Inside Out 2

My "Jittery" Should Rarely Rotate Shifts with Its Companions. I first realized that my body couldn't fully relax during a consultation with a therapist. At the time, I was experiencing neck problems, and my left arm hurt so much that I couldn't lift it. The therapist squeezed my neck and said, "Your neck is so tight." Only after she said that did I truly realize that my neck was in an abnormal state of tension. This anxious, tense state had been with me for so long that I had assumed that this was just how my neck should feel.

The therapist kept saying, "Your shoulders and neck are so tense, you need to relax." The more she encouraged me to relax, the more anxious I became, and my body became even tenser. My neck and shoulders lost control of my brain, and my mind began to wander. I thought about something my mother often told me: "Straighten your back."

Whenever she said that, she would stretch out her hands to straighten my hunched shoulders and realign my forward-tilted neck.

If I relaxed my neck and shoulders, I would slouch; but if I slouched, it would worsen my posture and neck problems in the long run. In that moment, my neck and shoulders were in an awkward position: shrinking forward meant a life of relaxation and degradation, while pulling back meant a healthy and graceful future. I really wanted to tell the therapist: "My neck and shoulders have never relaxed in my life. What does it feel like to relax? I don't know."

Inside Out 2 continues the story from the first movie, mainly focusing on the protagonist Riley, who, after learning how to handle various emotions, faces the onset of puberty. Her emotions become more complex, more intense, and often uncontrollable. Her self-confidence plummets from its highest point to the lowest. On one hand, she is still a child who loves watching preschool cartoons; on the other hand, she admires the older girls with dyed hair and tries to make herself look just as cool. Anxiety and inferiority occupy her entire life, as she worries about not being good enough to gain her teacher's recognition, not being cool enough to fit into the clique, and feeling incapable of even enjoying her hobbies.

Who hasn’t gone through this phase of puberty? When I saw Riley get her first pimple, it reminded me of my own adolescence: pimples covering my face like a sea of flowers, and my friend used to say that if she went blind, she could identify me by feeling the bumpy texture of my forehead, just like a Snickers bar. My neck and shoulders first gave way during puberty, too. As one of the few girls in the class who developed early, I dressed like Madonna wearing a pointed cone bra at a concert. I felt strange and was afraid of being ridiculed. To hide those awkward cones, I started unconsciously hunching my back. My neck, which had once leaned forward, was never the same again—just like Riley, my "Jittery," "Awkward," "Disgusted," and "Longing" have been with me since puberty. I guess their control panels were designed on a viewing platform, just like my forward-tilted neck. From that platform, I can see the long river of awkward puberty memories floating below.

The design of Jittery is brilliant. From the outside, it already looks like it's anxious to the point of madness, but it always wants to do good. As a minor antagonist in the movie, it’s hard to dislike.

Because the forward-tilting neck impacts both image and work efficiency, I joined a gym to work on my back. Once my back was stronger, my neck stopped hurting, and I had more energy at work. But the more I worked, the more my neck tilted forward. This endless cycle continues. Anxiety has woven an invisible scarf around my neck, showcasing its "choking" techniques.

As a movie character, Riley is far luckier than real people. The movie uses a hockey game to help Riley find herself, while my self didn’t return to the control room until puberty ended, hormone levels stabilized, and I went through more life experiences. The multiple selves presented in the movie are more like compromises with my personality, giving up resistance to fate—this is just who I am, and I’ll let it be.

In the movie's final scene, the nine emotions finally compromise and share the control room. After puberty, Riley's emotional changes become more subtle and complex, signaling that as we grow up and become more self-aware, we also become more skilled at handling past emotions.

