Audience reviews
9 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Said_enough
Avant-garde anime often portray thought-provoking plots with rich themes, and more often than not, become social commentaries. This 30-minute film can be considered among them. Produced by a single person way back in 1985 (damn missed that 1984 dystopian mark) on a low budget, needless to say, its production value is negligible- art, animation and OSTs are barebones. So for sakuga lovers, apologies, but there is not much for you in the visual department. However, for those looking for intriguing plot elements with minimalistic yet bizarre, raw imagery in its crudest form, you are probably in for a treat. And there’s no dearth of symbolic imagery in this short film which I would love to talk about:
SPOILERS AHEAD:
Nido to Mezamenu Komoriuta is set in 1960s Japan- an era that witnessed…
Read at the sourcerefrainofmemory
Kiryū City in Gunma Prefecture, post-war Japan: The misfortune of being born into poverty is something Toothy Boy knows all too well, or rather, was forced to know. We have traditional houses, poor families, diseases around the corner, deplorable living conditions, you know, the life-long status quo under capitalism. But this is indifferent to Toothy Boy. What time does he have to dwell on such matters when half the classroom makes of him, poor undeserving orphan squab in this cursed land, a monstrous toothy caricature? Of course none. Learning to keep quiet and to guard anger will be his inevitable fate for as long as he can resist. But what does it matter? We have the first train station built and the newest super express train of the moment in a de-industrialised Japan. Progress is comi…
Read at the sourceInudrew
In my opinion, I found Death Lullaby to be less of a political showcase of the new age of Japan outgrowing the old ways and more of a talk on how bullying can affect great change around a person's psyche.
I saw this short film as more of from the pov of the young boy who is weak and powerless to the effects of the bullies and it's mirrored by the times of change and the powerlessness of the citizens trying to overcome constant advances in society and how they impact the old.
Hiroshi Harada has also said in an interview that he suffered from bullying a lot as a kid and this short was the experimental graduate film that he did to express all the pain and suffering from those experiences.
And he also wanted to showcase how in the adult world it's still a very commonplace thing that the…
Read at the sourcematthigh
Wow. This is a really rough show to watch. I will say up front that it is not very good, but its importance definitely outweighs its quality.
It took one man (Hiroshi Harada) three years to create this 25-minute movie on his own. It's amateur. And crude. With lots of quick cuts and weird scenes, which only add to its experimental nature. After he finished this, he went on to adapt one of the most famous "guro" anime of all time: Mr. Arashi's Freak Show (also almost a one-man effort, and probably the most difficult anime I've ever watched).
"Guro" is a genre of anime you don't hear of much in America - basically it is the fetishization of gore, intentionally being as explicit, bloody and offensive as possible. This work definitely edges into that direction, even if there's not much actu…
Read at the sourceNordaviento
People saying this isn't worth your time just have no taste in avant-garde art, so if you do like surrealist and experimental stuff definitely give this a watch. The first song that plays should be more than enough to engage you.
It was made by Harada as a grade final project and you can really tell because of the quality overall but it serves right to add to the charm. It's more of an art-driven story than the other way round. The way characters speak and act add the perfect dose of surrealism, and the only English subs available are so badly translated that it enhances the psychotic feeling of the whole OVA.
The socio-political message and background about the protests and airport construction makes for an interesting thought, too, but to me it's mainly the audiovisual part where it…
Read at the sourceluaneazy
Ignore the negative reviews. This little short is great and I feel that it served its purpose well. The protagonist was as compelling as a protagonist can practically be in a work so short that also includes a portrayal of industrialization/modernization. With that said, the work is heavily conceptual and relies on emotional appeal (rather than direct commentary) to deliver its content. As for the sound and art, one can only be so critical of an animation from 1985 with this style. Although flawed, the art and sound did the intended job. Overall, it was definitely enjoyable; I'm glad someone showed it to me before I disregarded it based on reviews.
Read at the sourceSidewinder51
Rate a 4
English Subtitled
Story
Not impressed nor saddened per-say. I this animation was designed to illustrate suffering taking place during certain modernization periods in Japan. While on one hand government meant well by issuing a more relaxed life it was coming at a big cost for those in the surrounding area of the construction. Solitude for those few towns were being coming a thing of the past. Looking at clear skies again a thing of the past. Heck even sleep was a problem. Many stresses they were faced it is no wonder they ended up revolting. While this is informative but this only relates best to reality and not the anime.
In the anime non of this goes on per-say even though live footage of it is used. The anime details the encounter or a life documentary of someone's troubles.…
Read at the sourceChinaz
This is f * cked up movie, to be completely honest with you guys.
The synopsis talks about a boy that suffers bullying, but that's not the main focus in this movie. This film has other focus without being properly the bullying problem. I do not quite understand the movie but since the score is low and it was reviewed by such low people, it is the normal that the current anime community (Bleach, Nanatsu no Taizai, whatever..) does not kinda understand since this movie is old for this current era. It has sometimes the 360 ° animation (when the camera rotates around the character) but excluding that, it has such a poor animation (it is so bad that MyAnimeList doesn't know many information indeed).
If you have this as a Plan to Watch do not watch this, just drop this movie or else erase it f…
Read at the sourcetentaclecrown
so, I'm not quite sure at all what they were trying to do with this movie but to me it feels totally disjointed and without coherence for the most part. it also feels like a mind-control device at times,with all of the flashing and propaganda. storywise, (SPOILERS) it claims to be about a boy who get's bullied; a boy does get bullied but this isn't necessarily the focus, as this feels secondary to the anti-modernization of Japan statements and imagery. Artwise, this at times, looks striking and has very interesting animation style, but at other times, the art leaves something to be desired and the animation is done "treadmill-style" with the environment running through the character. sound was only ok, some odd choices for sfx noises, but no real complaints
there is no character developme…
Read at the source