Watashi no Kao

Watashi no Kao is a hauntingly cool (yet sadly, very short) work by the (in)famous Keita Kurosaka.

Right off the bat, the story is not the focus, as there is very little.

What is of focus is the incredible art style that Kurosaka employs. A twisted, surreal depiction of humanity that embodies the grotesque, creating a style that is oddly part-realistic and part-surrealistic. This style is often seen in his works, and speaks to the unique nature of his artistry. I love it.

The sound design is very good, and backs up the intense imagery with an equal dose of intense sounds. It feels demented, out ... of this world, and engrosses you into the images therein.

I greatly enjoyed this short animation, and would recommend it highly to open-minded animation fans and Kurosaka devotees (all of which seem to be only me so far).

5/10/8/7/9/8

Watashi no Kao or in english; "My Face," is a short, abstract dementia horror animation. It seemingly deals with issues of insecurity and self-identity. In it a little girl is asking repeatedly if someone is ready, as one would in a game of hide and seek, before revealing her face to the viewers, which twists into a number of abstract abominations.

The art is stunning, as one would expect if they had ever seen animations by the animator of this piece. It's unsettling, erratic and most of all, fitting for the message the piece seems to want to impart. The animation is exceedingly smooth at times ... but also jerky at others, but only when the jerkiness is intentional. The sound really gives a sense of... Unease and discomfort. Truly a good piece if you are interested in these short, dementia horror animations.

** Actually serious review at the end **

I thought Mochibei was good, but this.... This is otherworldly!

Watashi no Kao exemplifies everything that I love about abstract short films. It's only 3 minutes long, yet so profound and genius! Unlike Mochibei, the story isn't that hard to understand, but it's executed even more exquisitely.

Watashi no Kao primarily tells the coming-of-age story of a little girl who's trying her best to grow up as a normal person. Throughout the entire short, we see this girl constantly conforming herself to the ever changing society. And although these changes might not always be to her liking, she never complains; ... because she doesn't want to be isolated and ridiculed by others. She just stomachs everything without ever telling someone about it. That really says something about our society, doesn't it?

These aren't the only themes that Watashi no Kao tackles though. Many more relevant social issues, such as the sudden and rapid increase of weebs all around the world, people committing war crimes for their waifus, etc. are dealth with in this short, that are all portrayed very realistically and masterfully. And all of this is done in only 3 minutes. Can you believe it!? I can't even solve a simple math problem in 3 minutes to be honest.

As expected from Keita Kurosaka, the animation is flawless. Keita has utilized various visual metaphors and imageries to add subtle details to some scenes, and it is mind-blowing how much effort he has put into doing that. Moreover, character emotions are depicted so beautifully that they actually feel they are genuine.

If you've read my review of Mochibei (which I bet you haven't), I said its soundtrack was a bit lacking, but Watashi no Kao absolutely slaps in this department. The music synchronizes perfectly with the events that occur in the short, and it's used to further enhance the viewing experience instead of being there just for the sake of it.

Watashi no Kao is a life-changing experience. Forget Koe no Katachi, forget Gintama – Watashi no Kao is the best anime that I have ever watched. It's even better than Mochibei. So what are you doing right now? Stop reading this review, and just go watch the short film on YouTube or any other website you can find. And of course, don't forget to thank me later for introducing you to such a tremendous piece.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, in all seriousness, even if you look at it with the most rose-colored glasses, Watashi no Kao doesn't have an inkling of meaning or writing substance behind it, or at least that's what it seems like to me. As with almost all abstract short films, especially those that are horror, Watashi no Kao appears to be a purely experimental project with singular focus on the art, and with sound design that is frankly very shit. Considering that I personally don't like this kind of experimental works, it's completely unsurprising that I found nothing of value in Watashi no Kao. You might think differently, though it is highly unlikely, so I won't stop you from watching it. It's just 3 minutes long, and it's not exactly what I would call very disturbing either (unless you can't handle this any sort of "grotesque" stuff at all); there will be no harm in watching it if you are somewhat curious. At the very least, it will be a unique experience.

For fans of experimental horror, 'Watashia no Kao' is a potential treat. Personally, I can't get enough of well crafted avant-garde horror films, and this very brief animated short, while not exactly great, does certainly have many elements I found to be extremely impressive and interesting. The animation is heavily stylized, and the visuals presented are highly unique, creative, strange, etc. Those who appreciate surrealism as much as I do will definitely find plenty in here to like; however, I will say, the sound design is pretty bad. Maybe it was just the copy I viewed, but the audio was actually terrible. You could argue ... it "ads to the atmosphere" or something, but I think it just made the short seem a bit more amateurish than necessary. In general, this short is certainly an interesting work that's intense, vibrant, although mostly meaningless and inaccessibly abstract.

Horror isn't something that usually scares me, whether it's movies, books, or anime. But Watashi no Kao managed to do just that.

It starts with a little girl with her face turned away from the camera asking "Are you ready yet?", before turning to face the camera showing her distorted face, which morphs into all sorts of disturbing images.

There isn't really a story here, so I have nothing to comment about in that regard.

The animation is fantastic, it's genuinely unnerving watching the girl's face morph into all sorts of twisted shapes.

The erratic sound design adds to the sense of unease you get watching through this.

Overall, I ... would definitely take the time to watch this short animation. Its the first piece of media in a long time to actually make me feel uncomfortable while watching.

Pay no attention to the people saying this is deep, it's not. It's just a girls face morphing into different faces for a few minutes. An old man's face, or a demonic face, and everything in-between as it stretches, squeezes, and growls quite loudly. That is mostly it.
I liked the way the different faces melded together and stretched as they were changing in a psychedelic nightmare of an lsd trip that this short was. The wall of nightmare sounds (demonic growling and a metal pole being hit with a stick?) added another level of uncomfortable surrealism. Overall though it was ... pretty pointless. I appreciate the amount of effort went into the art though. Making complex scribbles into animation takes a different effort than drawing standard in-between frames.
Eventually you see her real face, which was probably already spoiled for you. She looks at the camera and says a short phrase, then it ends, leaving you wondering why this exists.
It is what it is, a short art piece with little meaning or point other than displaying the grotesque. 3/10

Watashi No Kao is a 3 minute horror film that basically shows a series of surreal shapes on a little girl's face. There is no story or dialogue besides "Here is my face" and "I am ready."

For what it is, it does a decent job. The animation and art style is unnerving, and the faces are seriously creepy. It definitely has that dark, surreal kind of demonic horror vibe that is seen in a lot of psychological horrors. Definitely worth a watch if you want to see something really weird and creepy, it's not mind blowing but it does its job as a 3 minute ... horror movie just fine.