Unfortunately, the final part of the movie, where Riley's secrets locked away in her mind's "secret prison" never return, was a missed opportunity. When a person faces their true self, one significant feature is that they become more willing to accept their past shame. Perhaps Pouchy is modeled after someone on the creative team who loved watching "Dora the Explorer" as a child, or when we see Lance, we’re reminded of the long-haired characters in "Final Fantasy." The retro animation and game design of these two references made the whole theater laugh, setting the tone for the movie's audience: like "Inside Out 1," it's not just a children's movie but one made for adults who have faced themselves and experienced—or are currently experiencing—anxiety.

This article should’ve been called "A Life Dominated by My Neck" . Months ago, during a night of neck pain, I had already typed that title. Tonight, sitting in the theater with muscle-relaxing patches on my neck, pretending it feels fine, when I saw Jittery trying to control everything but losing control at the control panel, tears couldn't stop flowing.

I think the orange little figure at my control panel must be very tired. How’s your neck doing? I wish your neck wouldn't have to carry so many burdens anymore. Unfortunately, for most of us, our puberty was tougher than Riley's, and we unknowingly became hosts of anxiety. While American kids are worrying about fitting in with the cool girls, we’ve been worrying since first grade about whether we can get into a 985 or 211 university. This anxiety is refreshed every week with tests, and before "Disgust" can even touch the touchpad, "Jittery" takes control again. Anxiety makes us lean over our desks day and night, writing test papers, our necks always tilted forward toward an uncertain future. As we grow older, the desk turns into an office desk, the homework becomes a computer screen, but the neck still leans forward as we stare at the screen.

Many people in foreign countries like to teach people how to distinguish Asians, but they don’t need to focus on makeup, clothing, or height; those with the most forward-tilting necks are usually us.

This movie is very realistic: When you're anxious, it feels like your emotions can’t appear, and even crying feels like a mistake. When anxiety takes over, we can only reflexively hide our feelings, but "Disgust" just wants to cry when it touches the control panel, and yet it gets stolen by anxiety. The more anxious we are, the busier we get, sometimes completely lying on the sofa, giving up, but both emotions are fighting in our brain.

Do you remember Hu Shi’s diary? On July 4th, he was still anxious, encouraging himself to work hard and read Shakespeare's works. After playing cards for three days, anxiety took over again, and in his diary, he scolded himself for being lazy. He went back to playing cards the next day. This type of playing doesn’t even bring real joy, just like how our desks are filled with empty summer homework during the holidays, each day spent with anxiety.

This is me: sometimes anxious, sometimes disgusted. When I’m anxious, I quickly study for a while, and then I lie down again. It's like doing sit-ups with a Motorola flip phone.

When we are anxious for too long, we forget that as children, we once had pure joy. In the movie, "Joy" says, "I understand now, growing up means no longer needing joy." On one hand, the threshold for happiness increases—joy seems to have become harder to satisfy ever since I started pretending to be a cool teenager in puberty, pretending to leave behind my childhood happiness and join the adult world, drinking coffee and tasting life's bitterness. Over time, I even forget what real joy feels like. On the other hand, pure joy has become too extravagant, and enjoying it feels guilty. Anxiety and happiness follow each other, with the joy of food reminding us of the anxiety of dieting, the joy of vacations followed by the anxiety of returning to work, and the joy of love mixed with the anxiety of reality.

In the movie, Jittery has a screen that projects possible future disasters, and anxiety arises from imagining too many negative things, which makes it worse. People often say we should focus on the present and not worry about what hasn’t happened yet, but it's because of anxiety that we have the motivation to work hard and change our lives.

Finally Meeting "Inside Out 2" After Waiting for So Long After finishing watching it, there were quite a few surprises. "Love yourself, accept yourself, embrace all experiences and emotions" — a seemingly clichéd social topic, Pixar, in its own way, gives you that moment of refreshing embrace on a sudden summer day, gentle and subtly delightful.

In Inside Out 2 , Riley enters puberty, and her physical and emotional expressions become more complex and diverse. Corresponding to these changes, four new emotional elements are introduced, including anxiety (Anxi), envy (Envi), despair (Sigh), and embarrassment (Awkward). Among them, the character of Anxi, an energetic, orange, fluffy ball of anxiety that seems capable of doing anything, takes the lead and shines on the screen.

