L'Animation Indépendante Japonaise - Volume 3

The walls of video rental shops in Japan are lined with hundreds upon hundreds of animation DVDs, but experimental and art animation on DVD are rare. To remedy this situation, Image Forum put together this showcase of the work of contemporary avant-garde animators trained in Kyoto and Tokyo.

A young boy becomes interested in the bodies of living things and starts to develop phobias after seeing a dog's corpse. Before long all manner of things begin to appear grotesque to him.

A quiet and disquieting story about a boy who reaches puberty and his family.

In Kei Oyama's grim Consultation Room, a medical diagnosis triggers a wave of traumatic fantasies, portrayed in greyish pencil drawings that waver as if left out for too long in the rain.

A woman is masturbating when a swarm of fish bursts out from all over her house to disturb her.

A series of 16 "short stories" created by the creator's group Images Forum.

Animated sensual delights of the titular octopus balls popularized by Osaka street vendors. -JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film

Female humanoid cockroaches do calisthenics (though resembling normal dancing more).

Expressing short-lived love through The Beatles’ “Here, There and Everywhere” as covered by my friend.

Organisms dance vigorously along with delightful recorders.

Have you or your partner ever had an experience where you missed your period or been “late”?

Coital psychedelia featuring the music of Shinsuke Sugahara, a wild imaginary of physical intimacy. -JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film

Synchronized the irritation of the baby's cries and the frustration I have ever experienced. Everyone was born while crying and grew crying. I grew up to be an adult, but I strongly want to be a baby again.

Painful events become memories over time. Still, we vomit and eat again. Life is Eco.

A dream that occurs after breaking up with a boyfriend.

A collage of colors and shapes intersect and flow - from Mirai Mizue,

An ode to Norman McLaren from Mirai Mizue

Mirai Mizue’s familiar amoeba-like cells cross with kinetic sketched lines and shapes in a colorful burst of energy suited for all audiences. Music by Twoth. -JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film

A subjective view of an UFO. Shot frame-by-frame along the Tama River.

Astonishing, mysterious, eccentric, adorable, melancholic, sensual and delightful - the Volume 2 of the weird and fascinating world of Japanese independent animation which has been flourishing and stronger than ever.

Minimalistic abstract hand made animation from the award winning Mirai Mizue.

CALF's first series is a collection of films by widely acclaimed Japanese independent animators. Mirai Mizue is a rising star of abstract animation in Japan. He entered the field in 2002 and continues to make non-narrative films at a surprisingly high rate.

Simple rectilinear figures assemble into surprisingly complex “cities” that pulse along to Scarlatti Goes Electro’s hyperkinetic score. -JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film

The mutating forms of Tensai Banpaku, or “Genius Expo” create a stunning abstract orchestra.

A surreal short animation by Mirai Mizue.

The curtain rises: a Kyōgen stage, an examination room at an eye specialist’s, a sushi counter. There are two people who meet in this. Feelings of the most diverse kind, alternating between fear and fascination, between tenderness and sanctuary, flare up and are immediately put into practice. The feelings of the other are explored.

Astonishing, mysterious, eccentric, adorable, melancholic, sensual and delightful - the Volume 2 of the weird and fascinating world of Japanese independent animation which has been flourishing and stronger than ever.

A time-lapse animation in which colors move around vividly.

Animated music video for the song “Teleport” by Hasunuma Shuta.

Legs and shoes float across the screen in this short film by Yoriko Mizushiri.

Animated music video by Mizushiri Yoriko, who creates animations that tickle the tactile senses of the viewer and stimulate the internal organs with humorous and sensual movements. Here, a range of sensations are contrasted with the lyrics of the song. Multiple familiar objects, such as sushi, tissues, and balloons, show the same movement at the beginning, but when drawn apart, small differences in shape and movement start to appear naturally.

The methodical creation and consumption of a piece of sushi

This VR experience asks the question: “What is a positive interaction in a virtual space?” In Otawamure, you can experience many kinds of fantastical interactions that are impossible in the real world.

An animated video for the song “Umi” by Kuchiroro, from the album Everyday Is a Symphony. The video was directed and animated by Yoriko Mizushiri.

30th World Festival of Animated Film - Animafest Zagreb 2020 official festival trailer.

A man wanted to escape. He wanted to stay unaware but he found them all.

One doesn't know where to go but has to move forward. He has to go to his goal.Always transforming himself, his heart and mind drift and run towards the goal when he finds it.

Yukie Nakauchi's musical work using principal percussionist Niel DePonte's "Celebration and Chorale". Yuuki Matsumura was the arranger for the piece.

A burst of cheer and refreshment that it seems perfectly suited to a late July afternoon.

A short kaleidoscopic homage to Norman McLaren from Japanese artists Mirai Mizue and Yukie Nakauchi on the 100th anniversary of birth in 2014.

Increasing in number, small rabbits take care of a great dolphin. Can the dolphin get to sleep by rabbits’ gentle caress? May many people have a good sleep and sweet dreams tonight even in the world with whining sounds and wriggle of yin and yang.

The film is of the memory love and gratitude of the dusty dog, and many other dogs, tracing their senses and memories, dedicating to you who gave love to them.

A story about granny, her granddaughter and a goat.

One day, a boy who separated from his mother’s hand is deprived of his fingers. His fingers become a larva and part from his hand. The house. . . conceal[s] a relationship between the two from anyone. How does the boy who is deprived of his fingers grow up?

Short animated film by Saori Shiroki

Short animation by Saori Shiroki.

When the night comes a woman is taken out from her own body and wakes up in a forest. She starts to play in children's memories.

Short animation by Saori Shiroki.

Short animated film by Ryo Hirano.

Delirious, deeply romantic tale of love and loss featuring a girl, golden nude, and akahara imori newt in a gondola resort. -JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film

Short animated film by Ryo Hirano.

Short animated film by Ryo Hirano.

A space station sanitary worker encounters a bear whose nose was mysteriously cut off by a human.

A yakuza encounters a ghost called Krasue (pronounced Gasoo in English) in Thailand, a flying woman's head with her guts exposed. "Boy meets girl" metamorphoses into "Encounter with another species".

A short animation movie from Kunio Kato

Mysterious lifeforms “Happy Bogeys” appear and change shape and form. Do their mysterious words and actions mean anything? This little gem makes you feel happy.

Futako, a woman made from the remains of fireworks, is fated to explode at the fireworks festival this summer. After spending time with Ichiro, she forgets her role as a firework and is forcibly reincarnated at a special ritual.