This is the second entry into my ongoing series Anime for Lunch, where I explore and discuss short anime that can easily be watched in a single sitting, during breaks or just with an hour of time to kill. Today we’ll be looking at Pale Cocoon, a beautiful OVA by Yoshiura Yasuhiro released in 2005. Clocking in at barely under half an hour, Pale Cocoon is a unique and solemn look at the future of humanity. The Earth has become inhospitable, and everyone has moved deep underground. Ura works in an underground facility far into the dytopian future analyzing data artifacts from the distant past. An unexplained record pops up on a routine day, and Ura seeks to find out what it means.

One thing that’s very noticeable early on is that despite the fancy and advanced technology and gadgets like the animated time cards and electronic books, a sense of crippling melancholy inundates the anime. The visuals are stunning for 2005 (YouTube does not really do it much justice) and the sharp sounds really punctuate the show well. From 3:15, the panning, zooming camera work and music do an excellent job of creating a setting that viewers can understand easily and quickly. The anime continues past the break. (more…)

When you really crunch those numbers, watching anime is a really time-intensive hobby. Shows are 13-24 episodes long, so they take hours to finish. In the time to finish a good sized 24 episode show, you could have easily knocked off around 5 or 6 movies. According to my MyAnimeList stats a few months ago, I’ve spent a solid month of my life watching anime. Think about that! A month without breaks or sleep or anything! And I don’t even watch that much anime compared to lots of other people.

So I thought today while I was at work: it would be nice if there were more shows that you could just sit down, watch, and do something else. You could finish the whole thing from start to finish without having to supply yourself with sustenance. I remember that Saturday I plunked myself in front of my PC and watched all of Excel Saga. While fun, I wondered how neat it is that we literally have anime you can watching during your lunch break. Thus I present to you: She and Her Cat.

She and Her Cat was the first animation project of Makoto Shinkai, renowned for later works such as 5 Centimeters Per Second and The Place Promised in Our Early Days. His distinctive style is really obvious in this tenderly modest tale that isn’t even five minutes long. Yes, this anime is shorter than Chocolate Rain.

Despite being completely in black and white, Shinkai’s masterful aesthetic can easily be picked out. Shinkai is set apart by his ability to control and portray light in his scenes, and you can easily see that he had this talent early in his career. The anime is primarily dialogue and environmental sounds, giving it a rather raw, intimate feel. Consequentially, Tenmon’s soundtrack is hardly noticeable. Shinkai himself voices the cat (effectively the narrator). The reserved and quiet voice fits well and is in good taste.

It’s amazing how many themes a show can cram into 4 short minutes. The innocent, nearly playful musings of the cat is contrasted with the implied deep troubles in the young woman’s life. The troubles are never explained in any detail, drawing an even more melancholy feel to it — a feeling of helplessness. The metaphor of love, heartbreak, and compassion ties everything up beautifully.

She and Her Cat has been seen by many people. I myself saw it around 2 or 3 years ago. But at less than five minutes long, what keeps me from watching it again?