Inaka Isha

Story with the same name as the compilation of short narratives published in 1920. ''A rural doctor'' is incredible for some clear reasons: first, the story carries the typical Kafkaesque impotence, in which nothing can be done '' Only a doctor, only a doctor''. Nevertheless, this permeates the author's entire work, so the need to justify it for another reason: its explicit synthesis of the Kafkaesque universe, making dialogue with other of the narratives present in the same collection, because there is, at the same time, the theme of the visit, of isolation, and especially of the journey that never comes to an end.

... The category of the grotesque implies the creation of fantastic universes, the bizarre, and other strange ways of representing reality. In this sense, the artistic choice of the work ''Inaka Isha'' follows a style that, similar to Kafka's work, evokes an atmosphere of nightmare and absurdity. Of course, even though this anime is not a bad representation, it fails to take away everything the work has to offer. For those who have never read Kafka's book, it will be very difficult to understand any kind of implied meaning. Don't get me wrong, it goes without saying that Kafka's works are not at all easy to interpret. However, when passed to anime, it became even more confusing.

So, the story is pretty straightforward but also kind of confusing if you're just looking for a light watch and since it was a short film, I wasn't expecting the weirdness of it all. Weird is almost an understatement.

I didn't read the story prior to watching, but I did read it afterwards and I was still left feeling underwhelmed with the story.

The animation is what keeps you interested to watch it. The art is beautiful in its absurdness and I think the art is the only thing that gives this story life -- I also think that it further aids the weirdness of ... the story in general.

Overall, I think it was an interesting watch nonetheless. I do feel like I needed knowledge of the story beforehand to real appreciate the short film and how it really brought a sense of eeriness that isn't felt in the short story.

I think if you are looking for a quick watch then it's good, but if you're looking for some depth then I think you can look elsewhere.

Watching this twisted acid-trip of Kafka’s story is like being dragged into the dark depths of someone else's fever dream that you didn’t sign up for. Now, sure, Kafka wasn’t exactly known for his sunny outlook on life, but this anime turns his bleakness up to eleven and then dials it right back down to “what the fuck was that?”

The animation style is, let’s be generous here, "surreal," which is just fancy talk for the visuals looking like they were dreamt up by a caffeinated toddler in the middle of the night. We get bizarre transformations, faces melting like wax, and expressions so vague you’re ... left wondering if you’re watching existential horror or an unfortunate PowerPoint presentation gone wrong. The characters? They’ve got all the depth and charm of undercooked tofu, just kind of floating around, wide-eyed, as if even they don’t know what Kafka was on about.

The narrative itself feels like it got lost on the way to making sense. A doctor, a horse, a mysterious patient, and a whole lot of inexplicable suffering—it’s all so delightfully disjointed that you wonder if they cut half the scenes just to spare us from more confusion.

So, if you’re looking for something entertaining, stay far away. If you want a borderline torture session of unsettling animation and sheer, unfiltered weirdness? Well, then this Kafka adaptation's just the ticket.