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Wonderfully disturbing, among my tops for stop motion horror. A work of art, but storywise, I'd say it's not exactly thought provoking. The characters may not be this film's strong suit, but you won't be missing too much if you go into it for the experience, and ho boy, it's a treat of spooky soundscapes and bizarre imagery. I also have a fear of holes, so the part with the holes in the flesh singing gave me an uneasy feeling. Overall, it's a nice short worth your time if you're looking for something different with an unsettling atmosphere. I wholeheartedly recomend giving it a try.

I like the style and music, and the concept is one I resonate with strongly. I feel the need to rate this a 4.5, but in lieu of partials for our rating system, I'm rating it a 5. Why? Because it's not that it's bad... it's just painfully... plain.

It's a simple, safe representation of taking the first steps to overcoming depression. I respect it, and I wish good things to the student who made this film. At the same time, I'm not really sure if I'd recomend this. It's short, so if you want to watch a slightly feel good story about overcoming depressing, I'd ... day there's better ones but that this is alright.

It's short and has charm, so watch it if the premise appeals to you. But don't go into it thinking it'll be on par with series like Ninja Scroll, the Kage OVA, or Vampire Princess Miyu in terms of either fights or beautiful animation. It's got style, but at a fraction, but it's definitely got some things going for it that make it a classic.

Animation was alright, and I'm not just saying that for the time this came out. It feels like, surprisingly, despite this OVA being an almost 1:1 shot of the one-shot it was based off of, that the manga did it better. ... Fights were decent, with cool moments of violent blood sprays accompanied with great choice of music. The final fight was its best fight and most well choreographed. Sound design was mediocre, however, with sound affects for a few of the scenes being a little off.

Overall, it's a decent short that I rated as a 5 because it's got one heck of a fun concept and an alright execution. It feels lacking. When reading the one-shot, the art felt more consistent throughout, the darker, thick lines and the scenes flowing better than something that has movement—biggest exceptions being where they barged through the enemy and the final battle, which the OVA completely excelled at.

Watch for a quick fix of 90's (despite coming out in the early 2000's) styled anime set Feudal Japan, but keep in mind that it's nothing phenomenal.

Provacative, surreal, and psychedelic, this is a film unlike anything I've seen before. The artstyle, sometimes muted, washed with watercolor dripping down the screen, and other times loud with vivid reds and greens that pop out at the viewer, is as beautiful as it is haunting. The animation, minimal at best, is slightly choppy but surprisingly very fluid during very specific scenes. It all feels purposefully done, as if to make those scenes stand out even more than the others. The music also serves a very large role, other than the instruments helping to convey the tone of the scene, often the singer will serve ... as a dual narrator, as if to spell out the melancholy of the main character as well as the crossroads at which she stands.

This isn't going to be a movie for everyone. I'm going to get that right out of the way first and foremost. This is an arthouse film which employed some very experimental techniques at the time, ones which Toei Productions would later employ when they coined the term "ga-nime" (an extremely niche and often overlooked style of production which was unpopular and never wide spreading). However, at the heart of Belladonna of Sadness is an experience which reminds me of an emotionally charged, more narratively driven Angels Egg (mostly in its execution, but also religious imagery). If you've seen that film, you'll understand how each scene flows into the next with an almost dream-like fever, but that the story is mostly up for interpretation. I'd argue that the message and the story of Jeanne (the main character of Belladonna of Sadness) and her downfall is very straightforward despite its surrealism.

The story starts with a marriage, but after the lord demands more taxes than the husband can pay, his lady proposes that the virgin wife have her purity tainted. After that, nothing is the same for Jeanne as her life spirals after being reduced to an artform for the eyes of lustful men. One criticism I see often is that there's a romanticized depiction of her and every assault she suffers, however, I'd argue that depiction is strongly symbolic to how she is viewed vs how she views herself. During the latter half of the movie after she makes a deal (won't spoil it), her body is like a temple, but spirals in many scenes to be this twisted, unholy mass of flesh. And yet, despite all this, one thing I loved about her is that she was still willing to help others even when her cynicism and emptiness became like posion.

I wouldn't call this a love story. I wouldn't even call this a story of revenge. I don't say this often because I feel the term has become synonymous with certain unsavory women who's extremism has become laughable and reduced to a caricature of what the movement stood for, but this movie has a strong feminist message. I could carry on about the meaning of the phallic imagery throughout, or even her face transposed over the other women in the crowd at the end, but this review is already long. I will say as a closing, however, that it's the impact of the story of Jeanne which inspires me, and why I love the ending so much.