Why is Anxiety the main emotion in the second movie?

Riley enters a new phase of life in puberty, and on the one hand, her old close friends are about to separate from her, and the habitual security that friendship used to give her unexpectedly collapses. On the other hand, she longs to quickly build a new sense of security in this new environment, reaffirming her self-awareness that "I can be popular wherever I go."

Fear of uncertainty about the future, the need for self-worth, control, and insecurity all interact and amplify the effects of environmental change, making anxiety the main emotion Riley needs to confront during this time.

Anxiety makes Riley doubt herself as she gradually gets to know new friends. Of course, most of these doubts exist only in Riley's imagination. Analyzing it, one layer of anxiety is that our brain uses imagination to hurt ourselves. It is doubt about self-worth, the fear of being unable to control everything, and it has an internal consumption side.

But anxiety also makes Riley act more proactively in problem-solving situations. Those extremely active emotional factors start the maximum engine for solving problems. On one hand, the environment forces Riley to make changes, increasing her threshold for bearing pressure and expanding the possibilities in her life.

We all have once been deeply immersed in anxiety and have racked our brains to escape it.

The film's breakdown and dialectical presentation of anxiety offer the audience a chance to calmly observe "anxiety."

Does anxiety only have negative effects?

Even anxiety, for us, is a useful emotion, and all "negative emotions" have a positive side.

Emotions have no right or wrong; the belief in mastering emotions determines whether emotions nourish us as nutrients or torment us as monsters.

So what is the centripetal force that determines the direction of emotions?

At this point, the film leads to a more macro philosophical theme.

Under the anxiety from external stimuli threatening the self, how is the belief power that influences emotional guidance formed?

In the past, Riley's beliefs were formed around absolute positive emotional memories like "I'm good," "I'm kind," and "I can win." In reality, Riley also constantly faces moments of "I'm not good enough," "I can't achieve my goals," "I'm not perfect," and "I have flaws."

What is the real "me"?

I am both the "I'm good" me and the "I'm not good enough" me.

Not because I'm good, do I look up to myself, nor do I look down on myself because I'm not good enough.

We rejoice in the "good" me.

For the "not good enough" me, we find the root cause, deal with it realistically, fill in the gaps, and reconcile and accept it.

Know me, accept me, break me, and grow a new me.

Human growth is the ability to rebuild a broken self.

In the constant process of breaking and reshaping, we also become powerful adults.

Riley's belief tree is just beginning to sprout. The process of growing into a tall tree requires diverse nutrients, sunshine, rain, as well as storms and strong winds.

The seed of belief can only take root in real soil, become strong and powerful, embrace the sun, and grow into a towering tree, long-term sheltering the self in low valleys and difficulties.

In the end, did Riley join the training team? The film does not give a definitive answer.

Because in the tug-of-war between "I'm good" and "I'm not good enough," Riley has already realized what her real self is.

In the face of that true and powerful self, Riley is no longer afraid of any answer.

After watching Inside Out 2 , the first question my five-year-old child asked me was: What's the name of that blue-gray emotion figure who slumps on the couch with a phone? I was curious why his focus wasn't on the "big villain" Anxiety, but on "that phone-toting" Ennui.

Ennui, which in French is closer to "boredom" or "ennui," appears in the film with an "leave me alone" nonchalance, mirroring the discontent and contradictions typical of adolescence.

"You didn't notice? When Riley talked with new friends about their favorite bands, Anxiety and Embarrassment almost lost control, but then Ennui suddenly showed up and resolved the situation in a second," my chatty child explained, sensing my confusion.

To be honest, I initially paid no attention to Ennui, as his screen time was minimal throughout the story.

