Anime: Shiranpuri

Posted by everworld on August 23, 2012 · 4 Comments 

The last anime work in the 2011 Young Animator Training Project. Shiranpuri means minding my own business and is a story about bullying and how the protagonist minds his own business even as he sees his classmate being bullied. It’s set apart from the other anime works in the project by its design. They look like crayon drawings by a child and serves to bring the story across in an almost child-like manner.

I enjoyed watching it. The story is something that has been portrayed countless times before. The theme of bullying is not new to the anime world, and yet as the title suggests what makes this different is the fact that the main character minds his own business instead of standing up to the bullies. We see the bullying from a very different perspective. There is no hero that’s going to save the victim, instead we look at the conflict the bystanders go through as they see the bullying take place. We see why they wouldn’t step in and we see a chain of events that leads to a change in the main character.

This anime work is good, because it focuses on just one character and allows that character to grow and to shine. We’re so used to anime that seem to have more than one main character, but to just tell a story from one person’s point of view is a very powerful way of getting the story across.

This anime felt a little like an experiment. From the distinctive style to the way the story was told. It’s all new and different and there’s no clue as to whether the audience would like it. I for one, did appreciate it, but what about you? Would you watch an entire anime series with this kind of art style and storytelling?

Filed under Anime & Manga · Tagged with 2011 Young Animator Training Project, Anime, review, Young Animator Training Project