Wasurenagumo

Short but sweet. Animation is nice and stands out at certain part. While there's not to much of a real plot going on in the story you still get a feel for the characters and find them pretty enjoyable.

Now that twist tho...
just a warning, it will cause you to stare into the abysmal space of nothing any where from 5 min to the rest of your life wondering if whether you're angry or not.

The young animator project produces episodes of varying quality, and I believe this is one of the better ones.

With it being a single episode, there isn't time for a complicated plot or deep characters, however the characters here are quite likable, and I was surprisingly attached to them by the end. The plot is simple and the premise isn't even that interesting, but the show sticks with it, and the end you will be in for a surprise.

As to how the end to such a simple plot could be surprise, you'll have to find out, but I thought the defining point was done well, with ... almost perfect timing. It's what's made me rate it a 7. Many may not like the show for what occurs, but I think it works well here because of the one episode format.

So, if you have half an hour spare and you don't know what to do with yourself, I think it'd be well worth your time to give Wasurenagumo a look.

Young Animator Training Project/Anime Mirai short reviews: Part 6/12

Wasurenagumo tells the story of some nerdy researcher dude and a schoolgirl who has a crush on him, or is possibly his brother? I forget which, and since it’s Japan, they’re practically the same thing anyway. They discover a cutesy little monstrosity that is half adowabubble little girl and half giant spider, which treads this perfect line between the ka/owaii oh man see what I did there I’m so weeaboo it hurts. In my humble opinion, Wasurenagumo is the standout of all the young animator training projects so far. The two lead characters have actual personality and ... their relationship is pretty well realised, with an awful lot not being said but implied through their actions. The slapstick with the spider girl is genuinely funny, and that line they tread with her creepiness is so perfect it’s eerie. And then there’s the ending, which I won’t spoil, but it completely blindsided me and left me feeling dazed and confused for the rest of the day.

Verdict: Watch

A friend of mine here on MAL asked me to review a series of 1 episode anime shorts that were entered in a 2011 contest to find talented, budding anime directors. The first of these "one shots" I will be reviewing is Wasurenagumo, which roughly translates to Little Spider Girl.

Before I review the anime, I feel it is necessary to give a tiny bit of background info. In traditional Japanese folklore, there is a creature called the Jurogumo which has the body of a spider and the torso of a beautiful woman. The Jurogumo will attract men looking for love, only to quickly devour them ... after mating just like a real spider. This animal bottom/woman top that lures men to their doom is very similar to the Siren from Greek mythology. It is interesting that people in 2 cultures completely isolated across the world both thought this was a cool concept and independently created their own versions of basically the same creature.

WARNING! HERE THERE BE SPOILERS!

The anime begins with a narrator telling what is supposed to be an old Japanese folk tale. A giant spider demon attacks a village only to be badly wounded and chased off by a powerful samurai. While fleeing, the spider dropped some of its hatchlings and the samurai discovers a baby spider demon with the torso of a little girl. It is simply too cute for the samurai to kill, so he takes it home and raises her. He is later horrified to discover the spider girl has been eating people behind his back, so he seals her away. In the present day, a bimbo highschool girl is working at her grandfather's used book store and decides to open a book that clearly states it has a demon sealed inside it. Seems like a good idea to me! The demon is released and it is of course the spider demon with the torso of an adorable little girl. The assistant shop keeper instantly falls under her spell because I guess he likes lolis. Eventually the bimbo and minimum wage cashier Humbert Humbert decide to take the little spider girl back to the temple depicted in the story. Inside the temple, the giant mother spider from the story attacks them and sends the shopkeeper and bimbo flying off a cliff. The little spider girl saves them by catching them with her web...only to pull a Goldeneye and let the bimbo drop towards a grisly death. The shopkeeper doesn't mind this though, and takes the spider girl home where she will inevitably devour him soon. The End.

The art and animation was pretty decent considering this was made with an extremely low budget. This anime didn't win the 2011 contest, but I don't think that was due to poor animation.

The only question I had after watching this was, "What the hell was the point?" It didn't really work as a comedy. It didn't work as a horror story. It didn't have engaging characters. I guess the director just thought it would be amusing to inject modern Japanese pop culture like "moe art" and "lolis" into a modern variant of a traditional Japanese folktale. The concept of injecting modern pop culture gags into traditional fairy tales CAN work if done right. After all, Shrek is one of the most beloved heroes of the internet! Although 99.9% of that is due to 4chan rather than a genuine admiration for the quality of the Shrek Franchise.

