Do you remember the feeling of trying to come up with an opinion on something like, say FLCL, after watching it for the first time? It's sort of hard to pin down with the right words. It isn't something you have seen before beyond that it is something new. There just wasn't anything comparable in which a comparison with that thing gives insight into the essence of the new anime. That is sort of like Cencoroll. It is new, and sort of original-sort of not. Ultimately, it feels fresh as if you've never seen something quite like it.
Cencoroll stands on the shoulders of giants. By that I mean it takes a lot of cues--things done right from other animated works--in its characterization, setting and visuals. Unfortunately, because it stands on the shoulders of giants, you can compare it to the giants it stands on. For example, FLCL. And at least from some superficial level, it is very much like FLCL. If you are reading this in order to gauge Cencoroll before you watch it, I think "FLCL level" is about the right level of expectation going in, just in case you want to be slightly disappointed but appropriately amused.
Read on for a thorough breakdown...
Cencoroll
Creator: Atsuya Uki
Publisher: Aniplex
Original Release Date: August 22, 2009
Atsuya Uki is the man behind Cencoroll. If you want to give this show a break when your friends finished watching this 30-minute film, entertained but fighting the vague feeling of something is missing, you can tell your friends that all the animation was done by this one guy. That in itself is an impressive feat no matter how you slice it, but at the same time I wished Uki had a team of veteran animators to work with, so to improve the direction or animation in certain spots.
The story to Cencoroll is not very important, but at any rate a girl meets a boy and his not-so-little toy (called Cenco). Another boy wants Cenco, because it seems the second boy's toys can use Cenco's powers once his toys eat Cenco, or something. Again, the unimportant plot device is largely just to set up some odd-ish, awesome-ish scenes where the boys' toys--white, massive-looking blobs with eyes and mouths--transform into different objects and rolls around in the dreary but detailed cityscape that dominates the post-Boogiepop generation of anime settings, for lack of better words.
What impressed me the most was how Uki was able to express so much with the way Cenco moves, the way Cenco projects disdain for his master's requests through his eyes, and how the white blobs convey the idea of moving mass so well. To me that was worth the price of admission alone. The very first full-on fight scene was creatively scripted with some neat camera angles that show off how creative it was the way Cenco transforms from one thing to another in the course of the action scene.
The other notable name in Cencoroll is Supercell, who is known for their top-selling Hatsune Miku album earlier this year. Ryo is responsible for the music in Cencoroll and the ending theme couples his music with Gazelle, a notable Nicovideo singer. Surprisingly, the film is rather devoid of music besides the appropriate electronica that pops in during some key segments, giving the whole thing good contrast.
I was able to catch the film at NYAF this year. Big thanks to Aniplex for bringing it over and all the NYAF folks who made it possible! At the Aniplex panel I confirmed with Hiroe Tsukamoto, the marketing director for Aniplex USA, that in the case where Cencoroll have a very positive reception, it may go ahead with a full series. That much is really not great news, but the product between the talented Uki and a capable animation team would be quite the thing to see. Sadly, it's still unclear if there will be a release of Cencoroll in the US.
[Art by Route 12.]
9 comments
Atsuya Uki's talent reminds me of Makoto Shinkai albeit in a different genre here. It's sad though that this short seems like a prelude and there is no follow-up that I am aware of. A must watch nonetheless.