THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
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This was unexpectedly great for me. It just caught my eye while browsing for ONA's but I didn't expect a ton of quality, cause it wasn't a big production, it was only 11 minutes, it was a horror which anime aren't particularly known for being good at but I was surprisingly blown away by the quality of both the stop-motion animation and the story.
The former is obvious, it's really good stop-motion, I really liked when the goat hide inside the picture frame, that was a nice little cartoon comedy gag that's mostly impressive because of the style of the animation. And that's another thing, it still was creative with it, like transforming Natsuki/Toruko's dad into a wolf, there was still visual symbolism and cool concepts employed. And this doesn't really count for that but I loved the goats docking to fight the goats, forming a mecha for the non-One Piece fans.
Also the designs of these I think they're felt puppets were really good. Goat mom has a fatnastic design, but I really liked that we saw physical ramifications for being eating from a Wolf. And that moment where the goat girl is depressed and horrified at her appearance is heartbreaking and Natsuki giving her his goat hood is genuinely an effective tender moment. Plus we get the first shot that he has physical scars too, which is the first red alert when his father comes in to "save him".
The following scene is uncomfortable, but I really like taking this all fairy tale, The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats, and I just really think this is a clever modern re-imaging of this. Mixing in the predators of the wild with the predators in our own society, visually transforming his father to really hone in the message. And thankfully he fails, is cut open, filled with rocks, and is submerged in the river which is a satisfying punishment. And like the original story is just about the wolf, him eating them and he gets the rock punishment, but this movie basically starts where that tale ends. And as a fable, it's basically a don't trust strangers thing, and how deceiving they can be since he tricks the goats into opening the door in the original, which is why I think making it the father was a smart decision because it shows that it's not just strangers that are dangers. Sometimes predators are unfortunately the people closest to us, and maybe him finding a foster family of goats is a way to communicate that their is people like you, people who will accept and defend you, even if you're in a horrible living situation, there are others who'll have you and treat you right. Family doesn't end at blood but it doesn't start there either. 8/10. |