I'm a huge fan of EDM/dubstep and Porter Robinson is definitely one of my favorite artists in the genre. I've known for some time that he's an anime fan (for example, in his song Flicker you can hear Remon Yamano's infamous laugh), but I'm so glad that Crunchyroll and A-1 collaborated with him and made such an awesome project. We need more stuff like this.
Anyways, Porter and Madeon's recent co-production, Shelter, was used as the basis for this animation and it fit very well. The animation was colorful and fluid. The virtual world that Rin lives in really comes to life and is very pleasant to watch.
Over the course of 6 minutes, we watched our mysterious protagonist Rin, and learned about her circumstances and her past. There was barely any dialog and it had a huge reliance on visual storytelling and of course, the music. As each scene goes by, you try to figure out what's going on little by little, and the fragments of her past start to slowly but surely piece together. The truth of Rin and her virtual world really hit me hard, and the staff did a great job with the build up and the reveal. The animation worked so well with the music, and the cuts were really well done.
Shelter's message was very impactful. It shows us the power and weight of unconditional parental love and that our past, no matter how painful, gives us strength to move forward. Shelter is short, but hits deep. It is a great reminder why anime is such an amazing medium. Porter's vision and imagination made this work come to life, and I'm happy that I was able to experience it.
Please do yourself a favor and give this a watch.
