Cencoroll is quite an average film individually from its yet-to-be released sequel, featuring an interesting premise, but lacking in.. well.. lots of stuff. Most of the time the anime is silent with no soundtracks. People who are fond of music utilization in anime will realize how quiet the whole film is. However, this is left up to preference.. because the silence of the show do symbolize the mood of the film and its characters, particularly Cenco and its linked owner Tetsu.
Male protagonist Tetsu is the "go with the flow" type of character while simply doing whatever it is that he so desires. His mood seems to signify that he is devoid of curiosity or any sort of excitement or joy. Yuki on the other hand is quite the difference to Tetsu's personality, which makes it seem as though their personalities compliment one another to fit as relief.
Even though the art is nothing too exquisite, it is actually quite a pleasure to the eye in its simplistic art and smooth animation. It's especially quite nice when watching Cenco use his abilities.
The concept of this anime is unique in accordance to the alien monsters that we get to see. These monsters and their symbiotic bond with their 'owners' make the show entertaining as we get to see how the characters make use of them as well as interacting with one another during and outside of battle scenes. However, we don't necessarily get an abundance of that in this short film, as there is only one antagonist and three shown monster/creatures.
The characters do lack a lot of development as well as interaction in favor of exploration of the creatures' innovative abilities and how it plays out in combat or work in practicality. The human characters didn't have much explained about themselves to us.. any thoughts about them would just have to be assumptions based on their personalities and the actions that they take, as there is no background to any of the characters including the antagonist. There is no backstory to them and there certainly is no elaboration on what/when/where/why/how these 'monsters' came to be. And this ultimately is the sole reason why I see this film as lackluster, as there is no justice as to why this anime even deserves the praise that it gets when simple concepts and fundamentals are never even touched upon.
By the end, Cencoroll leaves you with no conclusion along with no elaboration on any of the events that have taken place in the movie. So you're left to question and wonder what was the point of the wasted 25 mins you just gave into watching this short film. It makes me a little more than confused at people who praise this anime so much given how unexplained Cencoroll is. But I will say one thing: Despite my views about this anime being highly average, its sequel -if it ever releases- may very well change the mind of many people who have watched Cencoroll including myself. That is, if it lives up to the hype.
If you have any opinions on why my review is terrible then please, share why. Thanks for reading.
