Jam

Jam isn’t a music video, it‘s a short movie with no dialogue. Jam isn’t a story focused movie, it’s an experimental piece of art that’s fully about the aesthetics.

If you’re a fan of animation, and I mean literally the animation itself, you will likely enjoy this piece. It’s colourful, lively and there’s plenty going on. The work with shapes is nicely done, as usual for Mirai Mizue’s work.

Jam does good what it sets out to be – an interesting short bit of moving scenery. It would be unfair to rate it low just because it doesn’t have a story – it was never supposed ... to have one.

If you’re a bit confused by this kind of content, I would suggest watching a bunch of short experimental anime to get more context for rating them, and surely you are likely to find out that some, like this one, are enjoyable just for their “vibes”, as the kids say. In worst case you’ll just lose few minutes of your life.

Well, that was an experience! "Jam" is definitely not going to be for everyone, but it was a fun watch for me. What I like about it is just the sheer absurdity of how much chaotic "noise" can be created both figuratively and literally. New monsters appear with the old when a new sound is added, and it gets messy QUICK, which is the point. However, it's also not much beyond a novelty.

Because of its simple premise, it's an experimental art piece (with sound that is fairly grating to listen to). If you can tolerate the sound (or if you happen to enjoy it), the ... overall video isn't long, so it didn't feel like it overstayed its welcome. I have mixed feelings on recommending this, but it was a neat experience all the same. I have a respect for the technical side of making something like this, chaotic to look at and yet each monster still moves seamlessly across the screen. It also has a pretty fun ending that got a smile out of me.

Overall, I don't know how many people would truly rate this higher than 6 (and that's me being very generous). But if you have a few minutes to spare and like the description on MAL, I'd say give it a shot! It's definitely a work of art.