A young woman brought a hamster back to her apartment. While watching the cuteness of the hamster was enjoyable, she suddenly recalled her boyfriend she used to have... (Source: ANN)
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In two short minutes of animation, "Egao" tells a short love story that begins with heart-wrenching melancholy and ends with head-scratching confusion. I suppose Makoto Shinkai has always been a master at manipulating emotion. Egao certainly does not evoke this confusion through deep or complex storytelling, however; it falls very much on the opposite side of the spectrum. The problem, rather, is that Shinkai just does not say or do much of anything with it. The story starts on a happy note, the unnamed protagonist enjoying the company of her new hamster, and then it decides to suddenly turn things into a story of unrequitedlove-- Shinkai's trademark, the same theme that has been present in his stories from the beginning and likely until the day he retires from animation. To be fair, watching Egao without being able to understand the lyrics would be something of a disservice, as the lyrics are half the story, and, if a bit trite (how many times have we heard Japanese people sing and praise the beauty of the blue sky?), the most emotionally evocative aspect of the anime. The lyrics make it clear that it is not a story about the hamster, but rather about the protagonist being separated from her lover and, by the end, resolving herself to "never give up" again, seemingly ready to give another go with whoever it is she's thinking about. But so what? Why are we supposed to care? We have no idea why she even decided to change her mind in the first place. It's unreasonable to expect deep characters and storytelling from a two-minute music video, but the least it could have done is use its visuals to detail the protagonist in a deeper way than "I'm sad-- now I'm happy". It comes from nowhere, with her crying in bed and reminiscing about her lover, and somehow ending with a smile on her face despite nothing actually happening. I suppose the hamster lifted her spirits? Or maybe she's just an emotionally unstable and perhaps bipolar person who switches from extreme depression to happiness with the snap of a finger? Your guess is as good as mine. Even with the song itself being as emotional as it is, it's hard to come away with the feeling that Shinkai was actually trying to say anything of importance with this animation. There's nothing to think about, nothing to consider by the end-- it's just two minutes of nothingness with a sad song playing in the background. It could have been something more if it decided to ditch the whole unrequited love theme and focus solely on the company of the hamster, as a way perhaps of encouraging the audience to appreciate the simple things in life. But there is nothing of the sort here. Not even close. It is an admittedly talented artist playing masturbation, content with just being his usual self rather than saying something to his audience. And that's fine to an extent (maybe his friends enjoyed it or something), but the world of criticism isn't always so forgiving. Still, it's nice to see the talent of the industry attempting to tell simple, emotional stories with less tools than the typical film or TV series, even if it doesn't always work out so well. Maybe I'm just silly for expecting quality storytelling from a music video. Hm. At least the hamster was cute.
Again, another short from Shinkai Makoto. First off this isn't really a proper "anime anime" really. It's actually simply a kind of music video for which the art was constructed by Shinkai-san :) . It's a very short special item so there isn't really much to review for it but it is a fairly entertaining item to simply add to your list. Story: Well, it is basically as mentioned above and is about a women and her hamster. Art and Sound: The music itself to which the anime is set is pretty decent. It to me sounds a bit like it could be an opening theme to atv series of some sorts possibly. The art though is pretty gorgeous within the context of the style. Everything is nice and crisp and the hamster looks really cute (although strangely huge for a hamster). Character: Not much to say, not really a 'character-based' anime since it's a music video but the they seem cute enough. Overall: I would say if you've got 2 minutes spare or you fancy a complete collection on your anime list of Shinkai Makoto works then this is something certainly to watch. What have you got to lose? (Plus, it's probably taken the same amount of time to read this review as you would watching the anime :D)
There isn't much to this short really. There is a small story line, but there are only 3 types people who will enjoy this one. 1.) People that adore Makoto Shinkai. 2.) People who liked Hamtaro. A lot. 3.) Moe fans. I belong to the first category, and while this was nothing extraordinary, I can say that watching this short won't be a waste of time.
Shhhh... And listen to the feels. The story was about a woman getting a hamster and him becoming her companion. It's not really an anime but more of a music short. The melody is calming and I listen to this when I'm sad. It's worth a look at and definitely worth your time.
Makoto Shinkai always has a great way of expressing himself and bringing emotion through little shorts. It's more of a music video than an anime but it was very moving and beautiful. Story: 6/10 There isn't much of a story that you can put into a 2 minute short, but it was still very cute and wholesome for what there was. Just a lady and her hamster. Art: 8/10 The art style is very simplistic and messy, but I think this fits the anime perfectly for what it was trying to achieve. I think if it had been more detailed it would have ruined it a little. Sound:10/10 The song that played throughout the short was incredibly touching and very catchy. I will be singing it for weeks now haha!! The melody and the actual lyrics almost brought me to tears. It is an extremely beautiful song and it is sung by an extremely talented lady (Hiromi Iwasaki). Her voice fit perfectly to the setting, it was very calming. I recommend watching this just for the song alone. Character: 6/10 There isn't really much character development to go on, but it doesn't really need it. It is just a lady enjoying spending time with her hamster, with a little upset in the middle. Still, it was very cute and I love the characters even if there isn't much known about them. I think if there was more development, then the plot would have been way too complicated and unnecessary for what it is trying to achieve. Enjoyment; 8/10 This is mostly due to the amazing song and lyrics that played throughout, along with the calming and pretty art style that you don't see a lot of these days. Overall: 7/10 I highly recommend it for anyone who has a couple minutes spare in their day. Beautiful song and animation. Very cute story.
This little film came to be thanks to the Minna no Uta (“Everyone’s Songs") program by NHK and was a way to promote the singer Hiromi Iwasaki. The one who received the task to create a music video for her song “Egao” was none other than Makoto Shinkai. What he produced was a delightful little video about a girl and her newly bought hamster. This complements the already beautiful song extremely well and creates a charming whole. Every now and then I find myself re-watching Egao due to how simplistic it is. If I am to make a wild guess, this marks the only time whereShinkai followed the “simple is better” principle. This really works and has resulted in a short little music video full with honest feelings. And sometimes this is just what you need.
There is something about short anime, music video kind, that gets the best of me. I am a fan of simple, short and sweet and went you have the three combined you get the simple gems like Egao here. The narrative here is honestly something I don't think I captured as I should have. Apparently, there is supposed to be a boyfriend which I was confused about but running over it and it becomes obvious as to what was supposed to be presented. Anyways the execution of this was pretty good, for a music video, it does well in that space of time. They do tendto play with an emotion easily but Egao feels really smoothing rather than flamboyant for no good reason. Came here for Shinkai audiovisual and I am telling you now if I am here a 3rd time then this is some good stuff for sure. I love the basic but captivating animation here accompanied by Hiromi Iwasaki's great singing skills. Genuinely fitting stuff for this music video. I enjoyed this. And you probably will too. As said it is simple, short and sweet, what more do you want from a MV. I would recommend this to anyone too. Probably on the higher end of MV recs I would give to people. Shinkai has always been a manipulative one but I can't say that is a bad thing really. I quite like what he has made, and most others would agree with me.
