Je t'aime

hamletsmage Jul 8, 2016

8

Remember when Production IG before they sent their best people to Wit studio? AP remembers. Story: The story itself is very simplistic. The dog is alone in a world where people have either died off or left. This particular question is never answered. Every day, an android descends to a certain spot and the dog tries to engage it with a ball. The ending is what makes the anime, with a sudden rush of action after an almost slice-of-life pacing. Still, pacing aside, there are a lot of unanswered questions due to the nature of a short-movie. Animation: I recognize this style... Mamoru Oshii produced this. He's the producer behind Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor, and Jin'Roh. I'd recognize that android style anywhere. The colors are lovely, and I liked the almost shrine-like setting for the dog and android' meeting place. The variety of balls that the dog produces is also a telling sign of the detail that went into this short. Sound: The anime starts off with a soft piano, interrupted only by minimal atmospheric sounds. Then, as the plot picks up, lyrics are added. The pacing of the music matched the pacing of the anime very well, in my opinion. Characters: How do you grade the characterization of a basset hound? I'd say this one was determined, lonely, spirited, and likeable. But I can't say much about character development, emotional range... It's a dog, for pete's sake. Should you watch this? Yes. Enjoy a little slice of Mamoru Oshii's anime style.  This review brought to you by the DAMC.

SadisticTendencies Dec 1, 2012

6.5

Mamoru Oshii; he's known for dark and thoughtprovoking stories with heavy allegorical undertones and/or comments on humanity's progress for better or for worse. With a grand résumé like that it's no wonder people overlook one of his more recent shorts: a humble twelve-minute story named in a cheesy manner that fits its intentions almost perfectly.  In a world where humanity's been presumably annihilated, a surviving dog wanders aimlessly during the days whilst sleeping in a box during night. Along with memories of human warmth and joy from his past we get to witness a series of encounters he has with a feminine-looking robotic creature who, once again presumably, played her role in the elimination of humans. The dog approcahes her with a ball in hopes of an opportunity to play with a living being once more but she flies away; an occurrence that happens a huge number of times with differently coloured balls each time. The above is pretty much the story and it's about as simplistic as it is heartbreaking. We're never really told what's happened in the world but nor do we really need anything more than the occasional clue. As far as animation goes this short fares pretty well with picturesque sceneries and the depicition of a world that seems to function more or less fine without humans. In terms of music, the soundtrack is comprised of both beautiful instrumental pieces and increasingly cheesy songs that nonetheless fit the material perfectly. There's no conclusion, nothing particularly thoughtprovoking and in the end you're obviously just supposed to feel sad for the dog and hopefully get a memorable experience. Which is pretty much what you get. This is no masterpiece in any sense of the word, but it won't take much of your time and with that in mind I'd gladly recommend it to anyone.

marshmallowbuddy2244 Jun 17, 2013

4

I won't have a summary of what happened because the other reviews do, but all I can say is that this video was heart-wrenching, depressing, and jut plain awful to me. I have three basset hounds so watching this made me need to hug each one just to let them know they're loved. I don't think I would recommend it to anyone because i put me in a really melancholy mood...