Kaze no Matasaburou

Introduction

A foreign transfer student from the city arrives one day in a Japanese country town. Enchanted by his air of mystery, his classmates nickname him "Matasaburou the Wind Imp" after a local legend. Eventually they become friends and spend many days playing in the countryside. One windy day, Matasaburou returns to the city, leaving his classmates to speculate that he really was Matasaburou the Wind Imp and that he flew away on the wind.

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Audience ratings

MyAnimeList : 5.89/10 · 745

MyAnimeList : 64.22/100 · 196

MyAnimeList : 59/100

Audience reviews

2 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.

zettai-jin-stray

Adapting a short story by Kenji Miyazawa, Rintaro brings his A game, even though a modest and unassuming project. The presentation is dreamlike with impressionistic backgrounds, flat, solid coloring without outlines, and simplistic 80’s synth music. It has a nostalgic feel, not simply for being an old, unpopular OVA, but as the story was published in the 30’s, having a hazy feel and storybook-like visuals were fitting. I personally loved the drama Rintaro created with the use of long takes and flat compositions, there’s a lot of stillness to the animation too. The children voice acting felt authentic. For the story, the transfer student coming to a rural location is a curious thing. While it might seem like this rural location is subject to this foreigner like boy who can read Japanese a…

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Kamezuki

A decent children's story appropriate for bedtime, featuring the voices of Mayumi Tanaka (Saburou) and C.W. Nicol (Narrator). Based on a story by author Kenji Miyazawa, the plot basically follows the synopsis above: a mysterious red-haired boy, Saburou Takada, starts attending a rural school, and his appearance and actions pique the curiosity of his fellow students, one of whom insists that Saburou is actually a wind god from an old legend. After their initial reluctance to get to know him, the kids eventually befriend and play with Saburou, and then an incident occurs that reaffirms the main kid's belief that Saburou is indeed the wind god. At the end, Saburou leaves the school just as suddenly as he came... like the wind. The animation style is unique in that it is limited and the cha…