CHIISANA EIYUU: KANI TO TAMAGO TO TOUMEI NINGEN

DESCRIPTION

CAST

REVIEWS

• 

  JTurner82

  100/100
  Inspiring collection of featurettes from Ghibli's successor.

  Modest Heroes, a 53-minute (yes, that's how long it is) animated feature which is actually three fifteen-minute featurettes in one program, is the second animated release from Studio Ponoc. Founded in 2015, the fledging studio found success nationwide with their first feature, the charming if derivative Mary and the Witch's Flower. That film, handled by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and many other former animators at Studio Ghibli (who temporarily closed in 2014 but thankfully reopened recently), was more of a crowd-pleaser and technically more of a "Best of Ghibli" kind of showcase. Modest Heroes, on the other hand, is something quite different, and may actually be all the better because of it. This "package film" (a term borrowed from the 1940's Disney releases Make Mine Music, Fun & Fancy Free, etc.) provides the animators the opportunity to experiment with various animation techniques and aesthetic styles. Each featurette, handled by different directors, is loosely tied together with various shots of the quirkiest film projector I've ever seen in any movie.

  The first featurette which opens this anthology, "Kanini and Kanino", handled by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, is an absolutely breathtaking and imaginative underwater fantasy about a pint-sized family who wield staffs with crab claws (shades of The Secret World of Arrietty) who dwell at the bottom of the sea of all places. The titular characters are two siblings who are separated from their parents and set off on a journey to find them. This featurette is the only one of the three not to receive a dub, and interestingly, is rather limited with dialogue, giving the picture a bit of a semi-silent film treatment. (There are occasions where the characters call out each other's names.) This short mixes traditional animation with computer generated imagery to realize both its underwater environment and the monstrous fishes who cast ominous shadows above our tiny heroes.

  After this stunner, we shift gears to a more down-to-earth, slice-of-life kind of tale, aptly named, "Life Ain't Gonna Lose." Directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, this short is based on an actual true story about a little boy who is lethally allergic to eggs. His mother strives to support him while managing her career as a dancer, and the boy must eat special foods and avoid getting contact with egg yolk. It's a very relatable and nearly heart wrenching tale. The animation here is a bit more like a watercolor-painting style, but the short is no less impactful for it. This dubbed version features the voice of Maggie Q as the boy's mother.

  The final tale, and arguably the gloomiest, is Akihito Yamashita's "Invisible", in which we follow a man who is literally invisible to everyone around him. All we see is his coat, hat, glasses, shoes, and gloves. He needs to carry a weight in order to stay on the ground, because otherwise he will float away. He does good deeds, but is unnoticed by others... until he sees a runaway baby's carriage. This short is animated in the classic hand drawn style, and with more shadowy colors. Again, dialogue is sparse in this short, but not to the same degree as in the first.

  All three featurettes showcase the visual range of Studio Ponoc in ways that will leave you eager to come back for more and more. Interestingly, after the showing I went to, an interview with Ponoc producer Yoshiaki Nishimura aired, who expressed the need to try to stand out from other studios in Japan. His solution--to try to push the limits of animation and make their movies the kind that kids would enjoy and would also inspire adults. It's very rare to see animation studios today with this kind of thinking. Bravo to Studio Ponoc for making the approach. It will be very interesting to see what they do next. If you ever get a chance to see Modest Heroes, I strongly suggest you do so, and without hesitation.

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• 

  Joshimatsu

  80/100
  A Brisk and Unbridled Collection of Animated Wonder

  This anthology film isn't tied together with any particularly inventive meta narrative like some others out there, but like classics such as Robot Carnival, its collection of stories have one aspect in common: their themes. And as you may have been able to ascertain by the title of the film, that theme happens to be the concept of "modest heroes." Everyday people, some average and some not so much, who make sacrifices and acts of heroism both big and small. This can range from a young boy simply trying to not let an egg allergy get the best of him (in "Life Ain't Gonna Lose") to an invisible man ("Invisible") striving to find his place in a world that doesn't even acknowledge his existence.

  Hiromasa Yonebayashi, director of Arrietty, Marnie and Mary, directs the first segment of two crab-children embarking on a journey to save their father. While my least favorite of the bunch, this is still quite the exciting journey during its runtime.

  Life Ain't Gonna Lose is directed by Ghibli veteran Yoshiyuki Momose, who was the art director behind the stunning visuals in many of Isao Takahata's most artistically bold films (particularly Princess Kaguya and the Yamadas), in his (surprisingly) first ever role as a director despite him being such a storied artist. This film was certainly my personal favorite by far. The story was the most grounded, yet the animation and emotions portrayed gave it perhaps the most weight and impact of them all. Sometimes the most epic tales are those that can already happen in our own world. Fitting, as the inspiration behind this story was itself inspired by a colleague's detail of raising a child with severe allergic conditions.

  The final segment, Invisible, is a visually jaw-dropping affair with an ambiguous and abstract plot that begs the viewer to see with their hearts instead of their brains. Loose and erratic line-work perfectly renders a protagonist that for all intents and purposes is not visible. Ironically, or likely even intentionally, this short features arguably the most impressive character acting out of the entire trio of films. The director was specifically tasked with bringing life and expression to someone without a face. Needless to say, the results speak for themselves.

  As with nearly any anthology, the quality is variable, but always relatively high and impressive. And unlike Studio Ponoc's previous film Mary and the Witch's Flower, which was good but very derivative of the Ghibli-alumns' past work at said studio, it's clearly apparent that these stories were produced to be above all else, original, daring, and artist driven. I only lament that we will never get to see the contribution Isao Takahata was slated to put forth before his unfortunate passing. Beyond that though, this is a consistently impressive showing from Ponoc and I am absolutely in support of more thematically-tied anthology films coming from them in the future. They may not be as profitable, but the imagination and inspired drive behind them is far more apparent.

