A hapless country doctor describes with breathless urgency a night-time summons to attend a young patient. Events soon take on a surreal aspect as “unearthly horses” transport him instantaneously to the bedside. The doctor, preoccupied with personal distractions and grievances against those he is employed to care for, fails to find what is revealed to be a vile, fatal wound. He is humiliated by the villagers, who are “always expecting the impossible from the doctor,” and doomed to an endless return trip, losing everything. (Source: ANN)

Hushed exchanges among the female student populace of Shinyo Academy center around an enigmatic supernatural entity. This entity is Boogiepop, a Shinigami who is rumored to murder people at the height of their beauty before their allure wanes. Few know of his true nature: a guardian who, between periods of dormancy, manifests as the alter ego of a high school girl named Touka Miyashita to fend off “the enemies of the world.” Now, a string of mysterious disappearances—presumed by the school to be merely runaways—has caused Boogiepop to awaken. But somewhere in the academy, a menacing creature hides, waiting for its opportune moment to strike. Boogiepop wa Warawanai subtly explores the intrinsic associations between human beings and their perception of time, while delving into its characters’ complex relationships, emotions, memories, and pasts. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hashtags: Boogiepop wa Warawanai (2019), Boogiepop Never Laughs, Boogiepop Doesn’t Laugh, ブギーポップは笑わない, Boogiepop and Others

Beginning with a photograph of a pinhole camera by photographer Yoshiyasu Suzuka, a detailed abstract animation develops in a jet-black space.

Hidomi Hibajiri is a dissilusioned young girl who never takes off her headphones. Her whole life consists of going to school, helping out at her mother’s cafe, and listening to music. And with nothing else to break the crippling monotony, she keeps her headphones on at all times. That is, until she is run over by a mysterious guitar-wielding woman. That same night, a robot barges into Hidomi’s room along with a boy from her class, Ko Ide, and the kids are chased around town together. They’re saved by the guitar-wielding woman from before, but now Hidomi’s got a horn growing from her forehead? Who knows where these robots are coming from, what kind of vespa woman this weird guitar woman is warning her about, or what this thing on her forehead is, but it doesn’t look like Hidomi is going to be able to ignore all this with headphones! [Written by MAL Rewrite]

For the Takakura family, destiny is an ever-spinning wheel, pointing passionately in their direction with equal tides of joy and sorrow before ticking on to the next wishmaker. With their parents gone, twin brothers Kanba and Shouma live alone with their beloved little sister Himari, whose poor health cannot decline any further. On the day Himari is given permission to temporarily leave the hospital, her brothers take her out to the aquarium to celebrate, where the family’s supposed fate is brought forth with her sudden collapse. However, when Himari is inexplicably revived by a penguin hat from the aquarium’s souvenir shop, the hand of fate continues to tick faithfully forward. With her miraculous recovery, though, comes a cost: there is a new entity within her body, whose condition for keeping her fate at bay sends the boys on a wild goose chase for the mysterious “Penguin Drum.” In their search, the boys will have to follow the threads of fate leading from their own shocking past and into the lives of other wishmakers vying for the Penguin Drum, all hoping to land upon their chosen destiny. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Tenth season of Yami Shibai

Hashtags : Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories Tenth Season, Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories 10 , Theatre of Darkness: Yamishibai 10 , 闇芝居 十期, Yami Shibai 10

For the second time, the masked storyteller returns to tell children tales and legends of horror and woe, such as the tale of a ventriloquist’s dummy, a locker that grants wishes, a capsule toy machine that returns lost possessions, and a strange food called Ominie-san. Building on the foundation that was laid by the first, Yami Shibai 2 is a collection of Japanese scary stories of the unknown and the occult that are truly terrifying, narrated in a style of art that mimics kamishibai storytelling. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Excited children gather around the enigmatic masked Storyteller once more. His unique kamishibai storytelling draws them into tales of fear and dread. These are dark and foreboding stories, which could happen to anyone… This season has tales of a salaryman who buries a dead cat, only to be haunted soon after; a college student and her cheap new apartment that hides a ghastly secret; boys exploring an abandoned haunted house before coming across a strange fish tank; a man who finds himself on the wrong bus, and in more danger than he thought possible; and a young couple’s visit to an amusement park, which suddenly takes a dark turn. All these stories and more await in Yami Shibai 4. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

An experimental film by mareykrap about the color blue. Blue pigment in the natural world is very rare. Instead, what we typically observe is the reflection of blue light waves. How much “true blue” really exists in our world? A series of blue images. Or are they?

She was abused by her father during childhood. Since he left, the pain and anger had begun to fade. One day, unexpectedly, she was struck by a revelation about her father’s life that cast her feelings about him into confusion. (Source: IMDb)

The mysterious, yellow-masked Storyteller is a man whose true name and origin are both unknown. He appears at dusk where children gather and recites sinister tales based on Japanese urban legends, to which his young audience eerily intakes. However, the Storyteller is no ordinary teller of tales. He incorporates a kamishibai, a traditional paper-scrolling device, to add visuals to his already demented narration. A series of short horror stories, Yami Shibai begins with a bachelor who, after moving into a new apartment, immediately starts sensing a malevolent glare being pressed into him. A single talisman rests on his ceiling, but he has no way of knowing it is one of the few safeguards that separate him from a bottomless pit of suffering. Each story is more terrifying, more appalling, and more sickening than the last as the Storyteller’s audience find themselves being sucked into the vicious world of his words. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

An animated archive of imaginary monsters written by a fictitious monsterologist in Medieval Europe. This work depicts the habits of monsters using movement inspired by short phrases such as “Taste of Tears”, “Tamed Wildness”, etc. (Source: Yamamura Animation)

The world of dreams can be an incredible window into the psyche, showing one’s deepest desires, aspirations, and repressed memories. One hopeful tech lab has been developing the “DC Mini,” a device with the power to delve into the dreams of others. Atsuko Chiba and Kosaku Tokita have been tirelessly working to develop this technology with the hopes of using it to deeply explore patients’ minds and help cure them of their psychological disorders. However, having access to the deepest corners of a person’s mind comes with a tremendous responsibility. In the wrong hands, the DC Mini could be used as a form of psychological terrorism and cause mental breakdowns in the minds of targets. When this technology is stolen and people around them start acting strangely, Atsuko and Kosaku know they have a serious problem on their hands. Enlisting the help of Officer Konakawa, who has been receiving this experimental therapy, they search both the real and dream worlds for their mental terrorist. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

In the year 2010, practically one hundred percent of Cat Earth’s GDP comes from the megacorporation Catty & Co., which is rapidly spreading across the rest of the galaxy. Here lives Tamala, a beautiful yet foul-mouthed cat, who decides to travel to the planet of her birth, Orion. After an unfortunate crash landing on the planet Q, Tamala meets Michaelangelo, a fellow cat, whom Tamala refers to as “MoiMoi.” As Tamala and Michaelangelo explore the planet’s capital, Hate City—which is under martial law to separate the feuding cat and dog populations—they pass by graffiti and museum exhibits about the ancient cult of Minerva that speak of something dark and sinister. After Tamala catches the eye of the extremely violent motorcycle-riding Kentauros, she and Michaelangelo flee, but mysteries about Tamala’s identity continue to surface. Why did Tamala originally leave Orion, and what exactly is her connection to Catty & Co.? [Written by MAL Rewrite]

A video game character finds a VR headset on the street.

The 365 days animation consists of sequence of 8760 pictures, all different shape and color, hand-drawn by the director every day in 365 days. This is the ultimate analog approach by the abstract animated film creator in digital era. (Source: IMDb)

A short film by Ryoji Yamada.