Koneko no Studio

こねこのスタジオ - Koneko no Studio, the little kitten from the film „Koneko no Rakugai“, has come a long way since his first appearance. Two years ago, in 1957, he was drawing with a pencil on a house wall, but today he's making a samurai film. There's no business like show business, and we're looking forward to more colourful antics from the kitten and his mouse friends.

Story: More content than its predecessor and with a new message (8/10).
The story is much more interesting than its predecessor, as it is more surprising and reflects the bizarre visual content described. The message of the film is as simple ... as it is topical. It reflects the central theme of the future of filmmaking, or rather a nightmare version of it. Instead of painstaking but loving manual work, the soulless machine has almost completely taken over. It was clear from the start that things would get out of hand in the ultra-modern studio. Eventually, our kitten is forced to realise that only a cold machine can control such a cold environment. Amazingly, even though it was said in 1959, without any knowledge of today's technologies such as CGI (Computer Generated Imagery), this statement still holds true today.

Characters: Slightly different from their predecessors (6/10)
Compared to their predecessors, the characters have changed slightly. The companions have grown up and changed their habits from childish to more sensible. But in the end, they act as if nothing has changed.
Koneko:
The kitten "Koneko" has become smarter. Instead of complaining, he solved the practical difficulties and built a fully automated studio. Even the actors have been replaced by robots that work better.
The two mice:
They're smart too, but they don't want to accept what Koneko is doing. Instead, they've started secretly sabotaging modern technology.

Visuals: Technically a step forward, but some charm has been lost (6/10).
The graphics and animations are interesting again. In fact, there has been a significant technical leap forward in two years. There are now colours instead of black and white. Good, although something like lip-syncing is still missing, but remember, it's 1959! The design of the machines is well modelled. The Analytica engine really does look like the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) from 1946, and there are plenty of nice drawings, backgrounds and tiny details such as cameras. The animations, however, are not as smooth and polished. On the contrary, they are often a little choppy and some of them are repeated too often. It seems that all the charm that Mori, Yasuji, gave to its predecessor has been lost. Instead of experimenting, we are left with a solidly average animated film. It may be technically superior to its predecessor in many ways, and this time there is a story that is quite entertaining and thought-provoking. But the bottom line is that it is not that much fun.

Sound: BGM unexceptional, some dialogue added, VA good (6/10).
The BGM was arranged by Yamada, Eiichi and does a good job of underlining the scenario, but on the other hand it does not stand out with any special features. The sound, however, has been improved. Some dialogue has been added instead of just background music.
There is not a lot of dialogue, but the dubbing by Nakamura, Meiko has been done very well.

Although the animation and sound have improved considerably and the story is more mature, the animal characters lack the endearing charm of their predecessors, especially when it comes to Koneko. The series is a remarkable step forward, and the protagonists have a fun and entertaining adventure. In my opinion, however, the rating is lower than for the film "Koneko no Rakugai".

Thank you for reading and have fun watching!

Toei's short Koneko no Studio is a sequel to its earlier more rudimentary work. the craftwork has significantly improved in this short sequel, especially with the addition of color and some more detail put into the frames beyond just the main characters. The narrative is a relatively simple one speculating on the horrors of robots and futuristic technology. Asimov's anthology of stories on robots had just made a giant splash on the meta narrative scene when it came to speculative fiction of the time. The fear of automation replacing human labor is as old as the luddites themselves and those fears have only grown since ... the advent of literary science fiction. Overall, I'd say Koneko no Studio is worth a look for the production values, but it isn't particularly deep and its attempts at slapstick humor fall flat.