Ani*Kuri15 is an anthology movie consisting of 15 one-minute short films, each directed and produced by different industry figures in their own styles. Many big names are featured here, and there’s no other relation between the shorts. In that case, a generalization would be undescriptive and pointless. Here’s my full rundown.

The Hidden Princess – Mahiro Maeda

In a sci-fi infused feudal Japan among the likes of Ganbare Goemon and Gintama a princess transforms into a super powered girl to fight off an impending evil army. The short is a nutshell parody of comedic action anime with fast animation that hyperbolizes many old tropes. It’s funny enough for its one-minute runtime.

Gyrosopter – Ranji Murata & Tatsuya Yabuta

An entirely 3D CG short. The CG is mediocre, but the aesthetic is astounding. This has no apparent story to tell. A vocal song plays as a girl flies through the air and over an ocean on a magical stone copter. She lands on the base of a large stone structure in the ocean that looks of a similar build to her copter, and the surface is a very thin disk full of shallow water. She touches it, then takes off as a bunch of other copters do the same in the background.

It’s entirely unclear what the narrative is here, but I loved the mystique of it and the surrealistic fantasy art style. Captured my imagination and got my attention emotionally just for that. Reminds me of late ’90s video games.

Amusement Park Kiss – Atsushi Takeuchi

Cute. A little boy sets up a Rube Goldberg machine to land him right in front of his little girl crush for a kiss. She slaps him but then feels pity for him and kisses him for real. This is another feudal Japan-styled short and the even the contraption is entirely wooden. The animation quality is the smoothest so far and the watercolor paint colors give it a childish ink painting look.

Beyond the Tears… – Akemi Hayashi

Another music-paired short that depicts three separate women that appear to each be going through a painful break up, but cry their heart out and feel better by the end. Nice visual distinction in age difference and response here. The youngest looking one cries in public at one point, the teenager cries alone in her house, and the adult is never shown crying even in a scene where she’s dejectedly looking away from the camera. Otherwise, nothing special.

PROJECT_MERMAID – Mamoru Oshii

Now for one of the biggest names on this list. Oshii does the most surrealist piece so far, using fluctuating, still photos of real Japanese women on a mermaid that appears flat from all angles. It dives through an unclear blue and gold space filled with miscellaneous symbols. At the end, she escapes through a portal labeled “REAL” and breaks apart upon entering a city-like landscape.

This sequence has a similar feel to the cyberbrain-diving scenes from Ghost in the Shell. Though visually creative, it’s a very static aesthetic that almost entirely reveals itself even before the sole minute is up. A little disappointing. Cool music.

Frolicking – Michael Arias

An open field of mostly children that are happily running alongside a giant robot that seems to pace without regards to them. Impressive, serene ambiance, but one of the least interesting shorts.

Good Morning – Satoshi Kon

Here’s my reason for admission. With Satoshi Kon’s untimely death, any fragment of his legacy is now a treasure to his fans, of which I am one. Even more tragically, this short is the last thing Satoshi Kon ever finished; he passed away just about three years later.

Yet, this follows his more whimsical works in which a young woman wakes up and goes about her morning routine. Different visions of her split apart and complete different activities before uniting in the end to show an awake woman prepared for the day. The visions walking around the screen performing different activities in the same frame is a great method to optimize the one-minute time and are combined with some of Kon’s peak-quality animation.

The premise is extremely simple, but the visual techniques elevate it. Not enough though, in my opinion, as I think the multi-vision concept isn’t relevant enough to the narrative, and more could have been shown happening on screen with the same concept. Instead, we mostly just see two. A modest and decent idea, but merely pleasant in execution.

Sports Colonel Episode 18 – The Assassin Comes to Hunt in the Mountains!! – Tobira Oda & Yasuyuki Shimizu

Surprisingly, the most eccentric short yet. An almost entirely black-and-white short drawn like a rough manga sketch. The Colonel is in the mountains hiding from his enemy Paul, who will one day assassinate him. The narrator tells us the Colonel will not bring harm to the animals that raised him, and jumps in a river to escape the area. Just a silly short with a cool art style.

