Kago Shintarou Anime Sakuhin Shuu

Esta review también está en español.

"Basically, it’s a question of how many variations of stories I can come up with that revolve around shit and sex."
Ladies and gentlemen, Shintaro Kago. For those who doesn't have the pleasure of knowing him, Mr Kago is famous for the combination of extreme violence (guro and gorn are two terms that are handy when describing his job) with extremly bizarre and scatological humor and some sexual content. In other words, not safe for work, people. So, if ridiculous violence and delusional madness are not your thing, you can stop reading now. If, on the other hand, you like ... to be surprised and enjoy bizarre humor, or if you are willing to twist your brain in ways you never did before... then, and only then, these videos may be interesting for you.

So, you're still reading? That means you are a freak like me... I mean, you are curious. Let's see what this compilation's about.
Short Animation of Shintaro Kago (SAoSK) is composed of seventeen shorts, in which the majority doesn't last more than a minute or two. We could say that these videos are spots. Most are self-conclusive stories, some are related. Some are animated, some are live-action (and others combine both). But all are absurd, and most (let's say... 95%) are violent. One of the most appealing things of Kago is that, no matter how wild, horrible, disgusting or offensive he can be, in the end, is funny (or at least, most of the time is funny). Watches angry with their owners, temperamental golf holes, distorted Olympic disciplines, Ultraman slaughtering schoolgirls, a girl that liked Paranoia Agent way too much and explicit sex between statues are just examples of what can be seen in some of these shorts. Everything done with your enjoyment in mind!

The visuals vary from short to short, since they're all very different, but we can say that this is what people usually call experimental. In other words, is very precarious and simple n_n. Some of the animated shorts have real backgrounds, and some of the live-action videos have drawed elements... a weird combination, but I wasn't expecting less of the author. The quality of the drawing also varies with the shorts, some have the typical Kago character designs, while others look like they were done with Paint. Animation is way too simple, and sometimes, semi-static, with only a few frames. It looks like the author didn't wanted shallow public: the important thing is the (twisted) message, not the graphics. It's understandable: that way, the wrong people has less chance to feel attracted, and only real, deep watchers would bother to really try. Or maybe he just didn't give a fuck about. How should I know?

The sound is as simple as the animation. The voices that are barely there are almost always the groans of the poor victims before they died. The music varies: sometimes, appropriately, is creepy and creates tension... yet, in other occasions, is happy and loose, and creates (even more) mindfuck n_n.

Well... broadly speaking, that's all. What we have here is a compilation of shorts that are politically incorrect, blasphemous and absurdly violent, in which babies, children, adults and seniors tend to end up in pieces, in which the guts end up in the floor, and where deities do unspeakable things. But remember: sick and twisted as it is, it's hilarious (to a select group of people, at least). So, if your mind is open, you are not impressionable and want to see something unusual, SAoSK is a good choice. And if you like this collection of shorts, you should totally check the other works made by Kago, which are more or less in the same line of insanity and violence. But, keep in mind that this is his only animated work: the others are mangas.
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"Basically, it’s a question of how many variations of stories I can come up with that revolve around shit and sex."
Damas y caballeros: Shintaro Kago. Para los que no tengan el gusto de conocerlo, el señor Kago es célebre por su combinación de violencia y mutilación extrema (guro sería una buena definición, aunque gorn estaría más cerca de la realidad) con humor escatológico y de alto contenido sexual. O sea, no es apto para todo público. Por lo que, si la violencia ridícula y la locura delirante no es lo tuyo, ya podes dejar de leer. Si, por el contrario, te gusta sorprenderte, el humor bizarro (muuuy bizarro), y si estás dispuesto a que tu cerebro se retuerza de formas que nunca antes hizo... entonces... y solo entonces... estos videos pueden llamar tu atención.

Muy bien, si seguís conmigo, quiere decir que estas interesado. Veamos, con más detalle, de que se trata esta compilación:
Short Animation of Shintaro Kago (SAoSK) está compuesto por 17 cortos, en los que, la mayoría, no dura más de uno o dos minutos. Podríamos decir que son spots. La mayoría son historias auto-conclusivas, y otros, están relacionados. Algunos son animados, y otros son live-action. Pero todos son absurdos, y la mayoría (un 95%, digamos), violentos. Uno de los más grandes atractivos de Kago es que, sin importar que tan salvaje, horrible, desagradable u ofensivo pueda ser lo que hace, al final termina siendo cómico (o al menos, la mayoría de las veces). Relojes que matan a sus dueños, agujeros de golf temperamentales, disciplinas olímpicas distorsionadas, UltraMan masacrando colegialas, mujeres fanáticas de Paranoia Agent o sexo explicito entre estatuas son solo ejemplos de lo que puede verse en algunos de estos cortos.

