Chirin no Suzu

Ringing Bell is a hidden gem that deserves more attention.

The story is simple as one would expect for a cartoon aimed at a younger audience but it is nice and tightly tied together and has great visuals that help elevate it to something special with its fantastic character designs. Art style is very old school in a charming way. The characters have interesting motivations that one might not expect which makes it feel dynamic and less like treading through a well-worn path.

All in all, it feels like a nicely fleshed out Aesop's Fable. It's well crafted in its simplicity and can be enjoyed by all ... ages although some of the scenes may be a bit scary for younger viewers.

Why you should watch Chirin no Suzu (Ringing Bell) anime? / Zašto pogledati Chirin no Suzu (Ringing Bell) anime?

English language: For starters I will say that I will have to name a couple of spoilers because for some this anime could be disturbing. Chirin no Suzu (Ringing Bell) is the anime that shocked me the most. Mostly because I never expected to see everything that happened. Takashi Yanase wrote the book on which this anime is based. One of the reasons he became a children’s writer and illustrator is how he could deal with his PTSD because he survived World War II. ... Although it doesn't seem like anti-war anime to anyone at first, when you metaphorically look at anime, you realize it has to do with it. The plot revolves around a newborn lamb Chirin who lives a peaceful life on a meadow with his mother. This will soon come to an end when they are attacked by a wolf named Woe who kills Chirin's mother. Broken by his mother's death, Chirin swears that he himself will become a wolf to avenge his mother, unaware of how much this transformation will cost him. This story certainly reminds you a lot of Bambie, which reminded me at first. But the thing is, this isn't Bambie. This is "Bambie gone bad"! I thought that Chirin would become a wolf with the help of some magic, and take revenge on the wolf who killed his mother. This is what I expected the most because this anime movie was done by Sanrio. For those of you who don’t know what Sanrio is, it’s a company that has created famous characters like Hello Kitty, My Melody, Kuromi, Cinnamoroll, Little Twin Stars, Pompompurin and many others. So I definitely didn’t expect such an anime from Sanrio. Let me get back to the story. Chirin will do anything to become like a wolf. Because in order to take revenge on him, he needs to become like him. I thought this was going to be an anime about his physical becoming like a wolf, but it’s actually about his mental becoming. His mind will change so much, that he will even be willing to kill someone of his kind if necessary. This anime is definitely scary because it has some disturbing scenes. In my opinion, the worst was one scene when Chirin saw one animal attack another animal which was then killed. And as Chirin came to defend the other animals from that other one, he accidentally kills them himself. It’s a very dark anime where Chirin’s psyche changes over time as he begins to wonder what the meaning of life is if you can easily be killed. He decided to change his destiny by becoming like a wolf.
I gave this anime 10/10 for several reasons. This is an overpowering anime that really managed to portray the story in a dark but real way. You feel it emotionally because rarely can an anime portray and evoke emotions as well as this one. It is completely dedicated to character development. The last thing that made the anime great for me was because it was instructive. This anime clearly shows that you are what you choose to be. Because your choices affect you and how you develop. Chirin will be so focused on revenge that not only will he lose everything and everyone, but he will lose himself the most.
This is a movie that lasts 46 minutes. He has managed to show so much in such a short time. It kept my attention from beginning to end and I couldn’t possibly predict the things that happened. I understand that this anime is not for everyone, but whoever dares to watch it, I hope they will like it.
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Hrvatski jezik: Za početak ću reći da ću morati navesti par spojlera jer bi nekima ovaj anime mogao biti uznemirujuć. Chirin no Suzu (Ringing Bell) je anime koji me najviše šokirao. Najviše zato što nisam nikako očekivala da ću vidjeti sve ono što se dogodilo. Takashi Yanase je napisao knjigu po kojoj se temelji ovaj anime. Jedan od razloga zašto je postao dječji pisac i ilustrator je kako bi se mogao nositi sa svojim PTSP-om jer je preživio Drugi svjetski rat. Iako nikome na prvu ne izgleda kao antiratni anime, kada metaforički sagledaš anime, shvatiš da ima veze s tim. Radnja se vrti oko novorođenog janjeta Chirina koji živi mirnim životom na livadi sa svojom majkom. Tome će ubrzo doći kraj kad ih napadne vuk po imenu Woe koji ubija Chirinovu majku. Slomljen majčinom smrću, Chirin se zaklinje da će i sam postati vuk kako bi se osvetio majci, nesvjestan koliko će ga koštati ova preobrazba. Ova priča vas sigurno dosta podsjeća na Bambie, što je i mene na prvu podsjetilo. Ali stvar je u tome što ovo nije Bambie. Ovo je "Bambie gone bad"! Mislila sam da će Chirin s pomoću neke magije postati vuk, i osvetiti se vuku koji je ubio njegovu majku. To sam najviše očekivala jer je ovaj anime film radio Sanrio. Za vas koji ne znate što je Sanrio, to je kompanija koja je stvorila poznate likove kao što su Hello Kitty, My Melody, Kuromi, Cinnamoroll, Little Twin Stars, Pompompurin i mnogi drugi. Tako da definitivno nisam očekivala takav anime od Sanria. Da se vratim na priču. Chirin će uraditi sve kako bi postao kao vuk. Jer da bi mu se osvetio, on treba postati poput njega. Mislila sam da će to biti anime o njegovom fizičkom postajanju kao vuk, ali je zapravo o psihičkom. Njegov će se um toliko izmijeniti, da će biti spreman čak i da ubije nekog od svoje vrste ako je to potrebno. Ovaj anime je definitivno zastrašujuć jer ima neke uznemirujuće scene. Po meni je najgora bila jedna scena kada je Chirin vidio da jedna životinja napada drugu životinju koja tada bude ubijena. I kako je Chirin došao da obrani ostale životinje od te druge, slučajno ih on sam ubija. Jako je mračan anime gdje se Chirinu psiha s vremenom mijenja kada se počeo pitati koji je smisao života ako te lako mogu ubiti. On je odlučio promijeniti svoju sudbinu tako što će postati kao vuk.
Ovome animeu sam dala 10/10 zbog više razloga. Premoćan je anime koji je stvarno uspio prikazati priču na mračan ali stvaran način. Emocionalno ga osjetiš jer rijetko koji anime može tako dobro prikazati i izazvati emocije kao ovaj. U potpunosti je posvećen razvoju lika. Zadnje zbog čega mi je bio odličan je zato što je poučan. Ovaj anime jasno prikazuje da si ono što odabereš da budeš. Jer vaši izbori utječu na vas i kako se razvijate. Chirin će toliko biti fokusiran na osvetu da ne samo da će izgubiti sve i ostale, već će najviše izgubiti sebe.
Ovo je film koji traje 46 minuta. Toliko je toga uspio prikazati u tako malo vremena. Meni je držao pažnju od početka do kraja i nisam nikako mogla predvidjeti stvari koje su se dogodile. Razumijem da ovaj anime nije za svakoga, ali tko god se usudi da ga pogleda, nadam se da će mu se svidjeti.

I think it was alright. Most of the film felt just like buildup to our ending(a very horrifying, deep ending) but I didn't feel engaged in the film because of how saccharine it was for quite a bit.
Woe and Chirin have a most interesting dynamic, the art is pretty nice in its Disneyfied pastoral way, and the music is also nice, I guess it might traumatize some younger kids, the plot is not very original, the characters are kind of flat until the end.
I like that it didn't go the way of "predator animals are evil! We defeat them and live happily after!" but ... instead it teaches that predator animals simply do their best to survive in a cruel world.
I can't say much about the movie other than that.