A Gathering of Cats – Makoto Shinkai

There’s always a cat one. A house cat gets sick of having its tail stepped on by its human owners, and escapes to a legion of other cats who plan to form themselves into a giant cat and attack a city with laser eye beams. At the end, the house cat is distracted as usual and calms down after getting some food. It’s the most sensible comedy so far about the cold and affectionate duality in cats. Perfectly effective.

Alien Invasion – Hiroshi’s Circumstances – Shōjirō Nishimi

An oblivious manga artist is pestered at his desk by a little robot clinging to the side. This entire short takes place in one frame and has a jagged art style similar to Masaaki Yuasa’s works. It’s endearingly eccentric but little else.

Yurururu ~Daily Chapter~ – Kazuto Nakazawa

A more down to earth look at another manga artist’s desk life. He begins a sped-up sketch, takes a bathroom break, attempts to play a joke on his coworker, and then finishes and inks his page. Very charming.

Project Omega – Shōji Kawamori

Kawamori of Macross and Escaflowne fame naturally goes for a mecha short. A UFO is detected to land on the NHK skyscraper which then transforms into a giant robot that attempts to stop it. It ends on a cute cliffhanger ending as the robot is failing to prevent the UFO from landing.

Surprisingly, this is one of the most impressive shorts in regards to content. The frames switch very frantically and there’s a lot of detail packed into the background of every one. Even Domo-kun makes an appearance. Frantic and exaggerated in that camp way many mecha fans are used to.

Heat Man – Yasufumi Soejima

Another CG film where a tribe does battle against a shadowy bear-like monster. While scenes shift to a tribe in a hut performing some sort of ritual, one of the men facing the monster transforms into the titular Heat Man and bears his flames against the monster as the short abruptly ends.

Though heavily stylized and more impressively animated than Gyrosopter, it’s still crude in some areas (particularly the faces), and the frames are packed with so many colors at such fast speeds that it all spills into sensory overload that doesn’t give a particularly good impression. Still, it’s kind of cool and some of the art style reminds me of Team Ico’s mix of folklore and fantasy.

Attack of Azuma Area #2 – Shinji Kimura

The last CG short opens with the tone of an old sci-fi epic as a giant UFO moves in to invade Earth. Then we’re told that the broadcast has to show simpler images due to its budget, and the style shifts to something much more cartoonish and crayon-like. Three adorable little aliens that look like bootleg Dr. Mario viruses arrive on an Earth depicted as a stage play. Very cute style, and one of the most enjoyable for that reason alone.

Sancha Blues – Osamu Kobayashi

A record owner becomes frustrated by endless window shoppers who leave without purchasing any albums. It’s easy to empathize if you’ve ever known someone struggling to run a record store, as this is a very real problem. I think a more melancholic tone would’ve benefitted this subject matter. There’s something of cultural gap stemming from lacking appreciation for physical commodities. While there’s something to mourn here, but the wild art style and goofy facial expressions aim for humor. Again though, the style is striking.

Verdict

There’s a wide variety of narrative and aesthetic styles on display here. As such, opinions will vary greatly on which of these shorts are the most interesting. I won’t give further thoughts, because these probably won’t be picked out by anyone to watch in isolation anyway.

Ani*Kuri15 is a relentlessly entertaining watch due to its broad dynamic range. Although fairly shallow beyond that entertainment value, almost anyone will have a director of note to them among the featured names. The rest is a serviceable introduction to unfamiliar auteurs, which makes this anthology a fairly useful tool. One minute is often all you need to get a taste of someone’s stylistic and writing preferences, and for that, Ani*Kuri15 is a fun and intriguing sampling. It’s a great way to spend a meager fifteen minutes.

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