El apartado visual varía entre corto y corto, y es un claro ejemplo de que la gente usualmente considera como experimental. O sea, es muy precaria y sencilla n_n. Algunos de los cortos animados tienen fondos reales, algunos de los videos live-action tienen elementos dibujados... todo un extraño y peculiar mix, no es que se esperara menos del autor. La calidad del dibujo también varia con los cortos, algunos teniendo diseños típicos de Kago, y otros hechos directamente que parecen hechos con el paint.
La animación es muy simple, y a veces semi-estática, con solo unos pocos frames. En resumen, es claro que estos cortos no son orgásmicos a los sentidos, pero es que tampoco era la idea: lo importante es el (retorcido) mensaje.

El sonido es tan precario como la animación. Las voces que a penas y se escuchan casi siempre son los gemidos de las pobres victimas antes de morir. La música varia: a veces, apropiadamente, es tétrica y crea tensión... mientras que otra es alegre y movida, lo que ayuda a aumentar el mindfuck n_n.

Bueno, a grandes rasgos, eso es todo. Lo que tenemos entre manos es una serie de cortos políticamente incorrectos, blasfemos y absurdamente violentos, en los que bebes, niños, adultos y ancianos terminan en pedazos, en los que las viseras usualmente terminan en el piso, y en el que las deidades hacen cosas indecibles. Pero eso sí: por más enfermo y retorcido que sea, es cómico (para un selecto grupo de personas, al menos). Así que, si tu mente es abierta, no sos impresionable y queres ver algo fuera de lo común, SAoSK es una buena opción. Y si les gustan, podrían chequear los otros trabajos de Kago, que siguen más o menos la misma línea de demencia y violencia, pero tengan en cuenta que este es su único trabajo animado: los demás son todos mangas.

This series of short films is basically the product of the darkly humorous, morbidly curious imagination that each and every one of us has. Like, what if there was an olympic sport in which people drove cars with unsecured people in the passenger seats to see who could make their passenger fly out the window screen the furthest? That's the kind of humor Shintarou Kago presents you with here. Often ridiculous and surreal, body-horrorish and silly, I found that I chuckled at almost every short (as in, short short - between 30 seconds and 2 mins with a 7 minute finale), maybe because I know ... that I, among many others, think in a similar fashion if I just let my thoughts go. Kago Shintarou Anime Sakuhin Shuu has no depth, and doesn't pretend to have any either.

The films are animated (well, the 15 of them that are animated) very crudely. Some you feel could almost have been done on MS paint. The sound track and effects were the same. However, this was not a downfall of the series for me. In fact, it's as if that was part of the point. The concepts are silly. The series as a whole doesn't take itself too seriously, or pretend at all that a lot of effort or money went into its creation.

As a whole, I found that this series was entertaining and not difficult to get through at all. I rate it 8/10 for its sheer entertainment value and how I personally feel it reflects the silly thoughts we all have but never talk about. All in all, not a bad way to spend 25 minutes of my time.

*Completed for the 2018 Anime Watching Challenge: (52) Watch a completed anime with less than 2,500 completed members*

It's difficult to put my thoughts on this thing into words, as it's one of the weirdest pieces of media that I've ever seen. I don't even know where to begin this.

This is a compilation of short, tongue in cheek animated segments with some slight horror undertones, but by no means is it in anyway frightening. I don't believe it deserves its tag as a 'horror', as it's much more akin to a black comedy than anything else.

Regardless of its genre classification, each short is around one to ... two minutes long and showcase some shocking and/or gory imagery. Most of them are completely juvenile and come across as tasteless. Despite this, most of them are quirky and funny enough for me to ignore these issues. In particular, I really loved 'Terror of Olympic Game'.

Over all, it's a decent time waster, and it's not particularly long; So if you're a fan of fucked-up, shock comedy, consider giving it a watch.

5/10