Alternative TitlesEnglish: Mt. Head Synonyms: Atama-yama Japanese: 頭 山
Information
Type: Movie
Episodes: 1
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Jan 1, 2002
Duration:
10 min. per episode Rating:
PG - Children
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 6.861 (scored by 1739 users)
Ranked: #34372
Popularity: #2772
Members: 2,750
Favorites: 3 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
comedy dementia |
SynopsisAfter a stingy man eats some cherry seeds, a cherry tree grows on his head and he gets into a lot of trouble.
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Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
Reviews
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starshinesMonet
9 of 13 people found this review helpful
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1 of 1 episodes seen
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
Yamamura Kōji has a way of making his work feel more like I am listening to a variation of Japanese
theatre with surrealistic images in the background rather than watching an anime, which is a large part of what makes watching it so interesting! This verve for stage direction comes mostly from his choice of story adaptation, seiyuu and musical directors as much as from his execution or art style, which often leave its viewer wondering what really happened there. And while his art style is unique, where Yamamura Kōji really shines is how he tells a story.
In my review for Inaka Isha I mentioned the feel of Noh theatre in the work; for this adaptation of traditional Japanese rakugo* story Atama Yama, director Yamamura Kōji tells the story using another kind of traditional Japanese fare - rōkyoku (also known as naniwa-bushi), which is a genre of traditional Japanese narrative singing generally accompanied by a shamisen.
To help execute his vision, Yamamura selected rōkyoku singer and bluegrass shamisen artist, Kunimoto Takeharu, to play the narrator and various members of the cast. Kunimoto, who has a real vocal flare for the dramatic, transports us to contemporary Tokyo, Yamamura's choice of setting for his stage, where we are shown a man too stingy to let go and too greedy to leave behind. Is this another surrealistic perspective of man's eternal dilemma of Eternity and Death or simply a moralistic play about the dangers of greed? While it doesn't answer any of the fundamental existential dilemmas or make us grow in our interpersonal relationships, it is still interesting to watch, if only because of the insights we gain into Japanese culture and tradition.
One of the best parts about Yamamura's directing style is that he realizes how talented the people he hires are and basically lets them do their thing. This usually means that the seiyuu's skills at storytelling shine through with the first breath, and so it came as no surprise to me when the musical quality of Kunimoto Takeharu's voice took mine away. There were times watching this that I found myself unable to pay attention to the story because I was too busy listening to his narrative and the way he would change his voice or even how he paused to breathe. This alone would have been enough to capture my attentions, but when accompanied by the music of his shamisen, and at times a haunting violin as well, I went away chilled and thought to myself "I almost prefer to see this as a play rather than in it's animated form."
But see this once anyway, if only to hear the talented Kunimoto Takeharu tell you a story and listen to him play his shamisen.
*Rakugo (落語) is a type of Japanese verbal entertainment, originally known as karukuchi (軽口). A lone storyteller, called a rakugoka, (落語家) sits on a Kōza stage and using only a paper fan and a small cloth depicts a long and complicated comical story. The story always involves the dialogue of two or more characters, the difference between the characters depicted only through change in pitch, tone, and a slight turn of the head.
-- Information courtesy of Wikipedia read more
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Kizaragi
12 of 25 people found this review helpful
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1 of 1 episodes seen
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
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| Animation |
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| Character |
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| Enjoyment |
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Atama Yama (2003) is a short anime with a duration of about 10 minutes by Koji Yamamura. Having a simple story that cool to live as full of meaning. Unlike Inaka Isha (2007) who may be visually confusing, it looks more simple and will make us realize how important it is to appreciate the environment. Is this a form of call/invitation or criticism, which obviously this anime has the unique delivery and good intentions.. Altough it only has a simple meaning but this anime will make you nods..
Recommendations
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Both of them are made by the same studio (Studio DEEN) sou the animation stile is identical. Both of them have weard plot lines.
Both films are directed by Yamamura Kouji, and you can really see his creative touch. They have a unique hand-drawn animation style, and both are infused with elements from traditional Japanese art when it comes to sound and music. In "Head Mountain" the background music and most of the vocal work is done by Kunimoto Takeharu, a roukyoku singer (singed narrative with shamisen accompaniment) while in "A country Doctor" the voice-work was done by kyougen theatre actors.
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Similar storytelling style, with rōkyoku narration and shamisen played by Takeharu Kunimoto. Though they have very different animation style.
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Opening ThemeNo opening themes found, add themes.
Ending ThemeNo ending themes found, add themes.
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Related ClubsObscure Anime/Manga, The Shorts Club , Unusual is Better, Surreal Anime, Artsy, Mad Tea Party, Unusual animation style
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