) react to this trailer, he provides powerful perspective to some moments and background. he mentions in his 'head canon', that Hanzo is the superior swordsman and warrior(he's the older brother after all), but gave up the sword for the bow after killing Genji. also! Genji's nickname (from his father) was 'Sparrow', so I'm assuming that's where the feather iconography falls in. both Genji and Hanzo can command the dragons of the Shimada clan(it's both of their Ultimate attacks), that's why Hanzo was in complete disbelief when Genji handled his. there's lots of banter between the VA in the game, and at least in the current dynamic Hanzo is still shown as set in his ways with Genji playing the 'bridge' as you said, for a new direction for his brother. most of the Overwatch lore is shown either through these cinematics or the in game dialogue, it's amazing how much they are able to communicate! fyi Hanzo wasn't very good meta wise in the first few seasons of Overwatch and it became a meme basically to call out people for picking Hanzo (Hanzo players had a tendency to stick with him no matter what). Genji was actually more useful in the right hands but has a very high skill ceiling, so another meme popped up because whenever a Genji player actually popped off ppl would ask them if they were a "pro genji". these days they both have huge carry potential in games but Hanzo is more often the viable pick. they are both insanely popular to this day and i love that for them! thank you for your videos and your passion. i look forward to every vid you post. you're awesome!!!

"let the dragon consume my enemies" "Take the blade of the dragon" That's what they say in japanese

Excellent video breakdown. This particular short still gives me goosebumps. Thematically, Genji and Hanzo were equally matched. They were both raised in the Shimada clan and trained as ninja, but while Hanzo took the family business (future Yakuza basically) more seriously, Genji adopted a playboy lifestyle and spent most of his time in arcades and karaoke. When Genji chose not to continue the family tradition, Hanzo was tasked to kill him. Unbeknownst to Hanzo, Genji survived and through a miracle procedure performed by Dr. Angela "Mercy" Ziegler of Overwatch, Genji lives on as a Cyborg. The feather iconography is indeed important, as it's a sparrow's feather. Genji's moniker as a ninja was Sparrow, whereas Hanzo was Wolf. It's why Hanzo brings a sparrow feather with him to Shimada Castle for his incense offering every year. In game, Hanzo saw a brief time in the meta where he saw a high pick rate, but Genji is the more viable option mechanically, though he does come at the cost of a higher skill ceiling. Hope this helped!

Overwatch is based on real Earth, so yes, that is Japan. Really enjoy your analysis and shot breakdowns. Keep it up 👍🏻

I really thought "The last bastion" would be the first Overwatch cinematic you would analyze. This one was great too for sure though.

The Last Bastion, Rise and Shine, and Honor and Glory have me excited for your next reactions 👀

14:13 Yes! Genji’s childhood nickname was “Sparrow” and I’m willing to bet the creators included this feather as a nod to that. Good catch!

Such an amazing analysis and reaction as usual! I love the subtle touch that there is a story (perhaps told by the father?) that parallels the history of the brothers. However, the fairytale ends with amends made and a reconstruction, while the brothers still have healing to do, emphasized with Hanzo declares “real life is not like the stories our father told us,” as if to deny the parallel tale. Genji refutes him, saying that there is always hope that the lesson can be learned - that there is always a chance at a happy ending, that they could be the dragons on the same side again. Perhaps a chance seized by choice.

Of all the Overwatch Cinematics, my personal favorites are probably "Honor and Glory", "The Last Bastion", and "Reunion".

You made me soooooo mad when the dragon said without him I am lost and you missed it with your big mouth

Looking forward to your analysis of all the other Overwatch shorts

i love that with your videos i see a lot of cool details for the first time (the embers that trasition in petals for exemple)

I was waiting for this!

Hi there, thanks for this react, it's pretty great! First of all, sorry for my bad english, i just wanted to add some little extras here. I'm not well versed in Overwatch lore, but as i remember and given what I tought about this short : -the story of the two dragons isn't just a flashback, as I know, it's a legend passed down to the children of the Shimada clan. If I remeber correctly, the legend says Shimada clan have dragon blood in it veins -if you ask about who's the stronger between the two brothers, actually we can say Genji can be stronger, but you must know Hanzo is originally a swordman. He stopped to use a sword when he nearly killed his brother (and that's why he used instinctively his bow as a contact weapon when he runned out of ammo) and, i don't remenber if it's one or the other, but the damaged katana you see in the short is genji's or the katana hanzo used to attack his brother -the last scene is so meaningfull for the futur of the brothers. You say the short is all about contrast and Genji is the bridge between the ancient and the modern world , so true. I just wanted to add that, event if they are worlds appart, the two brothers are turned to the city, as if hanzo forced himself to shut in in his past and regrets before, but started to heal (like what the "stranger" tried to say at the dragon in the tale)

