Kikumana

Good, evocative experimental anime are by no means rare. But rarely do I personally find myself relating to a rapid succession of abstract vignettes in such an intimate manner.

In Kikumana there is no story to speak of. It is after all just a 6 minute short animation in which Yasuhiro Yoshiura attempts to provoke an emotional reaction from the audience through audiovisual means alone. To this regard, I think he succeeds. The animation follows a young, faceless girl studying in a room and is shot in a staticky black and white filter reminiscent of old film while a constant ticking clock can be heard in ... the background. As time goes on, our protagonist grows increasingly tired and begins experiencing surreal hallucinations which persist even as she attempts to take a break. These visions are reminiscent of various familiar concepts from everyday life, combined in obscure supernatural amalgamations. Clockwork fish, labyrinthine staircases and a race amongst shadowy runners are a few such concepts which provide a brief glimpse into the main character's - and the director's - psyche. This is reinforced by literal glimpses of the environment the girl inhabits, as she examines various objects and frames in the room she is in.

There is quick rotation of visuals and each frame is different than the last. Every image this animation conjures manages to be reminiscent of familiar and even nostalgic scenes the audience might be familiar with while also being not entirely of this world. The progressively more and more bizarre atmosphere builds up to a crescendo of graphics that don't resemble anything in particular after which the central character is confronted by yet another vision the audience will recognize.

A beautiful, dynamic piano arrangement can be heard in the background throughout this short film. The arrangement works in tandem with the visuals, rises and falls in volume and timbre as the visuals on screen change. It works as a voice for the girl who otherwise only expresses emotion through breaths and gasps.

Kikumana might not be groundbreaking but it is certainly interesting. Its visuals are familiar enough to evoke an emotional response from the viewer while also abstract enough to warrant an analysis.

Overall I recommend this short film to anybody willing to spend 6 minutes to watch this and 36 minutes to write about it. :P

A decent experimental short. There's no dialogue or discernible story. Just a girl with what appears to be a mask shuffling through a small little abode, reading books, dreaming, hallucinating, and being visited by strange figures. Visually, it's compelling enough and consists of various animation techniques and 3D modeling—on the audio side, there's effective sound design and piano music.

I suppose there's some specific concept or themes explored, though to really grasp what is being said—if anything—one will have to pay attention to visual cues. With the dreamlike lapses into temporal, strange worlds, it is reminiscent of Alice and Wonderland or some other fairytale.

The element ... of books and the exploration of space reminds me a bit of Jorge Luis Borges weird short fiction with endless libraries of books and plenty of surrealism, and the ominous final zoom out suggests themes of alienation and isolation reminiscent of E.M. Forster's sci-fi story The Machine Stops, a story often referred to as prescient because of the isolating nature of technological absorption—in that story, all characters shunned human contact, and stayed in little cells inside of a machine, slaving away at whatever their avocation was. This short appears to be the same, only we have surrealism tying everything together instead of sci-fi dystopianism.

A bit of a head-scratcher, but there doesn't appear to be anything terribly profound hiding away in the murk of this short film. Just somewhat charming aesthetics and muddled visual storytelling from a small studio. Not bad.

Rate 3/4
no vocals/art piece

Story
No clear path to follow. The patch jumped in and out. Since the path was not clear neither could the message be. It could be a say on imprisonment or amnesiac but i thought it was a take on development. Development the stage where we grow in our mind and on whom we are. Books are engraved as fountains of knowledge. So, it is a no wonder we turn to them in times of troubles. Alas, in terms of defining our individual paths the books can't help. For books are general. With such a wide spread of knowledge it is hard to ... wrap things in a nice small box for everyone has different taste. Which means i can't say you are going to become a lawyer who enjoys a sand-which heavy with mayo for you might dislike mayo. But, they can be guidelines but tons of tons have to be read to full picture.

Art
A mess. Normally black and white films can work here it does not. I can understand the black and white concept to show confusion which does a good job at but in certain if not a good portion of the film some segments were far to bright or far too dark. Contrast was flawed. Also, some things were too blurry.

The main character stood out for she lacked a vital necessity. To this moment i don't quite have a grasp on why that was. Perhaps, she did not have it to begin with as indicated by the picture shown in the film? Or perhaps it more symbolical to the fact of one's limitation on themselves?

Character
Nothing direct in terms of character development. It is mostly up for interpretation but it does convey solitude.