Kujira no Chouyaku is the embodiment of what can only be described as a peace of mind. Based on a children's book also by Tamura Shigeru, Kujira no Chouyaku focuses on the leap of a single whale through the glassy ocean and the memories it stirs up of people who witness this special event. As per the English title (Glassy Ocean) this world's ocean is glass; people traverse the wavy glass landscape while fish still swim underfoot and glass marbles float around in the sky. If you think about it too hard, it seems more like an apocalyptic world rather than a peaceful place, butit still builds a world through the different stories told that really makes you say, "I want to go there," and experience the serenity that the many characters reminisce about.

The pacing and the voice acting are all outstanding to me. The visual are beautiful while simplistic, and the color scheme (black and white plus gradients of cool tones) sets the mood for the entire movie. The waves depicted in Kujira no Chouyaku are rendered in 3D when 3D was barely a thing while the rest is drawn digitally (I believe), so it is really an avante-garde piece.

However, what stood out most to me was the music, written by Utollo Teshikai (AKA Hiroshi Ogasawara). There's something very atmospheric in his music and melody that fits the visual perfectly. The mood conveys something dreamy and worry-free that is very unlike other media then or today.

As you can tell by now, I really enjoy Kujira no Chouyaki. It's admirable because it's not delivering something popular or something that will get attention, but communicating a feeling, and it's pretty damn good at it. I really hope you consider watching this masterpiece of a movie.