In Inside Out 2 , Riley is now 13 and entering adolescence. Her original emotions—Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust—are suddenly replaced by Anxiety, Embarrassment, Jealousy, and Boredom. Among these four new emotions, Anxiety becomes the main villain, frenetically imprisoning the original five emotions in an attempt to shape Riley's new life single-handedly.

Ennui, however, is the most unremarkable member of the new team. He "潜伏" (lies low) on the couch, exuding a teenage nonchalance. He even controls the emotion panel by downloading an app on his phone, too lazy to move an inch from the couch. In response to Anxiety's抓狂 (frantic) and dramatic reactions, he only musters minimal sighs, yawns, eye-rolls, or sarcastic quips and jeers.

Yet at critical moments, he suddenly stands up and declares, "I've been waiting for this moment." He then protects Riley's emotional experience by reducing the intensity of other emotions—when Riley worries about others' opinions, Ennui counters with sarcasm as a protective shield. When Anxiety and Embarrassment become overwhelming, Ennui moderates their intensity to ease the emotional burdens of teenage life.

In essence, when the five original emotions are trapped, it's the couch-potato Ennui who truly protects Riley at the control panel. His presence completes Riley's growth—boredom and apathy are also vital parts of adolescence.

Why Does Boredom Intensify During the Transition from Childhood to Adolescence?

Contrary to the plot of Inside Out 2 , boredom exists from childhood.

"I'm so bored!"—most parents have experienced children begging for play to relieve boredom. Often, we ignore children's boredom, treating it as their problem. In fact, dismissing boredom or advising kids to "do something else" stems from a misunderstanding—boredom isn't caused by having nothing to do.

Bored children know there are many things to do and want to satisfy their desires. Their distress lies in "how to act." When they ask us to solve the problem, it may reflect their true predicament.

As parents, our oxytocin-driven empathy typically rises only when children cry from illness. When we attribute their tears to boredom, oxytocin levels remain unchanged, leaving us unmoved. As a result, boredom in children under 10 rarely receives attention.

In Why We Get Bored? by pioneering psychologists James Dan克特 and John D. Eastwood, a study investigated boredom experiences among third- and fourth-graders and linked them to math and reading abilities.

The study found a significant correlation between boredom and reading skills: better readers reported lower boredom levels. This is because reading requires imagination to transform words into images and scenes into mental realities. Thus, strong reading skills may reflect higher imagination, which in turn strengthens engagement with texts. Children absorbed in this process are better able to avoid "boredom."

Adolescence: A Pivotal Period for Expressing Boredom

Cultures worldwide have adolescence-related rituals: in North Baffin Island, boys aged 11-12 follow fathers into the wilderness to learn hunting; in Vanuatu, 7-8-year-old boys jump from 30-meter towers with vine "bungee cords" to celebrate adulthood; in Chaoshan, Guangdong, 15-year-olds undergo a "Leaving the Garden" ritual, bathing in water with 12 flowers, wearing new clothes, and eating tangyuan and noodles to symbolize growing up.

These traditions share a common goal: culturally marking the transition from childhood to adolescence, a period when complex cognitive abilities gradually take shape.

Adolescents not only experience heightened emotional intensity and complexity but also develop abstract thinking and logical reasoning. However, emotional and cognitive development progress at different paces: hormonal surges rapidly reshape emotion-related brain networks, while cognitive and reasoning regions take a decade after adolescence to mature fully.

University of Pittsburgh researcher Ronald Dahl compares adolescence to "a novice driver starting the engine." Teens enter a complex maze: driven to express themselves and explore the world, yet unable to rationally control intense emotions, they repeatedly clash with adult-imposed rules and restrictions.

Teens must attend classes on time, with parents dictating extracurricular activities, playtime, and online entertainment. These limitations conflict with their strong desire for independence and self-determination.

Leo Tolstoy wrote in Anna Karenina , "Boredom is a craving for desire." From a psychoanalytic perspective, "boredom" arises when our innermost longings remain unfulfilled.

