Fukusuke

While not the most technically luminous work of the period, Fukusuke compensates for its simplistic animation style, plain and empty background frames and repeated use of motion frames with a brilliant piece of speculation fiction as the driving narrative. The anime is about a frog who was born different in how gravity affects it - and the trials and tribulations that it has to go through to finally reach closure with its natural disposition.

This is by far one of the most unique stories I've seen in animation from the era, especially given how hard it leans into speculative elements and extrapolates the premise into a ... broader consequences. I see clear parallels between the main character's "nature" and allegories to unconventional sexualities. The parents trying to "fix" the child frog's condition by trying every trick in the book parallels how a lot of parents often come to terms with the fact that their children do not align with the then gender or sexuality norms. They try different methods to get the frog to behave "normally" which only creates difficulty for the frog until it eventually ends up on an adventure.

I was just randomly searching through old seasonals and stumbled upon this 18 minute short known as Fukusuke.

Story:
Fukusuke follows a small frog in a frog society. Or something like that. After a small incident, this frog is left with a condition that only allows him to be upside down. Yes I'm serious. I won't spoil much from this point on however the story follows this frog as his townspeople try to fix this unknown issue. Despite being only 18 minutes, this story has a rising action, a climax, and a resolution that executes it the old fashioned way perfectly.

Sound:
Fukusuke has no dialogue. However ... like old Disney films, you can easily feel what the characters are feeling and easily describe the situation at hand. Fukusuke left me laughing at how stupid the sounds this frog world made.

Art:
The art for this time isn't anything to brag about as you would expect. Don't go in expecting some top notch animation. Since Fukusuke's art isn't what makes it so great. However one thing to note is that it's old nostalgic art is will definitely keep you relaxed.

Characters:
The story follows the main character, the young frog. We meet tons of other frogs and even some god frogs. Since this is only 18 minutes long, it doesn't focus much on specific characters. But characeters like the god frogs with his fight scenes was just so goddamn hilarious.

Overall:
Don't go into Fukusuke expecting a masterpiece, because it definitely isn't one. Fukusuke isn't meant to portray some deep themes either, however, it's definitely something you'll be able to enjoy if you go in looking for a fun wacky story about a frog and his adventures.

I would 100% recommend you watch Fukusuke, it's a short 18 minutes long and will leave you dreaming about upside down frogs for the rest of your life.

Shorts can get a bad rap for not being very substantive. I don't think Fukusuke will change your mind about how substantive a short can be, but it may make you consider how much that really matters in the first place.

I'm not saying Fukusuke necessarily has nothing to say, but I think the strength of the short is in how simple it is. It focuses on exploring a fun, silly premise giving it room to be creative and expressive in its execution.

Talking about how things can get a bad rap, the few shorts from this time period could easily be seen as more of an ... academic curiosity than anything, but Fukusuke flies in the face of that by being very entertaining in spite of its age.

There are so many fun little details on display from the way the father frog jumps out of the helicopter to the little frog traversing the river. It certainly made me forget all about how this is over 60 years old.

It also looks great. It's colourful with interesting and sometimes quite pretty backgrounds. The various characters are cute, and simplistic (the dog is ugly, but you can't win 'em all I guess).

The main area I think could have served to draw a more consistent throughline was the way the little frog's story concluded. Without directly spoiling anything, it was a feelgood ending, but I was almost hoping that the little frog could have had the opportunity to come to terms with being different.

Most of what made the little frog's life truly difficult was the overcompensation of those around it, and not its original disposition (lol). It seemed pretty content when everything was said and done though.

So maybe being a little more substantive could have elevated this for me, but there's still a timeless quality that I really appreciate. Add to that how wacky and funny it can be, and it becomes something I can definitely see myself returning to for a good time.