I consider Makoto Shinkai one of the most interesting new anime directors. I've reviewed two of his full feature films, 5 Centimeters per Second (2007) and The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004), on this blog already. Finally I had the chance to watch his earlier work which consists of a bunch of short films he made mostly alone.
The first I saw (and clearly the best one) is called She and Her Cat, a story about a woman and her cat which unfolds in Shinkai's traditional fragmented way. The monochrome animation reaches the levels of beauty of Shinkai's later films even though he animated them all by himself. He manages to bring so much emotion into only 5 minutes and the film's form is almost impeccable in its wild editing (which reminded me of Hideaki Anno). Even though the short film relies on narration, it never feels artificial or off-putting - which happens usually when the narrator dominates the film. In short, it's probably the best animated short film I have ever seen.
The second one was called Other Worlds, a brief (a minute and a half) look at the lives of a couple. There is no sound apart from the use of Erik Satie's Gymnopedie, a composition that has become so clicheic recently, but Shinkai manages to make it really fitting. The sketchy, monochrome animation fits the mood of the short film although it's hardly as great as it is in She and Her Cat.
The third one is actually a music video (for a song called Egao (The Smile), but it is worth noting when you want to watch Shinkai's work. Shinkai's trademarks are hardly visible in this music video, but that might only be so because of the format. Some of the background animation certainly reminds me of his full feature films, but the mood and pacing of the music video are just weird for him - and you can notice that because the effort isn't as good as his other short films.
Scores:
She and Her Cat - 9 out of 10
Other Worlds - 8 out of 10
Egao - 7 out of 10
YouTube uploads of the short films:
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