When teens sense growing abilities yet lack outlets to apply them, boredom thrives. This seems a cruel joke: the more capable we become of influencing the world, the more vulnerable we are to boredom.

Boredom: Fisherman or Cork?

Boredom is, in fact, a marker of self-awareness. Psychologist James Dan克特 aptly比喻 (compares) it:
"A cork floating on the sea, pushed by tides, is not an agent. A fisherman rowing against the current to reach shore is an agent. The cork can't determine its movement; the fisherman can. The cork has no intent; the fisherman has a goal. When boredom strikes, it tells us we've become a cork. Controlling our thoughts, choosing what to focus on, and successfully applying our cognitive abilities to chosen tasks—this is the foundation of agency. To escape boredom, reclaiming agency is key. We must stop being corks and become fishermen. Boredom is a call to action."

Imagine if our ancestors had been content with the status quo, lacking the drive for spiritual fulfillment, exploration, creation, and knowledge—wandering in the jungle daily. What would we be like today?

Boredom, like pain, doesn't intend harm but signals action. Without "boredom," humans would lack the motivation to apply cognition, unaware of our potential.

Boredom Drives Innovation

In the early 18th century, Humphrey Potter, a valve operator for Newcomen steam engines, faced mind-numbing work: repeatedly opening and closing valves on schedule. Unlike compliant colleagues, his boredom drove him to find a solution.

Noticing valves only needed opening at specific machine positions, Potter invented a rope device to automate the task. He succeeded, ending his tedious work and freeing time to play with his children. Driven by extreme boredom, he invented the catch, a major contribution to steam engine development. His device, named the "tiller," even made "tillering" a 18th-century synonym for "skiving."

Similarly, guitarist Jimi Hendrix's boredom fueled innovation:
Mike Bloomfield of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame–inducted Paul Butterfield Blues Band was stunned by a guitarist who played a Fender left-handed, reversing the strings from first to sixth to suit his dominant hand. After the show, Bloomfield cornered Jimi Hendrix: "Where have you been hiding, man?" Hendrix replied, "I've been touring the Chitlin' Circuit, bored to death. I haven't seen other guitarists do anything new."

Hendrix's answer hints at boredom's ultimate benefit—creativity. Restless, he revolutionized guitar playing.

In this sense, boredom is a creative motivator and a functional, adaptive signal warning humans not to waste their talents. This is a key research topic in today's AI discourse. MIT professor Cynthia Breazeal's robot "Kismet" and Pete Ha's CAIA are deliberately programmed with human-like boredom because boredom and motivation are inseparable.

The Self-Destructive Tendency Hidden in Boredom

The more bored people feel, the more they seek quick, simple rewards to escape it. Boredom has increasingly become the target of media companies, who reinforce the link between "feeling bored" and using digital devices. Phones are marketed as boredom-killers, but the more we use smartphones for distraction, the more bored we become.

San Diego State University social psychologist Jean Twenge notes that today's teens spend less time with friends and more on phones compared to previous generations. Yet teens who spend more time online, gaming, or on social media are less happy than those who socialize and exercise more. They're online but socially disconnected. Studies show that even a two-week Facebook hiatus boosts well-being.

Diving into social media creates a false sense of busyness, never satisfying our deep needs for self-determination and creating value. Escalating boredom correlates with青少年心理健康问题 (adolescent mental health issues).

Human self-destruction is aided by "boredom." People would rather self-harm than endure boredom—many smoke, drink, or use drugs, and when asked why, they cite boredom. This group feels bored more often than those who avoid harmful substances.

In a study by Brook University's Dr. Erin Sharpe on U.S. and South African teens, a slight increase in boredom was associated with a 14% higher likelihood of drinking, 23% higher for smoking, and 26% higher for marijuana use.

Sharpe also found that when bored, people use eating to feel occupied—putting food in their mouths creates the illusion of doing something.

