Audience reviews
10 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
YuksMeNow
Confusing story, and even though there are similarities between this film and the story called "Urashima Taro", it's not a very faithful story.
STORY: 4/10
Like I said, it's pretty confusing. Fisherman goes to sea, fisherman and boat fell down, fisherman ride on turtle and go to palace?, fisherman walk with fishheads?, the princess uhh, and the fisherman go back to land, fisherman is old age. Confusing. It's like it's a rushed version of Urashima Taro. I'm not gonna set it as spoiler because this is the usual folk tale.
ART: 4/10
Kind of weird. The characters look cartoony, while the sea animals look very real. The art is kind of bland, but it's a 1918 film, so yeah. The animations are, a bit rough, but I'll give that a pass, since it's from the 1910s.
CHARACTERS: 3/10
No character dev…
Read at the sourceKludd_is_best
Now to be honest I don't get it why this anime is so low ranked. Sure it's not perfect like also probably cause it was digitaly recreated the voice is lost since you do see characters moving mouth, and again it's quit short, but it's animated beaitufully and does have a story.
I guess the story is a guy trying to find something and returns back as a old guy.
The characters are likable I guess.
Again the biggest pity is the missing sound but it's not ruining the enjoyment of the anime.
Despite being 1 minute of run time its short but sweet so I do absolutly recomand watching this one.
Read at the sourcekahlil1hapy32
The short that is supposedly titled "Urashima Taro" is a difficult one to talk about as the one that is on Myanimelist was a different movie that had no title or year attached to it, but there was another short that was released around that same time that also was an Urashima Taro anime, but it was not only made by Seitaro Kitayama, but also had a different plot and animation from the found short. So I will do a sort-of double review of both of the Urashima Taro shorts.
Supposed:
Story: The story of this short is pretty much similar to the folk story of Urashima Taro. If you've read Rip Van Winkle, then the story is somewhat similar. However, the story does feel like an abridged retelling of the original given that it's only in a minute, and it feels a little barebones because of it.
An…
Read at the sourceJapan_lover888
It was another great, sure it wasn't perfect, compared to other older animes the animation was a bit janky, not as smooth as the first two in the history of anime. Story sadly does not exsist, but kinda is expecet in old ones. Also no sound as per usuač. The character is good, and the background is good, just as I said janky animation, not a smooth one. But its nice to see hand drawn, and it is beatifully hand drawn, but again the execution could be better. But the entertaining value is there and that's what matter. I would recomend to give it a watch, and the animation really dosen't ruin the experience.
Read at the sourceAboocalypse
Ready to be confused? Okay!
A common issue with early film (not just Japanese animation) is that you'll find more than one version of the same concept, named the same thing. This is especially true with famous fairy tales or stories, or with really successful films that other studios will rip off. Urashima Taro is considered a classic Japanese fable, and there are a lot of versions. This particular version is tinted pink and lasts a minute and 40 seconds (You can find it legally and for free here: https://animation.filmarchives.jp/en/works/view/72126
If that wasn't bad enough for discourse, it gets worse! For years, THIS film was thought to be a film made in 1918 by Seitaro Kitayama, but recently, it was discovered in a magazine from that time, that this isn't the same Urashima Taro as th…
Read at the sourcejuvilty
English Version: Unfortunately there are people who still confuse this 1918 animation with other versions, but it is easy to find the original version that has only 1 minute
It's kind of confusing because it's 1 minute, but you can easily understand the story
The art is black and white (which is common in old films) and sometimes blinks and there are flashes of light that leave everything white, except that it is good for the time
And it plays a nice little song to listen to and very beautiful
The characters are seen in a rush for having 1 minute, the short shows very well the kindness of the boy
And this is what I think about Urashima Tarou
Goodbye!
Versão em Português: Infelizmente tem pessoas que confundem ainda essa animação de 1918 com outras versões, mas é fácil achar a versão origi…
Read at the sourceAnchientProphet2
Having accidentally seen the 1931 version, I finally came upon the real, 1918 version, and as a fan of very antiquated things, I loved it!
Though from the silent era, when animation was less about even using cell, which had not really come around yet even in america, and simply about what seemingly amounted to motion capturing different pictures- frame, after frame, after frame.
BUt growing up with claymation shows as a child, I dont hate this.
ON my quest to see much anime, I of course could not pass up any of the oldest still available to watch, and I encourage others to not pass up the opportunity to watch this near ancient piece.
Though lacking in aesthetics, it was funny to see the way the animators created the illusions of aquatic life underneath our fisherman protagonist, as well…
Read at the sourceassholisms
The other reviews mentioned the existence of three tellings of the same story so I won't harp on it too much, just mind that this review is for the 1918 animation (the one in the thumbnail) by Seitaro Kitayama.
The story is very short so there's not much to say about it, really. In this version, a boy capsizes at sea and meets a kind talking sea turtle who invites him to live under the sea and is then returned to firm land many years later as an old man.
The art and animation are simple but get the job done, this version doesn't make excessive use of transitions like at least one of the later tellings of the story which is great, and it doesn't meander like most other retellings of Japanese folk tales.
It keeps it short and sweet and is, at worst, inoffensive. Just okay. 6.
Read at the sourceSidewinder51
Important Information to know in regard to this anime. There are three versions.
1918 (this one) directed by KITAYAMA, Seitaro (depending on source varies on time from 1 minute to 2) I found it to be a little over a minute.
1931 directed by Miyashita, Manzo (a little over a minute long)
1952 directed by KATAOKA, Yoshitaro ( about 5 minutes long/ HAVE NOT SEE THIS YET WILL CHANGE IF NEEDED WHEN I DO SEE IT)
rate a 3
Japanese raw(mind you there is just a title page. Otherwise there is no words nor voices)
art film Story/art
-Fast Paced. Too fast to follow along with what is going on.
-Art is what i think to be Kinemacolor. Which to me is a more refined looked to the black and white outlook.
- Art looked nice and crisp
Sound - silent film
Character
no use of text or voices plus fast mo…
Read at the sourceaniMayor
First of all, please note that there are multiple versions of Urashima Taro. This MAL entry is for the 1918 silent short film, and it is only about 60 seconds long. If you are watching a version with narration, with any sort of sound, or that is longer than a minute (as I suspect the other review here was) this is the wrong MAL page.
With that out of the way, Urashima Tarou is (as of this writing) the 3rd-oldest Japanese animated film known to exist and obviously a very early prototype of what anime would one day become, and I will attempt to judge it within the context that it was made, not compare it to later anime.
The plot itself is an engaging one - a simple story of a fisherman briefly visiting an enchanting undersea world. Modern viewers may find the pace is too rapid to fully u…
Read at the source