A theory of mine is that advances in digital technology and the Internet can really help independently-produced films from the smaller animation studios. Viral marketing, fansites and blogs have produced some surprising success stories in recent years; similarly the mind-boggling leaps in hardware and software mean that small groups or even individuals can further their careers on realistic budgets in ways that were inconceivable a decade ago.
Atsuya Uki’s debut feature Cencoroll fits into this trend in that he’s produced a short film based on his award-winning manga short Amon Game with minimal outside assistance. While he’s hardly the first one to take this route it has its own quirky charm that really grew on me; it’s one of those one-shot home-grown oddities whose indie roots are not necessarily detrimental to their quality, and benefit greatly from online fan exposure for their success. Granted, it’s not *quite* what I expected it to be but even aside from the ‘one bloke made this’ angle, it shows a hell of a lot of promise.
At first glance the premise of kids fighting turf wars in Tokyo with the aid of alien-looking monsters isn’t an original idea, and in less than half an hour it goes without saying that there’s a lot left open and unexplored from the narrative standpoint too. The character designs are simple and the organic, amorphous appearance of the creatures owes a lot to the likes of FLCL and Xam’d. Although Uki has clearly drawn a lot of inspiration from a few of the modern classics from Gainax and the like, he’s learned his lessons well. There’s a great sense of fluidity and immediacy as two nondescript lumps of cel-rendered goop shift shape and do battle in the streets and on top of buildings – it’s been a while since I saw anything remotely like this.
The smaller details shine through for me: the Cenco of the title has no dialogue (his handler/owner isn’t the outgoing type either, come to that) but his malleable and animated physical form compensates for this. Anyone who’s seen Nick Park’s Wallace and Gromit will know how an animated character can convey plenty of emotion from facial expressions alone – moments such as a reproachful eye behind an impressive impersonation of a family hatchback’s headlamp gives personality to a formless mass.
Their ability to transform for concealment or to improve their combat ability is both entertaining – such as the giant pudding scene – and chock-full of potential for further outings where the storyline has time to get off the ground. The mechanics of the relationship between monster and keeper is a mine of creativity ready to be tapped and one particularly brutal moment towards the end was a bit of a shock when everything seemed so playful and harmless.
‘Potential’ is the main thing that popped into my head during the film’s duration, such as the idea of kids controlling transforming creatures with an ahoge antenna and the place they share in society as a whole. It’s intriguing how the general public are largely unconcerned about their presence and the havoc they can cause: Yuki starts talking to Tetsu because of Cenco, but she sees it as an unusual pet rather than something really weird. Similarly Tetsu’s attitude is noticeably aloof and downplayed, which suggests that Yuki’s new friend and his battling blob have a backstory that’s waiting to be filled in.
I’m glad that Uki took the opportunity to animate this because Cenco flying into action in front of a wonderfully quirky watercolour backdrop is something that works remarkably well in the animated medium. Sadly the same cannot be said of the characters, who are remarkably expressive but are somewhat lacking in chemistry and offer no departure from what fans have seen before. Again, there is plenty of room to flesh them out and give them room to breathe at a later date but you won’t find it here.
There’s a sense that Cencoroll is a pilot episode because it’s brimming over with cool ideas and considering the humble origins the animation quality can stand up well next to made-for-TV series. I can’t shake off the feeling that there’s the start of something truly extraordinary in here: there’s imagination, humour and the beginnings of moving character dynamics, but there simply isn’t time to bring them to fruition.
There’s also a lo-fi, rough-around-the-edges feel to it too; probably unintentional because I doubt a director would give an unfinished product general release when it’s a labour of love, free from time constraints of mainstream features. While little details are rendered so wonderfully it doesn’t have a strong narrative flow; perhaps Uki would would be more comfortable with a small team working under him a la Studio Rikka to polish up the storyboards and script. Again, it’s working towards something great but feels like one draft away from being truly groundbreaking.
The music on the other hand grabs your attention straight away: before Ryo and Supercell wrote the end theme for Bakemonogatari they’d done some wonderful things with the Vocaloid software (check out the tunes for Hatsune Miku: Project Diva on the PSP and you’ll see where I’m coming from) and it works a treat here. Between the sparing yet effective use of music and some well-known VA talent, there’s a surprising amount riding on this one so I’m willing it to succeed.
I don’t want to speak too harshly of Cencoroll when its short running time meets its modest goals of being offbeat and fun, and of course when it’s another one of those solo efforts by a virtually unknown name. I was left thinking, “yes, it’s good, but it’s a bit short, isn’t it?” But then, I remember feeling the same way about Hoshi no Koe and Pale Cocoon too once upon a time. Just saying.
I loved Cencoroll! I have the impression that we just waited too long for the film to come out and then it turned out to be so short which disappointed a lot of people. After I watched it, I felt like it had quite a nice closure and even though it would be nice if it could be expanded into an actual series, I don’t mind its shortness.
I thought it did what it set out to do fine, but didn’t feel as ‘whole’ as Shinkai’s and yoshiura’s one-offs. Guess we’ve been a bit spoiled really!
