North Korea simulator 3000- In all seriousness, this was a perfectly good bit of anti-war animation, jelling well with the general notion I often see in Japanese media surrounding the overall concept of international conflict. (Message / Story: 7/10) It’s quite on-the-nose, although a sentence referring to ‘otona’ (adults) towards the end implies that this was intended for children to watch, so I’ll let that slide I suppose. It’s pretty obvious to anyone who knows the history that (minus the cameras), the scenarios described here are nearly a 1:1 mirror of what happened within imperial Japan, so I will at least award them with points for accuracy. (Animation+ Sound: 9/10)
While you might not love it as much if you aren’t into the more ‘artsy’ styles of animation, I personally found this to be very visually appealing. Given the intended demographic of children, I can easily imagine these visuals holding their attention for the entirety of its seven-minute background narration. The way each style flows into that of another animator is absolutely incredible, a clear sign of just how talented every member of the team responsible is. The sound is nothing to write home about, but it suits the whole atmosphere well enough.

(Enjoyment / Overall: 7/10)

Sensou no Tsukurikata is short and sweet, getting straight to the point without being overly dramatic in its anti-war messaging. While this is far from the best that Japanese anime/animation has to offer in terms of crushing viewers with the relentless cruelty of war (‘Hadashi no Gen’ and ‘Ushiro no Shoumen Daare’ say hi), it’s still more than clear, concise, and compelling enough to drive the point home beyond the mere surface levels often seen in classroom education.