Totsukuni no Shoujo (2022)

I haven't read the manga, so I don't really understand anything about the story of this anime, and yet, that's alright. Despite explaining nothing, it really does stand on it's own, based on style and atmosphere alone. It's an hour of vibes and feelings, and that's all it really needs to feel worthwhile.

The animation is simply phenomenal. It's not the most polished look, but it has a vibrant storybook style to it which creates a strong mood. It has a very stylized, dreamlike quality to it while simply being beautiful to look at.

The plot and characters are not complex. It spends most the time just ... showing us the slice of life relationship between Shiva and sensei. I think it's a good use of the limited time to express the feelings rather than explaining the world.

It's art. You can interpret your own meanings. I don't know if reading the manga would add or detract from this.

I scored this a 6

The question for if you will enjoy this small 3 episode OVA (wouldn't classify as a film per say) is: Do you like the poster art work and/or the trailer? If yes and your only expectation is good art, then you won't be disappointed. If no and you want something deeper, then you might not find it here.

The reason that I bench a lot of your enjoyment of this work on the art-style is that the overall story can be confusing to decipher and interpret. It does have a message and you will understand it and the themes present, but the ... in-between of getting to the smaller conclusions might have a lot of confusion mixed in that make it not as enjoyable to watch. Its like watching works that are really good at expressing concepts (March Comes In Like a Lion, Monogatari, Ranking of Kings) and having those expressions miss the mark.

What carried this show was the art-style and animation. Never disappointed when I hear unique art-style and Wit Studios in the same breath. Again, if you like the teaser or just the poster art for this and that is all you care about, you won't leave disappointed at the least.

Maybe it's because I'm getting old, I can't understand what Totsukuni no Shoujo or The Girl From the Other Side trying to convey. Yes, you might say the general idea of pain and acceptance is there. But when a short anime that leans too hard on vague mystery and disconnected storytelling, it's never gonna end well.

There are two main characters in this OVA, a beast-man and a young girl, nothing that we haven't seen before. And honestly, the man's development feels too rush while the girl is flat out one-dimensional. This combine with the blurry story make the movie longer than it actually is.

The ... only positive thing is the strange artstyle and some catchy melancholic OSTs. So overall, The Girl From the Other Side is not something I would recommend even just for an hour break.