This video is one of my favorites in the series because of its attention to detail regarding Japanese culture. I was a military brat and grew up in Japan until high school and that transition from the part about “victory turning to ashes” then the transition to the cherry blossoms is the greatest. The symbolic nature of life and death is represented in just a few seconds and sets the tone for the next scene when the two officially meet and stir up that conflict. In the beginning, it was peaceful between the brothers that turned to violence ending in Genshi’s death. At the start of their reunion, it’s conflict that resolves with acceptance, forgiveness, and love. In this short cinematic, Blizzard honored me, my upbringing, and paid respect to Japanese culture. That’s the most that I can ask of creators is to honor its source material.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE react to more overwatch cinematics! All of them have beautiful scenes and the production value is through the roof.

great video this is by far my favorite of the overwatch cinematics. but also Lore wise it was said that hanzo was actually the better swordsmith when it came to him and genji. but after "killing" genji he vowed to never pick up a sword again. that's why he uses bow and arrow now

This entire cinematic never fails to choke me up

I'm hoping you eventually check out the others. Especially Honour and Glory. I really think you'll love that one. And ''Alive'' as well.

So the feather is a nice touch lore wise, though you couldn't have known this from the short. Genji Shimada, the cyborg, was called "Sparrow" by his father kind of as an insult because of how carefree and laid back he was when he should've been more serious with his training. Genji then later took this nickname as his signature and now drops a sparrow's feather when he dissappears like this (for style points lol).

Hanzo is actually alot stronger than genji. Its like what they sayed in the backstory that hanzo ”killed” genji. Hanzo is like genji a sword specialist (but alot better that genji), but after he thought he killed genji, he switched to a bow for some reason, thats why hanzo didnt win.

The Last Bastion and Honor and Glory are probably the next best ones

The Last Bastion (Overwatch short) is a masterpiece. Love to see your analysis on it.

I hope you get to watch all the animated shorts. You can see the love and attention in all of them. as for my favorite its a toss-up between infiltration, reunion, and hero

one of my favorite cinematics

The story with the feather is that their father's nickname for Genji (the youger brother) was Sparrow.

Hanzo almost killed him. He was rescued by overwatch and made cybernetic upgrades on him. Thats why he's so steong

Pls react to all Overwatch shorts, they're all very good

nice would love to see more or maybe even all OW Cinematics. or even more from Blizzard in general. they've always made some of the best Cinematics

The narrator is hinted at being Hanzo and Genji's father, who told the story to his children when they were young. "Real life is not like the stories our father told us."

Genji done the Tobirama Senju lol you can have this back 🤣🤣

Hilarious how everyone now apparently is a “film maker….guitar teacher….vocal coach…”…SMFH

it's been years, but it's the same pompadour hair guy from the dragons (genji/hanzo) cinematic! (hanzo shoots the phone out of his hand as he tries to call for backup near the start of the cinematic) 🤣

The feather is a symbol or Genji's(Cyborg) childhood nickname, sparrow

Hanzo is stronger but using sword but he promise to not use sword when kill brother

Blizzard Cinematics are phenomenal in general.

Will you go back to any other Overwatch cinematics?

genji died but mercy revived him and he has advanced tech

I main/mained both Hanzo and Genji I always had pretty much the same amount of hours with them

AMAZINGGGG

There are so many of these shorts they are all amazing genji’s nickname is sparrow so I assume that’s what the feather was hanzo and genii disagreed on how to best lead there clan hanzo believed in the ways of hold like his father and genji wanted to lead them into the future and create new ways hanzo I’d the older brother and when they couldn’t agree they fought for control Hanzo ultimately won and assumed his brother had died at his hands

the sword in the room was hanzo's he was better with it than the bow and arrow but put it up because he used it kill genji

If you're a filmmaker, you should figure out what resolution, fps and bit rate is.

So... There is something called "Honor and Glory". Just saying, you know ;)

The last Bastion. The last BASTION . THE LAST BASTION. I WANT THE LAST BASTION AND I WANT IT NOWWWW.

Im sorry, but why talk and pause through the first watch of the cinematic? It takes away from what it can deliver, and they most certainly deliver. Watch it attention undivided then break it down, just a suggestion

I just want to point out that black shoulders over teal body is the Star Trek TNG uniform for sciences. .....and you're dissecting a video.

Rikimaru? Did I seriously just bump into someone who references the old Tenchu games? You get a sub for that alone :D And you are correct about the feather. Genji, the younger brother, was known as "The Swallow." When Hanzo, the older brother, burns incense to honor his fallen brother he sets a swallow feather beside the burner to signify his brother. Also as Genji exits another feather flutters into view. Good catch.