Mahou no Chocolate is a simple 8 minute short film about a girl who wants to give her Valentine's Day chocolates to a boy she likes. That is it. With a bland premise like that, how could this film possibly be worth watching when there are hundreds of deeper and more experimental short films out there? Well, let's find out. As someone who grew up in the '00s, I spent a lot of my youth watching Flash animations on Newgrounds and YouTube. The thing that always drew me to these animations was the sense of passion and personality. Mahou no Chocolate is precisely that - ashowcase of talent that shines through with some neat visual directing and lots of heart.

The visuals may seem primitive by today's standards. However, what you have to keep in mind is that this was all essentially a one-man project, lead by Naoya Ishikawa. The animation on display here is excellent and there are lots of interesting transitions and nice shot composition. It won't necessarily be anything you haven't already seen before if you're familiar with the medium, however, for the scope of this project; it's all very impressive. But we haven't gotten to the best part yet...

Watching Mahou no Chocolate makes me feel like a kid again. Alone in my room on a snowy day, watching Newgrounds without a care in the world. It fully engulfed me in a warm feeling of nostalgia and pure bliss during its short 8 minute run time. And while anime is a wide medium filled with incredible art pieces to open your eyes and mind, sometimes I want to watch something a bit... simpler. Something that can act more like a time capsule and take me back to a certain time period. Sometimes when I grow older and more cynical towards the world; I need something like Mahou no Chocolate to get me through a hard week. Thank you Mr. Ishikawa for making this.

In short: If you were someone who grew up on the internet in the '00s and want something that'll give you a spark of childlike wonder and joy, I would highly recommend this film to you.

Thanks for watching my movie. Please rate 5 stars.