Genius Party

Genius Party represents 7 short animated films made by various talented anime directors of Japan. Unlike 1 minute long Anikuri, creators had 15-20 minutes this time, to fully express themselves and have an impact on spectators. Each episode is special in their own ways so I'll comment laconic on every of them.

Genius Party – What an amazing way to begin the series! Atsuko Fukushima, also known from makin op/ed of Robot Carnival served her job and made an excellent introduction episode. It's very surreal, full of symbolisms and graphic looks also a lot better than in Robot Carnival.

Shanghai Dragon – Yet again we ... see Shouji Kawamori from the different side. I really love his sense of humour. I enjoyed watching Project Omega in Anikuri and this parody short isn't an exception either. Yea there are lots of mechas, lots of actions but still the main attention is directed to an useless brat which saves the world. Characters really manage to shine in this 20 minutes.

Deathtic 4 – My least favourite part. There's lack of story, depth and characterization. The only thing that makes Deathtic special is 3D graphic. Shinji Kimura was working on it after all. He has done a marvellous job for Steamboy as well, which is the most expensive animated film in Japanese history.

Doorbell – Very unique. First of all I must say that the Director is Yoji Fukuyama , who isn't famous with anime at all. The atmosphere is really intense whole 15 minutes long. The design isn't as strong as the story, though I mostly enjoyed it. Anyway Doorbell is another interesting version of developing Paranoia.

Limit Cycle – Philosophy is always the strongest point of anime, that's why Limit Cycle is one of the best episode. 20 minute of monologue about life, death, religion and etc. But what mostly surprised me was the name of the Director: Hideki Futamura. In most of animes where he took part in, Hideki had a secondary role. So this was his time to shine and he definitely managed to show us his talent.

Happy Machine – Another Surreal addition to Genius Party from Masaaki Yuasa.Yea, he's the one I was looking forward to most and I must admit that Happy Machine didn't disappoint me at all and remains as my favourite short. I also understand that 15-20 minute isn't enough for a build-up + satisfying result + big impact but that's what directors should resolve and Masaaki Yuasa did stand out.

Baby Blue – Baby Blue is another high-school romance with some action elements in it. What also made it outstanding was the characters and sweet soundtrack. In a nutshell Baby Blue is a worthy appendage to Genius Party collection.

So Genius Party is a great chance to get know to some remarkable Directors and their talents. I am sure everyone will find their favourite ones. As for me I think strongest ones were definitely Happy Machine and Limit Cycle. The only thing I was a bit disappointed with was the romance shorts. Anikuri within 1 minute had much more to offer. I mean the episode from Akemi Hayashi (Gainax) exceeded my expectations. Overall the shorts itself are creative, neat and although they do vary somewhat in quality, there is so much to see in such little time that it is more than worth it.

Genius Party [Opening]: groovy music, I like it

Shanghai Dragon : it's cute I guess

Deathtic 4 : you ugly, not much to say

Doorbell: Saramago called, he said he did it better; some interesting ideas by the end though

Limit Cycle: Oh my god, shut up, this was so pedantic and dull. 20mins in length but felt like an hour

... Happy Machine : might feel a bit draught out but Yuasa always manages to compel you to stick around

Baby Blue : Shinkai in shambles. The most "short and sweet" out of all of them. Would love to see another anthology film or OVA by Watanabe.

If I could sum this collection up in three words its "not for me"

I detest art and metaphor. Just come out and say what you mean, the only people who need to hide behind fancy words are those who have nothing to truly say.

Most of the shorts fall under "please interpret me" art. Even my favourite the one called "Happy Machine" feels like just an overlong metaphor for birth, life and death.

Two of the three I liked, Happy Machine and Deathic4 really suffer from it but come out ahead because they feel like someone was actually trying to tell a story with Deathic4 ... and Happy Machine was at least cute looking.

My favourite Baby Blue has an actual plot. It's about a boy and a girl cutting class and going on an adventure, mostly just for the heck of it but there are some deeper themes that are very heartfelt and actually work because BB allowed itself to have some characters and a plot! Who knew that BASIC STORY STRUCTURE IS A GOOD THING!!!!
But the ending was absolutely ruined by being played at like, three frames and with a nasty grain effect over the whole thing that really undercut any of the emotion it was building to.

But the rest are crap.
There is one where green eyed John Travolta rambles nonsensically for like thirty minutes straight and that was the absolute nadir of quality.
All the shorts have a weird problem with CGI. Its always done at a lower frame rate and multiple shorts re-use the same CGI car models as Initial D.

I dont know, maybe if you really like art house stuff you'll be able to put up with it.