I enjoyed it very much too, probably didn’t like it as much as you did, but still pretty good watch (rated it 7/10 on MAL). I’ve watched a fair share of shorts and short stories in anime, ranging from 1 minute to something like 30 minutes, and it is possible to be blown away during that duration, and Cencoroll didn’t connect with me at that level. It was certainly unique on visual front though, no doubt about that. Perhaps it was just this nagging feeling that you’ve described so well here:
“I can’t shake off the feeling that there’s the start of something truly extraordinary in here: there’s imagination, humour and the beginnings of moving character dynamics, but there simply isn’t time to bring them to fruition.”
So it works well as a pilot episode because of all the potential, excitement and anticipation (for his next works) it generates, but I would be lying if I was guilty of being hyped and desired stronger impact, similar to stronger shorts I’ve watched before. Bleh, maybe I’m just becoming jaded from watching too weird things -__-
I gave it a 7 too, funnily enough. I wonder if the hype was what’s at fault here…?
I actually felt the chemistry between the two leads was quite good, given the length.
I still don’t understand why everyone’s sounding so crestfallen about CENCOROLL. I wasn’t expecting it to smash the world’s shell or anything silly like that; I can understand if it was hype and heightened-expectations burnout, though. Plus I tend to feel like I should cheer on the independent underdogs like this, and give them congratulations instead of censure. But perhaps I simply do not appreciate the finer points of artistry and artisanship that are so prominent to everyone else.
Odd, random question: “At first glance the premise of kids fighting turf wars in Tokyo with the aid of alien-looking monsters isn’t an original idea” <– Is this really the first thought that runs through people's heads when they hear about CENCOROLL? Do similar thoughts run through people's heads for nearly everything else, as though it all comes pre-loaded with a strike against it (some assembly required, quality not included)?
Those people are weird.
“Do similar thoughts run through people’s heads for nearly everything else, as though it all comes pre-loaded with a strike against it (some assembly required, quality not included)?”
Yes, these people exist and yes, they’re weird. Sadly there’s a lot of them from what I’ve seen in the past. I hope stuff like Cencoroll can set them straight!
It does seem like Cencoroll shows the best and the worst of the online hype machine – building excitement for a young unknown, but also seemingly spoiling people’s enjoyment of a straight-up pilot episode. What I found appealing was the way it matched a normalish episodic anime premise with vaguely filmic storytelling – even when the action got large-scale toward to climax the emotions were somewhat muted (nicely summed up here: http://tsuzukusekai.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/love-and-cencoroll/), as if it were the earlier stages of a 90 minute film. That lack of ostentatiousness will surely stop it from achieving Pale Cocoon type status, it also made it seem a great deal classier than your average 25 minute action anime episode.
yea that sums up nicely, I think. I don’t think people were ‘crestfallen’ as OGT is trying to make it out to be, since many of us enjoyed it greatly. Perhaps it wasn’t groundbreaking like lot of us were expecting, but that’s ok since it still works well as a pilot episode, a very good effort by one man nonetheless, even if it falls bit short compared to better ones out there.
You’ll have to forgive my confusion; I’m not used to “enjoyed it greatly” being three words in a 500-word complaint about what is ostensibly being enjoyed.
I don’t want to continue this discussion any longer in Martin’s post, so I’ll just note that many of us here expressed how we ‘greatly enjoyed’ Cencoroll, but also its lack of impact, and that feeling of wanting more. Criticisms or complaints, call them what you want, but please don’t get confused about the fact that we still enjoyed it (even if you are not used to such a concept). Apologies to Martin, I’ll just stop here.
Don’t worry about keeping the discussion going, guys. I just altered the nesting settings so they go ten deep now. It sounds like just a misunderstanding in this case though!
I have some of my own thoughts about Cencoroll, which I’ll be writing a bit later.
I think you’re totally right, though. By the end, with the changes that occur between Yuki, Tetsu and Cenco, I’d love to have seen what happens. You say they didn’t develop much chemistry, but I think Yuki has the potential to be an incredible heroine, and for once the guy would be in a support role. That in itself is rather novel.
It could be so interesting… Alas.
Nice post, 2DT. I’ll reply to your thoughts on your blog when I get a spare few minutes!
It was a piece full of promise and potential, but I too felt it left me hanging, wanting much, much more. I haven’t seen Pale Cocoon yet, but I remember Voices of a Distant Star, where a whole, complete story was told in a similar short time frame, and not only did it work structurally, many of us were blown away by its artistry. Like coburn said, Cencoroll feels so much like just the intro episode to a much grander tale. Maybe that’s what you need to do to sell an original concept if you’re a complete unknown, and hopefully we’ll all be able to come back here in the future and say how this was the beginning of something great, instead of an incomplete short “full of promise and potential”.
I suspect this is just a springboard to propel the director onto bigger and even better things, but I’d like to see this particular piece continue in some form too. Maybe he’ll get more animation work off the publicity from this, then continue it in graphic novel format or something.
I saw this at NYAF this year. I sat in the back and was too short to actually get a good look at it. Will have to watch again. XD
Y’know, it’s probably good to rewatch this one. I spotted loads of little details when getting screencaps that I missed first time around!