Onkyo Seimeitai Noiseman

Noiseman`s progressive, or weird if you will, concept is accessible because of its short length and simple, self contained story. Normally,something with a visual audio idiosyncracy like this is difficult to approach, and is therefore confined to its own niche following. Sadly, Noiseman doesn`t have much more than a small niche, but given the chance, most viewers will probably find that there is some mass-market appeal.

I believe a majority of people who watch Noiseman will enjoy it, but I doubt it will make too many avid fans. The plot is a little too complex for the alloted time. It doesn`t flow quite as effortlessly ... as Comedy. Following the rushed developments of the first third of the movie is a bit of a chore.

Noiseman remains accessible despite the early hiccup because its story is completely unpretentious. It never tries to drill an emotion or a philosophical perspective. It`s just a pure, albeit very strange story. The appeal is the novelty in the premise, audio, and visuals.

The animation in Noiseman is very solid, somewhere between the quality one would expect from a TV series and a feature film. 4C as usual, delivers on the atmospheric and creative aspect of the visuals. The setting is a vibrantly colored slum that looks like a cross between Tekkon Kinkreet and Tweeny Witches. Noiseman's himself, as well as his gadgets have cute, but out-of-this-world designs and some of the later scenes step into drug-induced delusion territory. Spinning textures and white backgrounds show a whimsy that stretches beyond Willie Wonka, or even other Studio 4C productions.

A name like Noiseman brings up a certain expectation for the sound. This aspect is perhaps the most impressive of the short. Noiseman contains some pieces that are no more than vaguely musical sounding noise, some that resemble tribal beats, and some fast paced techno stuff. What`s amazing is how perfectly the music is timed with this film. There is some sort of music playing for the whole duration, and considering how radically different the musical pieces are from each other, it`s amazing how smooth the transitions are. The quick techno beats always come in just as a scene gets exciting. Musical pauses are used to dramatic effect. The music on a scene to scene basis is perfectly matched with the animation, and as a whole, the general messiness in all of the tracks is a great match for the setting.

There`s usually something wrong when novelty is one of the greatest assets of a film. Because Noiseman is but 15 minutes, its novel charm has no problem lasting the entire duration. Beyond that simple strangeness that is so amusing, Noiseman has a solid story that is elevated by the visual and audio experience it provides.

I remember making note of this one after seeing it on some recommendation image. You know, those ones that have a bunch of anime posters on a black background with the names written under each one and then the title is on the top or bottom and says something like "So You Think All Anime Are the Same? Check These Out:". I don't, but I like avoiding the same things in general. Well that aside, the badass poster with its hot pink contrast to the flat grey over an edgy dystopian punk with small patterned dots and a fuzzy logo representing static feedback on top ... of the thing just being fucking called "Noiseman Sound Insect" was enough to sell me alone. If it didn't have that, then if I somehow took a look at the list of talent before watching that would've caught my attention instead. Several high profile names are involved, with the art and animation being handled by Masaki Yuasa and the sound design being handled by Yoko Kanno. Shigeru Watanabe and Kouji Morimoto are less prolific but have been involved with Akira, Memories, and The Animatrix. Goddamn.

Oh, but it's 15 minutes long. Put that much talent in such a restrained space and the result seems almost inevitable. Noiseman is a frantic action piece that literally does not stop for a breath, bursting to the seams with meticulously detailed stills of the tie-dye junk city and Yuasa's free-flowing animation style that breaks proportions and scale in the name of keeping kinetic energy. It's a technical marvel and the eye-candy becomes literal candy when paired with the general color scheme of bright reds, blues, and yellows. Oh right, the story or whatever. Some old scientist creates a monster that looks like a 5 year-old's drawing of Oogie Boogie that separates people into a ghost form and a crystal, and people are brainwashed into rounding up the ghosts for him or something and a few guys break free after eating magical fruit. I don't know, it's crazy and is just a nonsense excuse for nonsense visuals. If I had a complaint its that the aesthetic implied above by my description of the poster just isn't here. Music plays almost no narrative role which is disappointing considering Yoko Kanno's at the helm (and I'd never guess it was her by virtue of me not remembering any music from this after it finished). The Noiseman is the Oogie Boogie monster and the "music" is peoples' souls or whatever. The background score is a lot of nondescript fast percussion, drum patterns that are a very basic assault compared to the visuals. I was hoping for a bunch of screeching noise feedback and comparatively abrasive visuals that'd melt my brain like an egg on asphalt, but it's just a wacky fantasy ride that's still fairly distinct because it's Yuasa and how it's so technically accomplished, but nothing really shocking. Only the very beginning utilizes video static as a visual gimmick, so I don't know what kind of style it was going for.

For such a short running time its easily worth it to those going in for a visual trip. File under "definitive stoner anime" along with Trava. I'll probably never think of it again unless I'm asked to recommend anime with cool animation. Even then, it's been paired with heftier or more cohesive narratives. Fine stuff.

Onkyo Seimeitai Noiseman is a "Short Movie" of around 15 minutes.

It was produced by Studio 4°C an inventive and creative studio that I must say is composed of a capable and interesting staff.

Plot: In short it is about Noiseman a synthetic life-form that erased music and sounds from the airwaves
Story:
I give it a 7..Overall it's good infact it presents in a span of 15 minutes a really interesting story and setting revolving around the power of society and words,this is how I interpreted it. but in a strange way, the ending song helped me to think in that way , although It's good it is ... like a short movie because with a lot of scenes Noisen can change tone and pretty quickly but not giving you a perfect explanation of what it's doing, you have to interpret it by yourself..although it is not complete at all..in a 15 minute time they did a great job
I call it a movie(short movie) because It is really fast paced infact in 15 minutes it change scenes from beginning to flashback to normal to development to end in a way that gave me some incredible vibes

Art:
I give it an 8... It is probably the best part of this short along with the music and effects and it fits the tone and atmosphere of the anime, I love the shots too..how they pass to a scene with a dramatical tone and one with a "pumped up" tone, I just love Masaaki Yuasa direction in art too and it fits perfectly what I was thinking about this short..It certainly add some good vibes to it
The character design is perfect too
The best parts are when the visuals are on drugs..just because Masaaki Yuasa's ability to deform forms is incredible and so, in situations where there are a lot of strange things going on his works are the best for that parts

Sound and Music:
I give it a 9, why? Because I loved it and because of Yoko Kanno outstanding music in general(So I give it a plus just because of him, listen to Yoko Kanno - The creation to give you an idea of what this man is capable of)..the ending theme made me think about some things that helped me reach a conclusion, the music along with the story change tone every time :D, it even stops out of nowhere to follow what is going on in the different situations(And that is the best thing about this movie along with music of very different genres)

Character:
They didn't explore much the characters but it's interesing Noiseman and his seach of the crystals, they don't have the time to shine and because of that I give it a 6(or almost 6)

Enjoyment:
I give it a 7 because I surely enjoyed a bit..the music, the plot the fast pacing and the art(which I love) are enough to pass a good quarter of hour
Overall: I give Onkyo Seimeitai Noiseman a solid 7/7.5 and I advise you to check out this interesting work..it takes you just 15 minutes and they're worth for me