One of the better animations from The Young Animator Training Project in 2011. Story is based upon Japanese folklore of the Jorōgumo. Look it up or just watch this 1 episode OVA for the basic facts.

The anime did a good job at intriguing me enough to actually do research on more Yōkai from Japanese folklore.

Animation really pops out at certain points. Of which are obvious to the naked eye where they put most of their efforts.

now about the ending:

Really was not what I was expecting to happen at all.

... I just cant even. That was so messed up. Christ.....

This 25 minute work of art exists purely to give the opportunity to young and inexperienced animators to practice and improve their skills. However, that inexperience is not noticeable.

Also, I'm an arachnophobe and the anxiety over it made me feel uneasy at all times.


Animation:
1) the visuals are very nice to look at. I like the character design, color scheme and environments used.
2) there's a lot of inconsistencies between the use of stiff animation and fluid animation. Throughout the movie you'll the style change abruptly and that will break immersion. The transitions don't really blend in with the story and it left ... me wondering if per each "section" of the movie, different animators worked on them instead of a group effort from start to finish.
3) I loved the references to Spider-Man.


Sound:
1) Kaneda Tomoko (Spider-Girl) did an amazing job with the "sound effects".
2) Soundtrack, sound effects and the rest of the seiyuus were okay.


Story and characters:
1) despite my arachnophobia, I was actually invested and immersed in the story and I really liked Henmi Misuki as a character.
2) I think this is one fine example where the duration of the movie is perfect for the story that it's being told. The pacing was excellent and each moment, each scene lasted exactly what it should.
3) SPOILER: this movie shows exactly why anything with 8 legs and 8 eyeballs can't be trusted. They're not cute, they want to eat us alive and I'm sick of their sneaky agenda trying to convince people that they're adorable. Don't be fooled people!!!


Alright, jokes aside, all things considered this movie gets an 8/10 from me and would've thought that an arachnophobe would actually enjoy a movie where spiders are the main characters.

Wasurenagumo was Production IG's 2011 young animator training project. I've looked at some of these before including Harmonie, Aki no Kanade and Ojisan no Lamp. There have also been some major anime like Death Parade and Little Witch Academia that started from these projects. So, I do have some hope for this one. Especially since I've liked most of these.

Story:

We open with a young bookworm, Suzuri, telling the story of when giant spiders invaded only to get fended off by an Onmyoji. For some reason he's telling this story to a girl, Mizuki, who just came to collect rent for her grandfather. She ... accidentally breaks the seal on the book that supposedly contains the spider. This results in a little spider girl breaking out. Suzuri isn't concerned about her as she's very adorable but Mizuki has a bad feeling about the situation.

This short has kind of a weird aesthetic. There are comedic elements but also a lot of light horror elements. So, it's one of those comedies that's a bit macabre. Which I actually really like. I would say the only real issue I have with it is that it needed some more time to develop things.

On the positive side, I do like the light-hearted but macabre and kind of dark aesthetic. For me, the comedy lands pretty strongly. This is also one that I would definitely watch a longer series based on because it is entertaining and interesting.

Characters:

Given the length, the characters are pretty strong. The arachne girl is adorable. Mizuki's more cautious and shrewd way of viewing the arachne contrasts well with Suzuri's more optimistic and naïve approach. And I do appreciate that they don't try to have far too many characters, sticking instead to the ones they absolutely need. Which is largely the main three with one supporting character.

Art:

This little film looks very good. The artwork is well done. The balance between cute slice of life with interspersed horror elements works nicely. The film also does have a lot of good details for the backgrounds.

Sound:

Shimoda Asami, Tsuchida Hiroshi and Kaneda Tomoko all have strong performances. It's especially impressive the way Kaneda expresses emotion and establishes character while barely actually saying a word since our arachne heroine mostly communicates with strange clicks and hisses. The music is fine. Nothing special, but functional. Basically very standard.

Ho-yay:

There isn't any.

Areas of Improvement:

1. A little more effort into the music. Yeah, it works but it could definitely use more of a unique flavour.

2. This could really benefit from extending the main narrative. You could cut out some of the beginning stuff with the Onmyoji. You could have some extra content during the ending theme tune. Either way, the main narrative would benefit from a little extra attention.

