Dreams

"Dreams" is a 5 minute movie made by Keiichi Tanaami. I fail to see how anyone could overlook this animation for the masterpiece it truly is. Let's start with the story.

Story: 10/10
The story in this movie is outstanding. I don't know how to put it into words. It's captivating, and will hold your attention until the very end.

Art: 10/10
Amazing. I knew from the moment I set my eyes on this movie that I was going to be in for a treat, and I was right. Keiichi finds a way to take an art style and make it is own. It's like taking a breath of ... fresh air. It's nice to see originality every now and then.

Sound: 10/10
The art, accompanied by the terrific soundtrach, will leave you speechless. The music is beautiful, and will definitely leave an impact on you.

Characters: 10/10
The characters are truly the best part of this movie. Each and every one of them are unique in their own way. I'm sure that you will find yourself loving them as much as I do.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I haven't had this much fun watching an anime in a long time. Dreams truly is a masterpiece among masterpieces, which leaves me to my conclusion.

Overall: 10/10
If I could give this movie higher than a 10, then you could bet your ass that I would. This piece of pure art deserves way more appreciation than it gets. If you're looking for an anime with a good plot, captivating art, an amazing soundtrack, and unique characters, than this is the movie for you.

Let's blast this off by stating the obvious. This is not a regular series or by any means a standalone movie or episode. It is a small project, and in every sense a pure work of art as if you make the endeavor of watching it you will immediately understand that no mean to please you in a commercial sense is there. I think that any negativity against this is the love child between the perpetually fan-pleasing industry and the fans. We have to admit that in spite of anime enjoying an immense array of themes and underlying ideas as a body, the narrative media ... and the elements of the script from series to series to movies remain pretty methodical and typical: You have your discreet character introductions, a cemented story, a purpose, climaxes, twists, downfalls and comebacks leading to -hopefully- either a pleasing outcome that attempts to make justice of the followed course or a cheeky, rage inducing ending with the purpose of pummeling your expectations as a sacrifice to the shrine of inescapable fate, a storytelling favorite. And that's where the problem is rooted. If as an anime fan you haven't reached the acceptance that you are but a pin among a haystack of corporate spectacle, then you won't understand how damaging it is for a medium that's supposed to be primarily artistic to be plagued and defined by the expectations of thousands of "spoiled" individuals that expect nothing but a concrete story and annoyingly discernible emotional and ideological outlines. I won't delve a lot into the actual anime, because as stated already, it is much more of a pure work of art, thus more open to interpretation and of course criticism.

Please, note that for this review, as we deal with an abstract work, aren't low because of poor story or characterization but because of lack thereof.

Story - 2: It's pretty abstract as I wrote, but not to an extreme, so that you can actually paint over it with your imagination, connecting the lines yourself. Anything can be acceptable, for me it's the obvious undertones of sexuality and and maybe some evolutionary undertones, whatever.

Art - 8: Here is where I don't get most people. The art is by far not infantile, it's just messy, but nicely paced, with forms fluently distorting and melting as images repeatedly spring up from inside one another, with impressive detail here and there.

Sound - 5: Despite the rating, it's just up to preference. It's good for complementing the funky art, but not much of a standalone OST.

Enjoyment: - 6: Again, it's rudimentary to watch it from a perspective clear of mainstream expectations. If you are bored and just need some time filler you are not going to enjoy this. But if you are feeling up to a little brainstorming this is at least a quirky way of satisfying your thirst.

Overall - 5: Maybe it didn't have much to say to me personally, but I also don't regret watching this. If I have to stress something out, that would be to not let the norm shape your view on something different. This behavior has cursed generations of artists. People that thought Monet and Van Gogh were too "unclear" and "childish" or that Klimt was aimlessly provocative, or that Hendrix was a klutz are now hailed as the dumbasses of criticism's history, so don't be those guys.

Ah, Dreams. A 5 minute movie. Let me summarize this "movie" with one simple phrase:
It's garbage.
Seriously. Nothing about it is good. You have a terrible art style that looks like it was drawn by a kid with very simple animation, and really weird music that just confuses you even further rather than setting the correct tone.
Ah, and now the characters. The most important part of any story, whether it is a book, movie, anime, or even a live-action tv series. I would love to provide a detailed description of the characters in "Dreams", the problem is that:
There are no characters.
Seriously. No protagonist, no antagonist, no ... side characters, no death fodder. Nothing. Right... so how am I supposed to get immersed in this again? Why do I even care about anything that is happening?
And the story is the most confusing thing you will ever see. Just a bunch of things mixing together, eyes that wink, and dots with random colors. I'm quite certain that the person who made this took LSD, Meth, Cocaine, and Ecstasy at the same time, and then proceeded to make this anime. There is no comprehensible explanation for anything that happens!
This is quite frankly the vaguest thing you will ever see. This is just food for those pretentious overthinkers that want to feel special because they watch anime that is "2deep4u" and that requires "higher intellect" in order to be understood. When in reality that is just complete BS since there is nothing deep about this anime at all.
The only way this requires "higher intellect" is if you are so high that you can somehow make up a BS meaning for everything that is happening in this.
Which is basically impossible since there is no meaning at all.