Petting a Dog

I don't think I can even begin to describe how amazing this masterpiece is, but I have decided to try, even though words are worthless when compared to this masterpiece.

Story 10/10:
The story overall was simply put amazing. It starts out a bit slow, like the summer breeze at the beach in the evening. Imagine the sunset in the distance coloring the sky from light blue to crimson red, and the sound of the small waves slowly washing up the shore and the smell of warm seaweed. Not long after, however, the waves begins to get bigger, and soon starts to take your emotions on a ... ride. Out in the ocean of emotions you will meet playfull dolphins, sad whales, and sharks just below the surface. As the story, and the wave goes on, the wind suddenly stops blowing, with a very surprising end, and a feeling of wanting more, but still being a whole being. Feeling complete and with a sense of bliss.

Art 8/10:
The art was unique. It gave of a warm feeling, like you where home, and just in time for mothers homecooked meal. It was very dymanic. The colors where in the pink scale, and I found myself feeling the love and compassion that the art projected. The color pink also represents recieving of nuturing, which in my opinion, is the theme of this anime. The art also leaves many questions asked, it's mysterious and takes you in. When you start watching you almost can't stop. The reason I could only give it a 8 was, that the background was kind of empty, which felt far from the original warm feeling I got.

Sound 9/10:
The sound was relaxing and complimented the story and the art very well. It was well timed. There was, however a little problem where it sounded like the sound came from other sources than the characters, which is also why I am only giving it a 9.

Character 10/10:
I will mainly describe the dog and its owner in this anime.
The owner comes of as a gentle man around 33 years old. He seems like he really loves his dog. He is very playfull and has very kind eyes.
The dog, who is the main character, suits its owner perfectly. It enjoys spending time with its owner, and likes being petted. The dynamic between the two characters feels very realistic and most people would be able to relate to the situations.

Overall enjoyment 10/10:
It made me laugh, it made me cry and now I sit here, writing a review in hope of sharing my feelings and my overall love for this anime, that is simply put, a masterpiece, so other might give it a try.
Every component in this journey fitted each other so well, that it was like watching a jigsaw puzzle slowly being put together in the most satisfying way. The final picture is burned on the insides of my eyes for an eternity, and I'm sure it will fill my dreams with tears of both happiness and sadness.

That's all from me, thanks for reading :)

"You can't blame gravity for falling in love." - Albert Einstein

My life was fulfilled after watching 16 seconds of pure art. In just 16 seconds, Okuda Masaki, has managed to create the most meaningful story of all animes I have ever watched. I cried about fifty times (more times than I cried to SAO) to the amazing way Okuda Masaki showed us the perfect binding between the maincharacter and his dog. It strongly reminded me of the novel "The Execution of Justice" by Dürrenmatt, the reasons are self-explanatory. The story takes place in a blank nothing. That lets you concentrate entirely on the plot. In ... the middle of the scene you see a the maincharacter petting his dog, obviously pointing out the horrendous outcome of the world war 2. The way Okuda Masaki makes you aware of these problems is just flawless.

TL;DR: There is a dog who is being petted. Need I say more?

From the visionary animator Masaki Okuda who directed ONAs such as Count Down, Idea ga Tsukamamaranai and the unfinished project OO1, comes an ONA that’s the shortest he can ever make called “Petting a Dog.” This brilliant MS Paint animation may only be 16 seconds long but it’s definitely the sweet 16 seconds of your life!

The story is simple. It didn’t try to make it complex. No added themes or imagery or motifs. Just a simple message of "loving thy animal" is portrayed throughout this ONA. You would think from the ... looks of it there is one main character in the show but the second character’s appearance what really takes it to the next level. You feel so connected with the emotion that not only do you sympathize with the dog, you start empathizing with it. That’s pretty big. Not a lot of directors know how to do that…yet.

The art and the sound are in perfectly in sync with the animation style. Okuda really wanted to invoke the traditional MS Paint animation style most animators started off with. This nostalgic feeling paired with the action of petting a dog really hits you home with the coziness one feels experiencing this ONA brilliance!

Overall, it will be a crime to not watch this ONA (unless you are allergic to dogs). I can guarantee this ONA has a huge replayability factor to further boost this already boosted ONA. You will surely watch it over and over again as you try to grasp the message behind this ONA savouring the sweet 16 feeling you once felt during your 16th birthday.

I hope you found this review as helpful as finding a red dog and petting it!