TLDR; if you enjoy morality tales laced with tragedy and experimental anime, this might be for you—but if you're not enjoying it after about 30 minutes, then drop it

I'll preface this by saying that the song, itself, isn't one of my favorites. That aside, it isn't terrible by any means, and when watching the accompanying music video, it all goes together nicely. The animation is absolutely gorgeous, as are the designs. The story behind the music video, I feel is easy enough to follow, and overall I'd say it's about a 6.5 for me (but I bumped my score up half a point since I feel a straight up 6 would be kinda low for how I feel about it).

It was an enjoyable watch, but I don't think it's one I'll be coming ... back to over and over again (again, because of the song not really suiting my tastes). It's a short watch, and I recommend it to those who either already like music by Eve, or are interested to see what I mean by this has a heck of a cute story and nice animation.

Well, that was an experience! "Jam" is definitely not going to be for everyone, but it was a fun watch for me. What I like about it is just the sheer absurdity of how much chaotic "noise" can be created both figuratively and literally. New monsters appear with the old when a new sound is added, and it gets messy QUICK, which is the point. However, it's also not much beyond a novelty.

Because of its simple premise, it's an experimental art piece (with sound that is fairly grating to listen to). If you can tolerate the sound (or if you happen to enjoy it), the ... overall video isn't long, so it didn't feel like it overstayed its welcome. I have mixed feelings on recommending this, but it was a neat experience all the same. I have a respect for the technical side of making something like this, chaotic to look at and yet each monster still moves seamlessly across the screen. It also has a pretty fun ending that got a smile out of me.

Overall, I don't know how many people would truly rate this higher than 6 (and that's me being very generous). But if you have a few minutes to spare and like the description on MAL, I'd say give it a shot! It's definitely a work of art.

A very simple, yet beautiful story of an older woman in China reminiscing both the tragedy and happiness of her past. The animation has no real dialogue but is easy to follow, the true gem of this short being the painter-esque animation. With what looks like watercolor, each scene drips into the next like a beautiful stream of consciousness. If I had to nitpick, I think the sound design could use some work. Most notably, when certain characters were running, the sound was quicker than their steps. But overall, most of the ambience was nicely done.

It's only about 10 minutes, so I'd definitely recommend going ... to the official youtube channel (geidai animation) to watch it yourself. It's definitely unique, and you also have the benefit of the story being shown rather than told (so no worries about finding subtitles)

This review will be short and sweet. Both the pretty designs and artwork, as well as the simple animation are very charming. Nothing on par with Tsuki no Waltz, but still cute. The song is also pretty good, and for me, wins out on the characters and story, which are simple by design (but in no way is that me insulting it, just saying you go in it less for that and more for the art and song). I gave it a 6 because it's just that, it's fine. It's a short watch, so I'd recommend it for its storybook style and soothing song.

I'll keep this review short and sweet. The music was great, the animation absolutely beautiful and charming, and the story a surreal trip through stunningly designed backdrops. I'd say give it a watch for yourself, it's about 4 min 45 sec. For me, the strongest points are definitely the art and music, whereas the characters and story, I feel are lacking somewhat. It's not a bad thing, but it's harder to understand the story since it's more abstract and left to viewer interpretation, which makes the characters feel a slight bit less interesting for me because they feel a part of the backdrops rather than ... their own people. Still not knocking them or the story since a 7 for me is still very decent, but when compared with everything else, it's the visuals and music that win me over most.

Was only mildly interested in the music, though it definitely isn't bad (just not my cup of tea). The animation is really really cute, and the music video's story is absolutely what makes it worth it.

In short, the video is about a human boy who seemed to be contemplating suicide, and a demon boy who was out on the run from two demon officials who were trying to rope him back into slavery. No spoilers, but if you watch it, you should pause it at 2:43 to read the letter for a bit more context over the reaction of the two at the end.

Overall, I ... enjoyed it. The visual storytelling is superb and does a great job in the flashback scenes in regards to the pink triangle placed around the demon's neck, especially if you know what that symbolized in history (it was placed around the necks of homosexuals during WII). It was shown I think only twice, but when taking that into consideration with his reactions in the human world and some of the scenes with the other demon in the picture, it's even easier to appreciate the story that much more.

I'd recommend it because for 1, it's short and cute, and 2, whether or not you like the music, it definitely has a nice style to it that I feel like should be appreciated for the work that went into it.