Mind Game

Nishi, the hero, meets his first-love, Myon-chan, by chance. Nishi dies that night but oddly, he and Myon-chan, together with her sister start living in the stomach of a whale?

Combining highly skilled animation techniques and expert sense of story telling, this work has blazed a trial to, and has likely reached the summit of, the expression which can currently be achieved only by cell animation. This piece does not rely on only its beautiful imagery alone, but also attempts to seek out and face the meaning of living “the present”. Although there are several questionable moments within the film, we eventually judged these necessary to the achieving of its impressive climax. There was a concentration of entries this year with rich visuals that were produced through lengthy and complicated process. Amongst these, it was a pleasure to be reassured of the power of the well drawn line to exude life. After all, the origin of the word animation is “to put life in.”