Benkei tai Ushiwaka

This is not Kenzou Masaoka's best work, even for its time. After the delightful Nonsense Story : Monkey Island, this unfinished work seems rather unpolished in both tonality and consistency. It has a very strong start with incredible detail in both the density of art, clarity of frames and fluidity of movement of the characters, but quickly loses consistency and steam once the crows appear.

The sword choreography is both simple but delightful to watch. The flexibility of the animated medium to employ swift and unrealistic object transformations is used to good effect to create visual gags that seem heavily inspired from both western animations ... like Disney and dominant silent film tropes - a la Charlie Chaplin's tramp.

There's no particularly gripping narrative here. It is just an exploration of how the animation medium lends itself to the dominant media trends when it came to action at the time. Folklore is mixed in with an emphasis on the belief in traditions and elderly guidance, but looking for anything deeper would be an exercise in futility.

Considering how short it is, there's no harm in giving this a watch - but it by no means is a necessary watch. I suggest the Tora-chan series or Cherry Blossom - Spring Fantasy as a better entry in this historical figure in the Japanese animation scene.