Studio Ponoc kicked off its campaign
to be the next Studio Ghibli with Mary and the Witch’s Flower last year (or two years ago in Japan). It wasn’t a masterpiece, but it captured a lot
of the flavors of a Ghibli movie that it could pass as one. This year (or last year in Japan), Ponoc
follows it up with Modest Heroes, a
three-part anime anthology film.
The first segment is titled “Kanini
& Kanino.” It follows a family of
Lilliputian humanoids who live on the bed of a stream in the middle of a forest. Equipped with crab claws, they hunt small
fish for food, but stay away of the vision of big fish, to which they are the
food. While the mother is away to give
birth, the father is left to take care of their two children named Kanini and
Kanino. When the father is taken off by
a heavy current, the two siblings have no choice but to embark on a dangerous journey
to rescue him.
“Life Ain’t Gonna Lose” comes second. It centers on a boy named Shun who
is allergic to eggs. It details the
efforts of his mom to help him on his condition, along with the various instances
where he nearly dies because of accidentally coming into contact with eggs.
Last but not the least is “Invisible.” It’s about a salaryman who happens to be
invisible. Not only that, but he also
has to constantly hold on a heavy weight – like a fire extinguisher or a
pickaxe – or else he’ll float away to the sky.
Ignored by everyone around him, he becomes depressed. However, an emergency that forces him to jump
into action helps to get him out of his funk.
Modest Heroes is barely a film.
It clocks less than hour – including credits. Thus, you can just imagine how short the runtime
of each segment is. However, despite the
briefness, all three shorts are packed with meaning. Each one demands to be analyzed and pondered
upon (especially the third one, which is heavily metaphorical). Moreover, there’s efficiency in the
storytelling. Masterful direction ensures
there’s no wasted second. Their
narratives pass so quickly, and there’s the risk that they can feel fleeting as
a result. But once you grasp what they
are going for, they will resonate.
Lastly, the exquisiteness of the
animation... come on, it goes without saying.
My only nit to pick about Modest Heroes is that it should have had
at least two more segments. This is,
after all, just the first volume of Ponoc
Short Films Theatre, the studio’s attempt to help anime shorts have wider
exposure by packaging them together as a feature-length film that can be
released into theaters. Well, 53 minutes
aren’t really “feature-length.” Why didn’t
Ponoc wait until they have five shorts ready before releasing this volume? I did read that the plan was four segments,
but the fourth one was supposed to be directed by legendary Ghibli director
Isao Takahata, who passed away last year.
The question remains valid regardless: why didn’t Ponoc wait until they
have enough for a legit feature-length film?
Anyway, if Modest Heroes is any indication, Studio Ponoc has something truly
special going on with Ponoc Short Films
Theatre, and subsequent volumes are definitely worth watching out for.
Hopefully, the next ones will
have more than three segments.
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