Ranked #2933

Puka Puka Juju

Young Animator Training Project/Anime Mirai short reviews: Part 7/12

Dudu the Floatie tells the tale of a little girl who wants to go to the beach with her dad but the dad keeps putting it off because of work and partly because he’s terrified of water. The directing in this one is remarkably good in how it pieces larger story beats in silly little asides. Things like the shots of the dad playing golf with his bosses, where they keep missing the golf ball entirely, signifying how utterly tedious his work obligations are. The story does get a bit silly when it reaches the fantasy bit. The kid buys the dad one of those floating killer whale things kids bring to swimming pools all the time, except instead of a fucking awesome killer whale, it’s some dumb manatee floatee instead. The floatie comes to life and they go off to magical land and do shit together which allows the young animators do animate something more exciting than a little kid with an oversized head sulk. I get why this part is in the story. It’s part of the child’s imagination and how they come to deal with their problems through elaborate fantasies that make no sense to parents. But the story works fine without that extended sequence. I was even welling up a little inside at the end where the dad and the daughter come together, because they manage it in a way that’s not aggressively maudlin and works well with the light-hearted tone of the rest of the piece.

Verdict: Watch read more

This is an adorable little story about a girl who wants to go the beach with her father, who is constantly held up by work. In the first five minutes of this special, I went from not enjoying it very much to being completely sucked into the story.

Story: 9. As I mentioned, it is just the story of a little girl who wants to go to the sea with her father. The only trouble is, her father can't swim, and has been afraid of going into the ocean ever since he was a small child. Right when they are about to go, he gets called off to work and is unable to go, and instead is stuck holding umbrellas and being an errand boy to people at his work. Meanwhile, in a world of dreams Maki discovers the dougong floatie she bought for her father wants to take her to the ocean and teach her how to swim. From here, she and the floatie, called Juju, swim around and go to an island where her father is being held captive. Several crazy hi-jinks happen, and I must encourage you to watch the rest to find out the ending. The story is in general, extremely adorable and heartwarming.

Art: 10. Being part of the 2011 Young Animator's Project, I would expect nothing less of the art. What made the art alone so gorgeous was the way the colors flowed together, and how beautifully everything in and under the water moved in the shots. I was reminded of the details put into the sakura blossoms floating around in 5 Centimeters Per Second; it actually felt like there was an extreme attention to detail that sometimes I feel are lacking in newer (and especially some older) series. The colors in this series somewhat reminded me of Usagi Drop, for the way Maki was colored. The animation flowed beautifully, and the movements, shapes, and sizes were distinct and unique. The underwater scenes in general were gorgeous.

Sound: 7. It was sound. There was nothing overly special about it, but the light soundtrack added to the heartwarming feeling. There was nothing wrong with the voice acting, but nothing that made it stand out.

Character: 6. I loved Maki's character design, as well as how Juju was drawn, but I think that is where everything ends. The father is drawn fairly blandly, and he is the only character that is given a semblance of development. The mother and son are forgettable, as is the antagonist and her assistant. This was my main problem with the episode, but I feel that, as that being my only real issue, this series holds out on its own.

Enjoyment: 7. I feel like judging one's enjoyment of something is a bit harsh generally, but in this instance I actually did understand where this rating comes from. In the beginning, I didn't think I was going to like it, and was tempted to quit watching it. But I stuck through, and once the art gets good, it stays good.

I completely recommend this to anyone who loves cuter series, but also to anyone who needs some good animation, or just a reason to smile. read more