Ningyo

"Wow, Ningyo, what to say?

Story: The story is hard to explain. It's pretty much about a young boy who loves to daydream, and one day, he sees a fish on the beach. He picks up the fish and puts it into a little hole filled with sea water. Somehow, a hand comes out of the hole (this is the boy's imagination). The boy accepts the mermaid's request, and then the adventure begins. This involves the boy playing the flute for the mermaid and jumping from clam to clam trying to catch the mermaid (I guess you could put it as an underwater game of tag). ... Sooner of later, the boy stops playing with the mermaid, and takes the mermaid home. The boy shows his parents the mermaid he has found, but they see a fish instead of a mermaid. Eventually, the boy shows the deputy this, and they throw him in jail because in their city, imagination is actually banned. The boy tries to tell them that it's a mermaid, but all the people see is a fish. Okay, I need to stop because I've just told you half of the movie. I really enjoyed the story. It is very unique from other anime I've seen.

Art: Wow, the art was very well done, seeing how this was made in 1964. People say that they are only just stick figures, but to me the characters are very detailed stick figures. Viewers might be confused or disgusted that the mermaid's breasts are shown throughout Ningyo, but to me it's beautiful how they did it. I'm not a pervert or anything, but the characters are very detailed. I actually prefer the art from Ningyo over other current anime. And this was made in 1964!

Sound: It's hard to give a high grade for a movie without any dialogue, but the score from Ningyo was outstanding. It fits perfectly, from the adventures of the sea with a Little Mermaid-type of music, and the parts with the protagonist in jail with paranoia-drive, type of music. I wish there was a file of the score, because this would go straight into my iPod.

Character: Okay, seeing how there's barely any characters introduced in Ningyo, it's hard to give a high rating for it. I did think the main character was interesting, and I did enjoy his adventures with him and the mermaid, but if there were more characters that had time in Ningyo, I bet I would have given Ningyo a perfect 10. I did enjoy the main protagonist, but I can't put a high rating just because of one character.

Overall, I really enjoyed Ningyo, and I highly recommend it. It would have been a perfect 10 if more characters had time into Ningyo, and if there was some dialogue (even though I like that the movie was silent)."

Well, Ningyo

It's about a boy who dreams a lot and saves a fish, him saving the fish makes him see it as a mermaid. He, was the hero of that mermaid. He however was not aware that the only person that could see the mermaid was him. Everyone else saw a fish. So the people thought he was dreaming and making fantasies. In this world however, making fantasies is illegal so they punish him in various ways so that he sees the mermaid as a fish. After a lot of experiments and failures the "police" finally managed to make the boy see it as a ... fish. This depresses the boy and he tries to see a mermaid again, but alas, he couldn't see it so, he went back to where he first saved the fish and in the distance at the ocean he sees a mermaid calling him towards her and he goes deep into the ocean towards his dream while everyone else doesn't even try to stop him.

I know! Real cheesy shit right? But in context this simple idea just looks so beautiful in animated form. It's as if the creator made it cheesy on purpose just to show off his cinema skills. It's very good as an animation but the art is very outdated so if you want to see visual beauty this might not be for you and if you don't get such short dialog-less old movies then it's not for you either. But if you're like me who is looking for art(totally not praising myself) , then this for you and if that's the case you will definitely enjoy it.

-Your Average Weeb

Rate a 6
English sub (very little in text. no vocals.)

Story
Basic. You get what you are lead to get. The message behind this is feel free to think what you want to think and don't be closed minded.

Art
A wonderful job and demonstrating the stories message. Sure the artwork was half-assed as in it did not look realistic but the message it con-vied was spot on. For starters not how the authoritative figures are drawn. Note the hard texture. Then take a look at the civilians(ordinary people) they are clearly transparent. The importance behind this they haven't yet given up on hope. They might be ... scared but still are able to see what they want to even if they don't want to be public about it.

Sound
One might argue the need for sound. I too would have agreed but upon further thinking i disagree. Having animation effects or vocals would ruin the vibe. They made it clear in the beginning this was a fantasy as in not real. So, in other words a dream. When a person dream in the real world we don't hear sound coming from their tired head so why would we hear it as they dream? Also, having sound or more a voice would ruin the captive hold the police (government) has on the people. If you are in a place where thinking something different it bad i think speaking what is also on your mind would be equally as bad or worse.

Character
information to understand the characters was provided. This was a Rosa Parks kind of story. A focused one person story on making a change.

Enjoyment
I might not have enjoyed how the story played out but the story did a good job at showing their message. I think those who would enjoy this film are kids and those are in favor of free speech.