Ochou Fujin no Gensou

Ochou Fujin no Gensou is a literal interpretation of the Operatic performance by Giacomo Puccini, which in itself is based on a French novel "Madame Chrysanthemum" aka Madam Butterfly. The book shaped a lot of Western attitudes towards Japan and is considered a seminal work of western literature involving aspects of Japanese culture. The animated work in itself is a very surface level adaptation of the story beats with a more Japanese interpretation and is much less sympathetic to the Naval officer than the original novel. In a way it even works as a propaganda film, but mostly the work is pretty seminal for its ... technical innovation - it was the first Japanese film to feature silhouette animation. The pacing is all over the place and you can clearly recognize that the animators were still struggling to envision how the style would evolve. These were days of experimentation, innovation and discovery in the animated artform and cinema in general. I'd say it is worth a watch if only for its historical significance, but it isn't the best that silhouette style animation of the era has on offer.