Man and Whale - Recommendations

• Movie (1 ep x 12 min)
• 2008

An old man resides in a city mostly submerged by water, living in a home he had to build on top of his old one. His daily routine now consists of smoking his pipe, drinking wine, watching television and eating the fish he catches. Living alone in the silent desolation of the elderly he is surrounded by photographs but no people. One day he drops his pipe into the water and it disappears into his old, submerged home. To retrieve it he rents a scuba suit, but once he descends into the place he used to live he is overwhelmed by the memories of the life he used to have - the family he used to know.

• Movie (1 ep x 10 min)
• 2002

After a miserly man consumes a batch of freshly-fallen cherries (seeds included), he finds himself in a hairy and unfortunate situation - a small cherry tree has sprouted from his balding forehead! With his mountain-like head becoming a tourist attraction, what's a miser to do?

• OVA (1 ep x 21 min)
• 2007

One dark and blustery night, a lone doctor is called to a village ten miles away in order to help with a sick patient. Quickly losing his servant to ill-intentioned hands and whisked away upon frightening horses, the doctor meets his young and ailing patient under the scrutinizing eyes of his family. It is here that the doctor will try to discover the root of the boy’s illness and also try to make some sense out of his own psyche.

• Movie (1 ep x 5 min)
• 2003

A young girl is standing outside a store, using her mobile phone, when a strange force wrenches that phone from her hands and drops it onto the ground. When she goes to pick up her phone she finds that a fantastically strange creature has picked it up first - and eats it. She's furious - until it eats her too! Apparently, being eaten throws her into a bizarre and disorienting reality full of shifting shapes and colors... and all she wants is her phone back!

• Web (1 ep x 4 min)
• 2010

When young Ai makes an impromptu trip to the Japanese city of Kobe, she has no idea what to do after arriving. Luckily, help is at hand in the form of Kazami Kei, a giant chicken-man in a black tracksuit who decides to take time out of busy schedule to guide her around the city. As the pair travels around, Kazami hopes to open the Ai’s eyes to the fun of the Harborland amusement park, the joy of rotating cafés, and the beauty of Nunobiki Falls.

• Other (1 ep x 4 min)
• 1987

In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a scruffy man wanders the desert in his junky car. In this world, anything desired can be attained by pushing buttons on a special kind of vending machine. The man is able to get new clothes, a snappy new car, water galore, new "pets" to accompany him on his journey, and even an unusual hair cut; but all he really wants is the most important thing of all: a new Earth…

• Movie (1 ep)
• 2011

a 66-year-old cicada wakens from its slumber, eager to climb as high as it can, spread its wings, and provide offspring for future generations.

• Movie (1 ep)
• 1984

What if you could fly? Jumping by Osamu Tezuka lets us literally jump through time and space. Shot from a first person perspective with nothing but ambient noise as a soundtrack you are witness to a seamless journey across rural Japan, into the heart of modern Tokyo, and beyond, showing us a subtle study of modern life and the impact that progress has on us and our environment.

• Movie (1 ep)
• 1974

• OVA (1 ep)
• 2018