Kata no Ato

Kata no Ato, or the Mark of Emi, is one of the strangest, but equally amongst the most charming, anime dubbed 'girl's love'. It's not a particularly interesting work and, outside of its art, isn't particularly creative, but it doesn't need to be. It's a well-trodden story (if what there is can even be called a story), told as it needs to be told in a short 4-minute format that succeeds in what it sets out to do, establishing the main character's growing feelings for her friend Emi.

Where it shines, however, is in the art style, which is creative and expressive, feeling at ... some points weirdly sensual and at others incredibly subdued (wherever the story requires it to be so). The biggest mark in favour of its art, however, is the fact that, even if you can't understand what is being said, the emotions and experiences of the characters are still clear and accessible to the audience.