Within the Bloody Woods

This is a claymation, not an anime. Why is this on MAL? I'm so confused.

Apparently the creator of this is some prolific guy. To be honest, I thought that this was a college students final project/thesis thing..... or maybe that's too generous and I should say a highschool student's final project.

The only reason this wasn't a 1 in my books is because it had a story, was mostly consistent, and the story was simple. Guy's in the woods, meets a zombie. Simple and straightforward.

But yeah no, this is bad, really bad. It's also only 5 minutes total. Watch it, or don't that's up to you.

Esta review también está en español.

Within the Bloody Woods (WtBW) is the fourth work of Nagao Takena (the only one in this page that didn't have a review until now n_n), and brings a few new features.
First, it's episodic: there are two chapters, unlike the other shorts, which were self conclusive. Second, there are voices! But I will expand about this later...

WtBW is about a man wondering in a dark wood. Fortunately, he meets a person. Unfortunately, that person's a zombie! But not everything is lost: our protagonist (for some reason) has a machete, and is willing to fight bravely against the undead!

The animation ... is quite good, in Takena's lines of quality. Very, very superior to his earlier works (Battle of Clay 1 and 2), and quite similar to the one in Bloody Night. The characters are in the realistic side of the specter (that means, no dummies or anthropomorphic animals, just people). In the special effects department, we have a few scenes in slow motion, but, instead of being flashy or spectacular, is pretty darn funny. And the landscapes, well... Bloody woods must be the first wood without trees xD

Sound... well, no music. At all. As for the voices, we have two. On one hand, we have our friend the zombie, which sounds so much like their friends in Resident Evil, that they probably used the same seiyuu xD. And in the same line of RE, we have the dialogues of our hero (which, by the way, are in english!). Seriously, the voice acting is so bad/hammy, that if this weren't Takena and was, instead, something a bit more massive, lines such as "Are you alright?" or "Jesus!" will be huge memes, like Master of Unlocking or Jill Sandwich. The other sounds, like the hitting, slicing or bloodspalsh, are correct (colorful at best, but correct).

In summary, this is another title recommended for Takena fans, and for people who want to try new stuff (cause, you know, the horror genre with clay is not very abundant). Plus, the voice acting is so bad is good (I really think it is a tribute to the classic RE, specially the first one), and the action is so outrageously violent, that is funny. Unfortunately, there's something quite bad: although there are two episodes, at the end of the second it was quite obvious it was supposed to be a continuation, which sadly, was never done. But hey, it's not like the whole experience is ruined or anything.
And like I always say: if you liked this short, I recommend the other works of Nagao Takena, especially Bloody Date.
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Within the Bloody Woods (WtBW) es el cuarto trabajo de Nagao Takena (el único que nos faltaba en esta pag n_n) y trae varias novedades. Primero, es episódico: hay dos capítulos, a diferencia de todos los otros cortos, que eran autoconclusivos. Segundo: hay voces! Pero de estas voy a ampliar más adelante...

WtBW trata sobre un hombre deambulando en un bosque. Por suerte, encuentra a una persona. Por desgracia, esa persona es un zombie! Pero no todo está perdido: nuestro protagonista (por alguna razón) tiene un machete, y está dispuesto a vender cara su vida!

La animación es bastante buena, en las líneas de Takena. Muy, muy superior a la de sus primeros trabajos (como Battle of Clay 1 y 2), y similar a la vista es Bloody Night. Los personajes están hechos en de forma “realista” (o sea, forma humana, y no monigotes o animales antropomórficos), y en cuanto a los efectos especiales, tenemos un par de escenas hechas en cámara lenta, que mas que espectacular, son muy, muy cómicas. Por el lado del paisaje, estamos en lo que debe ser el primer bosque sin árboles xD.

El sonido... bueno no hay música. De ningún tipo. Y en cuanto a las voces, tenemos dos. Por un lado tenemos a nuestro amigo el zombie, que suena tan parecido a sus congeneres de Resident Evil, que bien podría ser el mismo actor de voz xD. Y en la misma línea de RE están los diálogos de nuestro protagonista no muerto (que por cierto, están en ingles). En serio, sus líneas tienen una entonación tan cómica, que si esto no fuera Takena y fuera algo de llegada más masiva, “Are you alright?” y “Jesus!” serian memes de la talla de Master of Unlocking o Jill Sandwich. El resto de los sonidos, como los golpes y la salida de sangre, son correctos (pintorescos, pero correctos).

En resumen, este es otro título recomendable para los fans de Takena, y para aquellos que quieran probar con algo distinto (por que vamos, el género del terror con plastilina no es muy abundante xD). Además, las voces son tan malas que son buenas (en lo que realmente considero es un homenaje a los Resident Evil clásicos, especialmente al primero), y la acción transcurre de forma tan pintorescamente violenta, que es cómico. El punto más negro que veo en este trabajo es que, si bien hay dos episodios, al final del segundo es más que obvio que se pensaba continuar, cosa que al final no se hizo. Por lo que nos quedamos con las ganas de ver el final :(. Pero bueno, tampoco es algo que arruine la experiencia.

Y lo de siempre: si les gusto este corto, recomiendo los otros trabajos de Nagao Takena, especialmente Bloody Date.

Rate of 3 (poor)
seen via English vocals

*Note my animation skills with clay are terrible. Everything i have seen clay related have passed my skills so i generally wont give a 1 or a 2.

Likes
the writer or plot remained true per-say. I say that for after first episode it continue in the second right where episode 1 left off. However, when episode 2 ended it was followed with a to be continued. Granted, that could have been error, lack of funds, an indication of Within the Bloody Woods 2, or anything. So, to be fair i will give the benefit of the doubt and not show ... too much critique in that retrospect. Although, would have been nice if it was a couple of those listed above if they went back in episode 2 and changed it.

I would say more but that is all i liked.

Dislikes
sound: it was nice to hear a natural English speaker for a change. Although, that speaker should have been canned from the get go. The only reason to have kept him was for a character that is either caught in a time dilemma, smoking weed, 'special' character, not a character whom is faced with evil. I think that is the main reason why this horror did not scare me. For it was very clear on the ears the vocalist did not have good enthusiasm . just saw this as another paycheck. "oh i have to read this? Okay, how much will i get paid? That much?! So, little. *demonstrates sadness in the vocal reading."

Intro to the art was rather choppy on both episodes. I.e. the frame rate was slow. Felt similar to watching an old t.v. i wanted to pound the screen to make it go faster.

p.s. if you want a beginner's horror and are not really grossed on obvious fake blood i would go with this. otherwise, have a nice day somewhere else.