In reality, boredom can be particularly threatening because it扼杀 (strangles) agency, making escape seem impossible, thus spiraling into despair and anger. Desperate people may lash out at the world—assembly line workers, school bullies, or Manner baristas stressed by stopwatch deadlines.

Theologian Nels F. S. Ferre astutely observed, "A person without true fulfillment in life does not desire peace. People pursue war to escape meaninglessness and boredom, to rid themselves of fear and depression."

Ultimately, humans crave meaningful connection to the world. When we actively engage, utilize cognitive abilities, express ideas, and control our environment, we keep the system running. Conversely, boredom means disconnection, and prolonged stagnation invites problems.

Finding Meaning in Boredom's Paradox

The world is full of interpretations: street signs, car horns, table textures, strangers' perfume—we unconsciously assign meaning to everything. In contrast, lacking life meaning leads to boredom.

Duquesne University's Richard Bargdill believes compromising on important life plans is key to chronic boredom. His interviews with frequent boredom sufferers found they fixated on abandoned life goals, blaming others or circumstances (bad teachers, unexpected illnesses) but also resenting themselves for giving up. Unable to fully engage in life, they grew pessimistic about future satisfaction, eventually becoming more negative, defensive, and withdrawn.

The garden design concept of miegakure (hidden interest) harnesses this search for meaning. It's an art of concealment and revelation, making you feel there's always more to discover. No single vantage point offers a full garden view; instead, visitors uncover it step by step.

Paradoxically, today's information overload has become noise, with false meanings masking inner quests—homogeneous content in information cocoons scrolls 24/7, online opinions blur truth and falsehood, and phones make the world seem transparently accessible yet infinitely distant.

"Killing time" online resembles how prison inmates describe "passing time"—a feeling of having nothing more meaningful to do. No wonder Jim Jarmusch, in Only Lovers Left Alive , has millennial vampires decry modern humans as soulless zombies.

Adolescents, prone to imagining future problems and caught in boredom-anxiety cycles, are clearly more disturbed by such noise.

Perhaps we should, like Riley in Inside Out 2 , accept all our emotions. Recognize that boredom can be a beneficial ability. Though a warning, it can only be escaped by transforming it into motivation and taking action.

What we do isn't crucial; the key is to move and engage.

Mini Spoiler

To get straight to the point, I had been looking forward to it for a long time, but it’s far inferior to the first one. The biggest problem is that the short length causes logical inconsistency, the space for dramatic conflict is too small, and it’s not fully developed. My first feeling after watching it was that it felt like watching a documentary about a white girl with severe "adolescent syndrome" from an American middle-class family. (And of course, her two friends are Asian and Black)

But I still recommend it to all minors, young adults, and adults.

Why?

I believe that movies, as a medium and art form, have a multifaceted mission. Some movies focus on being perfect in themselves: tight scripts, distinct cinematography, flawless filming techniques, and when you finish watching, you feel like “oh my god, it’s perfect, I feel like I missed something, I need to watch it again.” For these kinds of films, the real pleasure doesn’t lie in the two hours of viewing but in the ripple effects that follow—the research into the movie’s core and the thinking it sparks.

Other movies focus on providing "emotional value," where the best experience is in the viewing process itself, and even after you finish watching, you might not think about the movie again for a long time. This film, or rather, all Pixar films in recent years, have gradually shifted toward the latter, abandoning some depth in exploring themes and turning toward expanding breadth.

Just like this film trying to explore "puberty," "anxiety," "friendship," "self-acceptance," "parting," "embracing all emotions," and other themes I may have missed in 96 minutes. Even the Chinese essay exam in high school requires 150 minutes—if I were to write at my normal pace, I probably wouldn’t have started the essay, let alone explored all these topics.

The movie lays all these issues out in front of you, but unfortunately, it doesn’t offer any solutions. Suddenly, Riley reconciles with herself, joins the ice hockey team, and says goodbye to her friends. Those characters clearly resembling Claude and Sephiroth from video games, Dora’s backpack, the Soulkeeper, and Solomon Grundy’s monster, never appear again.

