Ask John: What are the Best Anime Short Films?

Question:
I wanted to get your opinion on the greatest anime short film (or at least top 5). I think straight to video would apply too, as long as they weren’t just excerpts from theatrical [movies] and had a complete beginning middle and end. I am deep in search mode and would love your 2 cents.

Answer:
Honestly, my instinctive reaction upon first reading this question was a sense of being overwhelmed. If the classification of “short films” includes OAVs, the potential candidates could number thousands. But narrowing down a list turned out to be more difficult than expected for an exactly opposite reason. In order to be precise, I limited candidates to self-contained, independent works of an hour or less. After doing that, the number of potential titles worthy of “top five” status drastically diminished. In fact, I excluded all first episodes of series, and excluded all sequels and works that require familiarity with other media. I also had to exclude titles like Robot Carnival, Angel’s Egg, Mind Game, and most of the Ghibli canon because they’re more than 60 minutes long. After all that, I was left with only about a dozen potential titles, and several of them I’ll group together.

Studio Ghibli is universally recognized as one of the world’s foremost motion picture studios. Ghibli’s best known works are all feature length, but the studio has also produced a number of shorter films. Regrettably, I haven’t seen most of these films. The theatrical music video “On Your Mark” features typically excellent Ghibli animation, but otherwise it’s not an inherently brilliant work. I’ve seen Ghibli’s short film “Mei & the Kitten Bus,” but by my qualification standards, it’s excluded from consideration because it’s a sequel. Likewise, Ghiblies technically doesn’t count since it’s a series of two films, not a single, independent short feature. But I still feel compelled to mention the other Ghibli museum short films including “Koro’s Big Day Out,” “The Day I Harvested a Star,” and “Monmon the Water Spider.” Just based on the average caliber of Studio Ghibli animation, at least one of their self-contained shorts surely belongs on any list of best short anime films.

Director and animator Makoto Shinkai seems to be confidently progressing on a path to eventual recognition as one of Japan’s master anime artists, alongside craftsmen such as Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, Satoshi Kon, Hideaki Anno, and Mamoru Oshii. Shinkai’s debut short film, Voices of a Distant Star, has sold over 100,000 DVD copies worldwide. The film’s character design is a bit rough, and its theme so obvious and overt that it’s a little bit heavy handed, but the film’s power is undeniable. I may be cheating a bit by mentioning Shinkai’s latest short film, “Oukashou,” the first third of the film Byousoku 5cm because it may be considered part of a series. But it was also officially released online independently. Oukashou deals with the same theme that “Voices” does, but does so with more refinement and subtlety. Oukashou is also even nicer looking than the already visually impressive “Voices.” Oukashou does a masterful job of illustrating – through dialogue, impression, and visuals – a story of the strength and power of the bonds of love over distance, time, and the cold alienation of modern Japanese society.

Studio 4C is arguably the leader of Japan’s studio system in the realm of short films, having created more short works than long form ones. Two of their works in particular, I think, deserve special attention. The ten minute long short “Comedy,” from 2000, directed by Kazuto Nakazawa, is a haunting and memorable exhibition of expressionist film. The historical tale is presented as fantastical nightmare, textured by the impressionable perspective of a young child. The short plays like an ethereal, otherworldly Vampire Hunter D that’s more chilling and gothic than either of the actual Vampire Hunter D movies. Director Koji Morimoto is one of Japan’s foremost visionary directors, frequently working on unusual, progressive, and exotic short anime films. His 16 minute long 1997 film Sound Insect Noiseman is a literal whirlwind of kinetic visual style. Although not particularly deep in story, narrative is only a perfunctory framework to hang the film’s animation, visual design, and sheer energy on.

In 2003 director Mamoru Hosoda, who would later go on to helm the celebrated feature length anime film Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, directed a five minute long feature titled “Superflat Monogram.” The short film was based on a concept created by pop artist Takashi Murakami and sponsored by the Louis Vuitton company. This adorable, visually kinetic picture was specifically designed to exemplify the post-modern artistic philosophy of “superflat,” an intentional parodical combination of cute and commercial iconography.

The half hour Nekojiru-so OAV originally released in 2001 (later released in America as “Cat Soup”) performs a similar combination involving cute mascot style characters, but in this case twisting cute with sick and morbid black comedy. The common description of “Hello Kitty on acid” is very apt to define this mesmerizing and horrific play on viewer expectations and the cosmic irony of the cosmic order and religious belief.

Mamoru Oshii’s brilliant 1987 OAV “Twilight Q Part 2: File 538” is another anime satire of faith in god and divine order. Revealing anything more about this distinctive looking and imaginative short drama would spoil its fun.

The 1986 short anthology film Manie Mani Meikyu Monogatari (released in America as “Neo-Tokyo”), is the shorter predecessor to Robot Carnival, which followed in 1987. The three short segments directed by luminaries Rintaro, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, and Katsuhiro Otomo are each dynamic, cinematic masterpieces, although none of the three particularly emphasize narrative depth.

Before Gainax was officially Gainax, amateur animators including Hiroyuki Yamaga, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Hideaki Anno assembled a pair of very short theatrical films for the opening ceremonies of the 1981 and 1983 Daicon sci-fi conventions. The Daicon 1983 Daicon IV opening animation in particular, which can stand alone as a self-contained short, is one of the landmarks of anime history. This short music video is the epitome of Japanese animation. It’s vibrant, kinetic, stylized, and playful. It features animation quality that still rivals or beats the best of today’s anime. And its attention to detail is staggeringly impressive. The Daicon IV opening movie is still possibly the best four minute long introduction to Japanese animation ever created.

Finally, I’ll conclude with two personal picks. The original 1995 Kodomo no Omocha OAV isn’t especially technically impressive, but it is one of the funniest stand alone anime works ever. The original OAV features a different voice cast, and a slightly different character design from the more familiar “Kodocha” TV series that followed a year later. Madhouse’s 2003 short feature film Nasu: Summer in Andalusia honestly doesn’t challenge any established anime conventions, but it is a consistently enjoyable and well animated underdog story about a pro cyclist who finds within himself the desire and motivation to push himself just a little bit harder, and honestly exert himself to his utmost ability.