3. The opening credits could have been done better. Here's the thing, they have that style where there's a little action, then a freeze frame with some names and then that repeats. Which really interrupts the flow of action and drags out the whole opening sequence unnecessarily. The film would have been better if they just rolled the credits on the side while the action was happening.

Final Thoughts:

I actually enjoyed this short film quite a bit. I understand that its aesthetic might not work for everyone and some people will definitely be turned off by the macabre elements. But for me, this was great. I'm giving it a very solid 8/10.

"- You were going to get rid of her?
- Thanks for the help!"

I have not received such pleasure from a short film for a long time. And it's not just because of good animation and tricky story. The plot is not complicated - a young bouquiniste tells a schoolgirl an old legend about a battle with a giant spider, defeating which, the hero saves the life of one of her baby spiders. The schoolgirl is not interested in old books and stories, like in everything "unfashionable" - she is a practical girl who needs money for rent, and also, it seems, she is fascinated by ... a "good-natured" bouquiniste. She accidentally rips off the seal from an old book, freeing a spider-little girl from a story told by the bouquiniste. It seems to the schoolgirl that the bouquiniste is bewitched by this little spider, behind whose "kawaii" appearance there is a cannibal monster who has chosen the bouquiniste as its victim. She offers to get rid of the spider and the couple go for an advice to an old bouquiniste, who, after listening to a younger colleague and a schoolgirl, says that the situation cannot be left to chance and gives advice on "getting rid of". But to whom and from whom?

"Forget-me-not spider" is, first of all, an ironic parable, rethinking and developing the "Let Me In" story. The parable about those and for those who hasten to save "innocent victims" from monsters. It may well turn out that "innocent victims" are not at all so innocent as it seems from the outside, and it is not by chance that they are fascinated by monsters. And rescuing is actually required by the "rescuers" themselves in order to run away from the "rescued." Perhaps the monsters themselves were created by their "victims" in order to get rid of the annoying "uninitiated" who pocks into other people's affairs and, moreover, intend to "correct and rescue" them? Or interfering with other people's hobbies, because you never know what a philatelist is capable of, if you force him to throw out his stamp collection) The final scene with a dialogue between two bouquinistes who understand each other and each of whom has his own "forget-me-not" is simply magnificent! 9 out of 10

Li'l Spider-Girl, the story about a shopkeeper, Suzuri of Kokumondou who sell historic books and Mizuki, granddaughter of said land. Both investigate a sealed book that released a young spider demon.

The story itself has potential because of the simple set up but sticks to the basic plot of the said demon and its interaction with our characters. A good bit of humor with a bright and expressive character that does this short favor but as a whole, doesn't deviate much.

The animation was quality in a lot of respects in terms of fluidity and style. The animation is fluid with the theme and fits ... the said tone, especially the turns, and surprising twist. The story was consistent until the latter half in which point, is still decent, but takes a turn because it had to (Simply because they only had about 24 minutes). Is it a good or a bad twist? Well, that's up for your discretion. As a whole, entertaining and neat to watch, but the latter half takes turns. Still a marvel in the animation side and entertaining as a whole.

Cannibalistic story. Due to time constraints it is not well developed as scope is too large for 25 minutes. At the end we receive partial conclusion which doesn't make it better either. You cant call this comedy as in anime tags. Maybe a lighthearted horror short.

Still it is definitely worth to spend half hour to watch some cute monster birth and abhorrent human being who doesn't even heard of Jesus or human compassion. Although there is no nudity and no fanservice, it would serve as good intro/base material to some specific genre of doujinshi ("monster girl"). As otherwise it is hard to see any other ... motivation of MC to do what he does. With some experience in this field you definitely can see where this would be going.

Animation quality is far more superior to your average anime serial. Overall production quality is somewhat on the level of a good film.

MAL's Information lists this one-shot episode as Comedy, but it's actually a very understated horror short, and it is amazing.
The plot is well paced, and the characters are both likeable and well-developed despite the short time that is allotted to character development in a single 25 minute episode. There aren't many shows that fit into the same genre as this short, but the closest that I can think of in terms of atmosphere and style is Steins; Gate. which shares many of the same understated elements and atmosphere.
Fantastic episode left me wanting more because it was so perfect, but I'm glad it was exactly the ... length that it was because it was perfectly made to fit into the single episode.