Review of Cencoroll

Yuki finds herself wondering why a bike parked outside the school starts moving when it suddenly transforms into a ... panda?! Suddenly she's in the middle of a battle between the owners of these ugly yet irresistibly adorable monsters. For fans of Furi Kuri, Atsuya Uki has created the whimsical, slightly insane yet delicate short film Cencoroll. Uki certainly did an impressive job adapting his manga background for the big screen. While the 30 minute length leaves little time to fully develop a complex plot, Uki rose to the challenge with remarkable grace. Cencoroll never felt rushed and while none of my initial questions were answered,I found myself utterly satisfied with the ending. With a little bit for every watcher--action for the boys, two nonchalant semi-bishies (wink wink) for the girls and poetic storytelling for anime-snobs like myself--Cencoroll is a roller coaster that won't make you dizzy.

Moreover, in true stroke-of-genius fashion, Uki is able to capture a stylized art form and sound to give Cencoroll a voice of its own. The movements are of choppy but fluid quality and the sound blends perfectly into the production's texture. As expected for OVAs and the budget they normally receive, the drawings never seem half-assed. But unlike others, Uki is able to capture his manga roots within each snapshot, transition and moving scene. The result? A short film that lulls viewers into its sci-fi core with an unnatural serenity for its genre.

With such a short duration, it is well worth your time to see this lovely anime, which reassured anime-lovers that cartoons are not just for kids!

written for Minitokyo's Newsletter: MT-Maigetsu