Tobira wo Akete (1995)

Missypie Feb 17, 2015

5

Short Overview: Tobira o Akete (1995, not to be confused with a film with the same name from 1986) is about a young girl named Nonoko who, as she's about to fall asleep, discovers that the shadows on her wall look like a person. Story: The story of Tobira o Akete is a very brief one, at just 9 minutes long. Unfortunately an actual story barely exists - Nonoko is whisked away by a shadow person into a wonderful, colourful abstract of dreams... and then she comes back again. That's it. This OVA focuses more on animation and detail than it does plot or cohesion.  Animation and Sound: The soundtrack was actually quite nice, with lots of orchestral instrumental sountracks. Each piece fit each scene very well. Animation was fluid with no glaring errors that I noticed, however the actual art style of the characters was very unappealing to me. It's clear the artist works best with abstract art, as evidenced by the dreamworld artstyle being much better than the 'normal' world artstyle. Nonoko's Mum had a head shaped like a box... very unsightly. The dreamworld was however beautiful and fun! It had a huge array of interesting people, objects, animals and colours to admire. The detail shown was astounding. Characters Nonoko, our only character of interest, was a very basic little-girl archetype and she didn't have anything that made her stand out. Since it was only 9 minutes and this OVA doesn't have much of a story, it's a bit of a given that she's a simple character. Final Thoughts: I would've given this a 6/10 for the lovely dreamworld part, but as the OVA stands as a whole I'm only giving it a 5/10. Still, I would implore anyone who loves bright colours and abstract work to give this a quick try. If You Liked This You Might Like: Paprika, Summer Wars, Kyousougiga - all three of these are wacky, wonderful, and colourful

Inu230 Dec 8, 2019

8

Get Spirited Away with this 10-minute anime featuring a girl who follows something into the unknown. If your heart's not reeling you need to watch it again. The music is faithful to instrumental uplifting orchestral swells and jives that bring Fantasia to mind. Dreams are portals to the Fantastic Universe of imagination. Even when you aren't sure if what you are seeing is all in the girl's mind or some world we could find. It really doesn't matter. Humans are capable of thinking. And that is what matters.  Though the girl's mom has short screen time, her contribution cannot and should not be overlooked. She reads a story with her daughter. Her daughter says she doesn't like the tale. She doesn't want to hear someone else's story or read about a world someone else created. She wants to create her own. And so she does (or she may believe so). It is possible that she was transported to another dimension or a plane typically hidden. One way or another, she found herself in a world she now recalls foundly and probably visits regularly. It is thanks to her mother that this reality came to light. If familial bonding or mother-daughter sweetness isn't for you than look elsewhere. If however you've got a hankering for some fantasy than this is for you. Open the door.