De_Sam
This collection demands to be reviewed part by part, as they all completely differ from one another; the animator-directors were given the vaguest subject: "Use 60 seconds as you please to make the audience feel something." Obviously you would get something like this with no continuity at all. It could have been better if a more concrete subject was given by NHK.The hidden princess: Wow, a bunch of Shounen anime genres thrown together mixed with an incredible pace. If it were funnier it would have worked better, but as it stands it is just a bad parody. What did I feel? Irritation.Gyrospter: My least favourite kind of animation, a music video. Pretty bland and uninteresting, both the music and the film, they complemented each other in their flaws. What did I feel? Boredom, how is that even possible in 1 minute.Amusement park kiss: Tries to be cute and romantic, but it does not work; it is the perfect example of how limiting a minute really is. What did I feel? Nothing really.Beyond the tears: Ugh, another music video and this one has aspiration to make me feel sad and depressed, good luck doing that in one minute. As expected it did not succeed, it did confuse me though. What did I feel? Bewilderment. PROJECT_MERMAID: Nice music, peculiar imagery interesting enough to fill the minute. Imaginary thoughts cannot exist in the real world. What did I feel? Light introspection, some happiness thanks to the music.Frolicking: the Japanese version of The Iron Giant, high quality backgrounds. If I was really desperate for meaning the troubled look on the child at the end could represent man's paranoia that machines will rise up against humanity. What did I feel? Slight feelings of enjoyment.Good Morning: For me Sathoshi Kon is the only one who took this project serious and presents a human feeling I know all to well: the trouble of waking up in the early morning. This was one of his last films before he died and will always be a memento to his superior skills. What did I feel? Admiration, grief.Sport Colonel episode 18: Annoying narration, simplistic art-style, and the laziness of the director to just cut a bigger story instead of trying to make a finished product. What did I feel? Disdain. A gathering of cats: someone (BigSimo) recommended me this collection, saying this holds Makoto Shinkai's "best contribution", and after seeing A gathering of Cats I agree. It is the most atypical as there is no bland overly melodramatic plot, but more of a humorous set-up with a successful pay-off. Who knew he had it in him to be just a little creative and interesting, it only makes his other works seem even more hollowly pretentious. What did I feel? Surprised. Alien Invasion – Hiroshi's Circumstances: I disliked the art-style; the 'story' was unoriginal and as a consequence not enjoyable. What did I feel? Antipathy.Yurururu Daily Chapter: The point of view was a nice touch, the eventual sketch is good, but there was some foul humour. What did I feel? Mediocrity.Project Omega: so 'Welcome to the NHK' was partially right, NHK has some side projects the public does not know about. As with the first short film, this is quirky, but in a clichéd way, disengaging me. What did I feel? Indifferent.Heat Man: what do we have here, a trailer for a video game from 2001? I have always had my reservations about CGI in Anime and this only further solidifies does beliefs. What did I feel? Something worse than disdain.Attack of Azuma Area: a narratively motivated reason to simplify the story? Creative solution, and further evidence that in this one-minute format jokes work (much) better that stories. What did I feel? Relief, as this was the last one.To conclude, with only two of the fifteen being worth watching, this is a rather weak compilation, many of the animator-directors did not take the project serious, it seems.