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• 

  Nekomina

  77/100
  Ponoc shows that sometimes everyday life has its difficulties and challenges that we must overcome

  

  English Version:

  Modest Heroes is a chronicle of 3 short films created by Studio Ponoc where you can see where they have been focusing on and what they will bring to the entertainment in the future. Each short has a different approach and style where they presented mundane situations, from day to day, as the title says; that make us little heroes in our world because they are challenges, that occur normally and must be overcome.

  The animation is one of the main themes that stand out in this compilation, the studio allowed itself to experiment extensively with the animation style, offering very different forms to the public. They played with different animations on the same plane, breaking different rules, giving the viewer a clash between textures, movements and colors.

  As you have little time with short films, you have to be able to show emotions and send a message through the screen efficiently. Ponoc harnesses their tools and with every second they express intense emotions, purposely exaggerated to show that life is full of ups and downs. Hinting that all emotions are valid and intense and can occur on any given day.

  

  The approach to daily life is interesting; They touch on topics such as family, being able to share with them, longing, having a place to belong, caution and many other things. They show how everyone has complications in everyday life, situations that hinder your day-to-day life, such as an allergy to eggs in a world where almost all products contain this ingredient; worries, feeling invisible, that no one takes you into account and you cannot help anyone.

  If these situations are not experienced first-hand, it would not be possible to believe how difficult they can become, in other words, it is exhibited that things that are believed to be mundane or normal, that are not taken into account in daily life, can be a serious problem for other people.

  The animation studio manages to mix the fantastic with the ordinary, making stories that attract attention with simple themes acted by fairies or a being that seems from another world because is invisible, but maintains its exhibition in the ordinary, capturing the earthly with a different point of view.

  

  Ponoc managed to show a story and transmit deep emotions in a very intelligent way, which can be perfectly differentiated, without having to use dialogue. It has a great deal of detail that is observed through gestures and body communication. They convey different emotions such as happiness, sadness, despair and they have represented them very well in each expression of the characters.

  This studio presented to the public 3 short films with very different situations, where they all express different opinions. They do this in an ingenious way; one film is more childish than the other, but they have something in common, and it is everyday life and situations that can go unnoticed.

  With a beautiful visual metaphor, Studio Ponoc shows how many people can feel and how they must overcome day by day, whether they think they are an invisible being that has no importance in the world or always being cautious and afraid of everyday things. Meaning that each and every person, and their situations, matters. Reflecting and raising awareness of the various worlds that people experience.

  

  Versión en Español:

  Modest Heroes es una crónica de 3 cortometrajes creada por el Studio Ponoc donde se puede ver hacia donde están enfocados y lo que traerán al entretenimiento en un futuro. Cada corto tiene un enfoque y estilo diferente donde se presentan situaciones mundanas, del día a día, como dice el título; que nos hacen pequeños héroes en nuestro mundo debido a que son retos, que ocurren en la normalidad y deben ser superados.

  La animación es uno de los temas principales que destacan en esta compilación, el estudio se permitió experimentar de forma amplia con el estilo de animación, ofreciendo formas muy diferentes al público. Jugaron con distintas animaciones en un mismo plano rompiendo diversas reglas, dando al espectador un choque entre texturas, movimientos y colores.

  Al tener poco tiempo hay que poder mostrar emociones y enviar un mensaje a través de la pantalla de forma eficiente. Ponoc aprovecha sus herramientas y con cada segundo expresa emociones intensas, exageradas a propósito para mostrar que la vida está llena de bajos y altos. Dando a entender que todas las emociones son válidas e intensas y pueden ocurrir en un día cualquiera.

  

  El enfoque que se le da a la vida diaria es interesante; tocan temas como la familia, el poder compartir con ella, añorar, tener un lugar a donde pertenecer, la cautela y muchísimas otras cosas. Muestran como en la cotidianidad todos tienen complicaciones, situaciones que dificultan tu día a día, como una alergia al huevo en un mundo donde casi todos los productos contienen este ingrediente; preocupaciones, el sentirte invisible, que nadie te toma en cuenta y no puedes ayudar a nadie.

  Si no se sufren de primera mano estas situaciones, no se podría creer que tan difícil pueden llegar a ser, es decir, se exhibe que cosas que se creen mundanas o normales, que no se toma en cuenta en la vida diaria, puede ser un grave problema para otras personas.

  El estudio de animación logra mezclar lo fantástico con lo ordinario, haciendo historias que llamen la atención con temas sencillos actuados por hadas o un ser que parece de otro mundo al ser invisible, pero mantiene su exposición en lo corriente plasmando en lo terrenal con punto de vista diferente.

  

  Ponoc consiguió mostrar una historia y transmitir de una manera muy inteligente emociones profundas, que se pueden diferenciar perfectamente, sin tener que usar diálogos. Tiene una gran cantidad de detalle que se observan a través de gestos y la comunicación corporal. Transmiten distintas emociones como felicidad, tristeza, desesperación y las han representado muy bien en cada expresión de los personajes.

  Este estudio presentó al público 3 cortometrajes con situaciones muy distintas, en donde todas emiten diversas opiniones. Hacen esto de una manera ingeniosa; uno es más infantil que otro, pero tienen algo en común y es la cotidianidad y situaciones que pueden pasar desapercibidas.

  Con una bonita metáfora visual, el Estudio Ponoc demuestra como muchas personas se pueden sentir y como deben superarse día a día, ya sea que piensan que son un ser invisible que no tiene importancia en el mundo o el tener siempre cautela y miedo por cosas cotidianas. Dando a entender que siempre y cada una de las personas, y sus situaciones, importan. Reflexionando y dando conciencia de los diversos mundos que experimentan las personas.

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