Kujira no Chouyaku

Glassy Ocean is an inspired and avant-garde story that gives its audience numerous perspectives surrounding one "large" event - a whale jumping through waves of green glass.

For the people of this sea made of glass what seems like a small event to us is something to be marveled at. You bring your family and friends, tell your neighbors - you pack a blanket and a picnic and make a day of it. If you're really lucky, it's the event that marks the day you met your true love. This is the kind of day that people talk about for the next ... 50 years! "Hey, remember that time the whale jumped?" "Hmmm, yes, those were good times." ^_^

This was an anime that felt like every aspect was done very much on purpose. The music was whimsical and fit the scenes perfectly. The cast had conviction and talent. The art could be wonderful and quixotic one minute and simplistic the next (or simultaneously), but I felt that it all added to the charm of the scene.

I think that Shigeru Tamura is of the option that "Time" is no small matter. A single occurence can take a moment or many days or perhaps longer. In Glassy Ocean, we see several variations of the passing of time in a multitude of ways. We see a world where it passes similar to our own world, one where it perhaps has begun to decay and one where at least certain physical laws that are associated with time have slowed to almost a stand still. Shigeru created an imaginative place where he could give us beautiful dreams and vivid concepts using very simple imagery.

Whether we are looking at art or sharing a story, Shigeru Tamura's beautiful tale suggests we should take a moment and appreciate the world that we see.

I found this by using anilist to search for OVAs that came out from 1980-1999, scrolling down past the most popular ones, and just clicking on whatever looked interesting. I think I will continue to do this regularly from now on because this hidden gem is not even remotely similar to any anime I've seen before. The art reminds me of storybooks my parents would read me as a kid, the setting is incredibley unique and leaves much to your imagination. The blending of 2D and 3D animation creates visuals that are mesmorizing to look at. The sound design is simple but it adds to ... the feeling of it being a low budget passion project. This is a work of art, and absolutely worth the 20 minutes it takes to watch it.

Kujira no Chouyaku is the embodiment of what can only be described as a peace of mind. Based on a children's book also by Tamura Shigeru, Kujira no Chouyaku focuses on the leap of a single whale through the glassy ocean and the memories it stirs up of people who witness this special event.

As per the English title (Glassy Ocean) this world's ocean is glass; people traverse the wavy glass landscape while fish still swim underfoot and glass marbles float around in the sky. If you think about it too hard, it seems more like an apocalyptic world rather than a peaceful place, but ... it still builds a world through the different stories told that really makes you say, "I want to go there," and experience the serenity that the many characters reminisce about.

The pacing and the voice acting are all outstanding to me. The visual are beautiful while simplistic, and the color scheme (black and white plus gradients of cool tones) sets the mood for the entire movie. The waves depicted in Kujira no Chouyaku are rendered in 3D when 3D was barely a thing while the rest is drawn digitally (I believe), so it is really an avante-garde piece.

However, what stood out most to me was the music, written by Utollo Teshikai (AKA Hiroshi Ogasawara). There's something very atmospheric in his music and melody that fits the visual perfectly. The mood conveys something dreamy and worry-free that is very unlike other media then or today.

As you can tell by now, I really enjoy Kujira no Chouyaki. It's admirable because it's not delivering something popular or something that will get attention, but communicating a feeling, and it's pretty damn good at it. I really hope you consider watching this masterpiece of a movie.

Kujira no Chouyaku, or Glassy Ocean. A short, surreal indie film that is bizarre but truly captivating.


Check it out honestly cause I feel reading the spoilers alone won't really do justice to the feeling. Plus it's only 20mins long.


Glassy Ocean is really cool, I'm not gonna lie it's a fascinating short to watch. The visuals are dreamy and the scenes just make it even dreamier. There is not much story at all but more of a snapshot of an old man's day in a world where the ocean is made of glass. The show makes use of its 3D visuals to display amazing reflections of ... the glass and it just so cool to see. Honestly what struck me the most was the music. Constantly there's a sound playing in the background. How do I explain, the sound feels so spacey, like there's so much distance between you and the sound but it's still loud. It's incredibly grand and feels so much depth to the sounds/music this short has to present. Plus it's made in 1998! I know there are better shows with better visuals at this time but for an indie short? Come on this incredible plus it's nothing I have ever seen in anime. The art honestly struck me as to today's Cartoon Network or Netflix animation. I honestly can't feel this deserves anything lower than an 8, it's kind of groundbreaking as an anime.

-SCORES-

Character- 7/10: We are honestly not told much about any characters, to be honest, the scenes are jumping back and forth in terms of perspective. But I still feel giving no background of any characters just makes the appeal of 'Glassy Ocean'

Art-8/10: Amazing, especially in 1998 and being an indie short. But it's nothing I have ever seen in anime before so that's pretty cool.

Writing- 7/10: Not much to say, not that it's bad but there is really not much to say about what the show gives. It's a surreal show so it's really nothing we can ever expect or predict.

Sound- 9/10: Wow, just wow to the OST on this short. Truly captivating.

Overall, check this out as it's wowzers.

Light 8