I wish the movie had handled the issues it raised in the same way it treated these characters—without fully resolving them—rather than just suddenly telling me, "You’ll be fine." Because we all know that reality is not like that. Growth doesn’t have clear answers, most growth is filled with regret and emptiness, even cruel and destructive. No one can guarantee that you’ll have a perfect ending. The conclusion of Toy Story 3 is the perfect illustration of "growth is both cruel and beautiful."

I digressed, said all these flaws, now it’s hard to circle back to why I recommend this movie. But you need many reasons not to like something, but only one to like it.

For me, that reason is simple: because we all have experienced it. It’s probably not the same thing exactly, but we’ve all had sleepless nights because of the chaos in our minds, we’ve all had to face separation, had those fleeting "scary" thoughts. We all bury memories we don’t want to touch, to fit in, we may dye our hair red or eat energy bars we don’t like.

I wish someone had told me at that time, "It’s okay, you’re not alone in going through this. Millions of people have gone through it, are going through it, or will go through it. No one can guarantee the ending will be good, but you’ll make it through. Mistakes can be corrected, immature thoughts can be changed. Just like the red hair you dyed, one day you’ll be strong enough to cut it off."

P.S. Please, do not buy a 4DX ticket. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with 4DX, but kids love 4DX. Besides the water spray, smoke, and shaking, you can also truly experience what it’s like to be in a surround sound environment with white noise.

In 2015, Inside Out captivated audiences with its extraordinary imagination, creating a "mind-blowing" and fascinating world. It not only won over a vast number of movie fans but also pushed Pixar to the pinnacle of the animation industry. In contrast, Pixar in recent years has experienced a noticeable decline in both box office performance and critical reception. Its first post-pandemic film, Onward , received mediocre reviews, and subsequent films like Luca and Turning Red were impacted by their direct-to-streaming releases. Lightyear and Elemental also faced poor reviews and box office performance. After experiencing several lows, Pixar finally achieved a moment of resurgence this year.

Inside Out 2 surpassed $700 million worldwide within just 12 days of its release, temporarily surpassing Dune 2 to become the top-grossing film of the year. For Pixar’s loyal fans, the nine-year wait was worth it. In terms of story structure and theme, the sequel is quite similar to the first film, but it introduces several new emotions, replacing sadness with anxiety—highlighting it as the most prominent emotional issue during adolescence. Even the final solution mirrors that of the first movie, where the integration of various emotions into self-awareness is key to growth. Even so, the sequel still showcases Pixar’s wildest imagination, such as the satirical rift valleys, streams of consciousness, and dreamlike paintings, vividly portraying the complexity of human thought and emotion. Beyond its immense entertainment value, it also brings poignant moments that are as touching as they are funny.

The most relatable aspect is the portrayal of the protagonist's anxiety attack. The young girl, from practicing ice hockey to playing in a match, constantly imagines the worst possible outcomes, ultimately becoming trapped in a state of losing herself. This form of anxiety isn’t just a phenomenon for teens in their puberty years; it’s something that even adult audiences can relate to. Adults can connect it to their own experiences, as the current environment is filled with immense pressure. “Involution” has long become an unwritten measure of success. Young, unmarried people entering the workforce naturally suffer from it, but even parents feel the pressure more deeply. Not only do they have to compete in the workplace, but they even have to "compete" with other families when it comes to their children. From this perspective, the film’s exploration of anxiety still carries sharp social relevance.

"Accepting your imperfection"—this core message has resonated throughout both films in the series. This idea, which extends from children’s lives to the adult world, delivers a gentle blow to our hearts. Undoubtedly, this is a valuable tradition hidden beneath Pixar's wild imagination in their animated films. Therefore, even though this sequel doesn’t break away from the first film to build an entirely new world, it still provides us with a rare sense of resonance. This is likely why the film has achieved such box-office success.