Je T'aime

Short and sweet review.

Story - 8
Visuals - 7
Audio - 8
Character - 7
Enjoyment - 7

MAL reviews have a tendency to start with quotes, so:

... "I thought the whole point of having a dog was to feel superior"⁠ — Rick Sanchez

Where I live, there are quite a bit of dogs in the area. And sometimes I think to myself, what would the dog do if it were free? They don't have the intelligence of a human being, but I still wonder if the dog would rather be free or if the dog would stick to its owner. I would assume the latter given what I have heard about the psychology of a dog, although I don't recommend you quote me, given how unreliable I am. Je T'aime acts as a little reminder to that question as an answer for it; dogs want to be loved. That is all there is. As intelligent beings, we can think about stuff on an unbelievable large number of levels, and we do that every day too. Conspiracy theories, predictions, the meaning of life, whatever requires thought. But simple things like simple feelings probably don't get the attention that is shown here. For sure they are thought about a lot, probably more than anything deemed intellectual, but it isn't glorified. To be fair, there aren't many reasons to glorify them, as they are simply feelings, but they exist nonetheless. And as said, Je T'aime is that reminder. A simple reminder for such a fact.

The narrative is straight forward, there is a lone dog in a humanless world, just wants someone to play with, but that isn't possible. However, across the journey of the dog, it encounters a robot. Tries to play with that robot but all efforts come to null. You see, the dog is a simple being, the robot isn't. It plays well as an analogy of our mind. We have the simple parts, we have the complex parts. Everything about the characters correlates well in how we behave. The dog just wants to play, literally nothing else that isn't food, water, shelter or safety. The robot seems to have a mission, with its constant outgoings, it also has many complexities that I wouldn't be surprised about which went through a ton of thought and calculations behind it. But there it is, we think too much sometimes, even I find myself in a state where I think too much. Simple thinking isn't a bad thing. Je T'aime shows that we need simple thinking for our minds, balance it out with complex thinking, I mean, the robot could have been programmed to play with dogs, then there would be a complex and simple union, something that probably wouldn't have been disliked as much as the war machine that is the robot. It is such a simple theme in an intrinsic state, probably because it may be looked over since what may first come to mind is the loneliness of a dog. Which makes this review ironic, given how deep I looked into this. The loneliness of the dog has a nice little connection to the freedom of a dog I was on about though. If that were us, we would be doing the same thing. We would be the dog, maybe in a more peril state, but if we managed, we would want the lovely things your current life may give to you. In other words, the simple things.

Audiovisuals side of things, it was pretty well made for something out of 2010, fluid animation and what have you are present here. Visuals didn't get me as much as the soundtracks though. Given that this is my second time watching this, it has become more memorable, but I would imagine that even watching this the first time would still have some kind of impact on someone watching this. There were about 3 different sounds here iirc, all of which are very well made.

Enjoyment wise, I am usually a logical, but simple thinker, in other words, the asshole of the story, and whilst the message still came across me, it was merely just a message, the entire short feels like one message to humanity. I won't lie, it was fun to deconstruct what is being given, but whilst viewing it, I can't exactly say it was the most entertaining thing in the world. Universal enjoyment might be different, shorts have this unique power to say a lot in a small amount of time. So you may enjoy this quite a bit.

Overall - 7.4 (7)

Never have I been so conflicted to give an anime a score, I would love to give this an overall of an 8 but the absolute score came out differently. Heh. In any case, MAL has this random tendency to bomb anime like so. As of now, Je T'aime has a score of 6.57. I would say that is too low for such but people don't like short things, maybe they have forgotten about the simple things. I wouldn't know. But what I do know is that I would recommend Je T'aime. I would imagine it will stay in your memories for days to come but otherwise, it is just one of those shorts that pull your heartstrings, it does that, but not in some dramatic flimsy manner. I had respect for its audience. And so I leave you with my interpretation of the dog's thoughts: "I just want to play some ball y'know."

Humans: the only beings able to change Earth from worse to better; or from better to worse. Combining our survival insticts and our high intelligence, we humans are able to set long term goals depending on our needs - and daily strive to achieve them. We inquire, then we are looking for an answer. This is our nature, this is how humanity manages to have absolute control over the planet.


Spoilers start here


Have we made a good effort so ... far? The only thing that is for sure, is that we have been trying our best. But have we reduced the number of our needs and questions? Are we able to hypnotize our existential crises, or maybe find the answer we're looking for? Mamoru Oshii decided to create this short, yet fascinating masterpiece, instead of giving answers to rhetorical questions.

We have all met a dog in our life. Dog's nature is easily comprehensible, even to a child. Dogs are one of the simplest creatures; once you approach them with good intentions, play with them or feed them, they will give their heart to you. They are a mirror of your intentions and emotions. And that's the most common reason people adopt dogs, in order to have a guaranteed friend for many years who'll remind them to smile. Most of us find them dumb, and some of their actions funny or disgusting. But, in its "dumbness", once a dog fulfills his temporary need, he's happy. And its happiness is something fundamental many of us are lacking.

In our story, the main protagonist is a common dog who wakes up and takes a walk in the city. He's just a dog fooling around with balls, drinking water from the ground and searching for company.

During his walk, our protagonist spots crows, on the top of a tank-like vehicle. Crows symbolize transformation and change. The city is deserted. What happened to us human beings? Shortly afterwards, the question is answered.

The dog encounters a humanoid robot. It looks lost, emotionless. At first, the dog just wants to play. The robot is hostile. Then war begins - dog's ball becomes a grenade, humanoid uses his gun. Dog wins and looks at the robot's corpse from above, disappointed at it. Then, our friend continues its journey, lonely, strolling down the road.

Conclusion

The humanoid robot symbolizes humanity's whereabouts if we only cared about power, status, solving the unsolvable. Taking into account wars, egoism, greed and technological evolution just for our own convenience while harming the environment, becoming the robot is just a step further from our current situation.

"I can't live without love, and there is no reason to live without love."
Satellite of Love / Glay (insert song)

On the other hand, "Je t'aime" (I love you) are the words the dog wants to say and hear. Though, this short film does not concern dogs, but people. This dog is humanity's hope for kindness, love and peaceful coexistence. But dogs are like mirrors, aren't they? If you treat your fellow man badly, it means you self-destruct.
In the end, the "dumb" dog's pure heart won the fight, while the humanoid robot self-destructed.

There are some things we cannot avoid to evolve mankind, but if we forget the true meaning of life, the little things that make us happy and mentally healthy, our future will not be bright. Try your best and say "Je t'aime" more often. To your friends, to your family, to the world.

Misleading synopsis.

Je T' aime begins mysteriously enough, with a beautiful piano soundtrack and desolate, melancholic feeling perhaps. And then it just loses me completely.

Obnoxious musical stings and heavy soundtrack that do not belong in this story kick in and we encounter a humanoid. And, a contrived, silly message with it. (Probably.)

Why was it done this way??

You had a phenomenal premise, you could've done so much with it! A lonely dog's point of view after the rapture or apocalypse. Painting strong feelings of despair, fragility and cruelness of nature. And what's been brought upon with time...

... Wasted.

This one's a skip...

...Honestly it's no wonder I have heard ABSOLUTELY NOTHING of this piece of media from anyone ever.