obscure anime

The summer / Geu Yeoreum (2023)

A gorgeous, sensual, immersive movie telling a lesbian love story that spans years from school to adulthood. I think it's fair to warn about the eventual breakup, as is the fate of many queer movies. In its defense, the writing's solid, albeit on a subtle side, it doesn't spell things out for you, but, if you like paying attention to the inner workings of the brain, you'll probably enjoy this.

Summer Ghost (2021)

Eiga Daisuki Pompo-san (2021)

A film about filmmaking that manages to sell the video editing process as something thrilling. In spite of their designs, all the characters are mature and grounded.

An ultra rare case of realistic voice acting (there’s a loli-looking character that doesn’t shriek!), unobtrusive ost, the final track matches the culmination of the plot in its intensity, and blends with the visuals just so well.

And yes, VISUALS! Generous animation, pretty backgrounds, creative scene transitions/cuts. The mc of this movie must waste no time in his work, and the movie itself doesn’t waste your time. A lot of lovely, snappy visual storytelling.

Cider no You ni Kotoba ga Wakiagaru (2021)

Freshly aired anime on a blog showcasing obscure titles? Yep. I barely saw anyone talking about it, but it has:

✓ Good character designs ✓ Lovely, fluid animation ✓ Brave colors ✓ Pleasant ost and sound design ✓ Well-told, lighthearted story

Punch Line (2015)

Rolling Girls (2015)

I put these in a single post not just because they're both from 2015, in my eyes they’re similar in many aspects, one of them being sad and miserable: they go from 100 to 0. It’s an important disclaimer to make, imo.

These shows have flopped hard, both in terms of visuals and story. Now that you’ve been warned, you may feel free to either move on, or take them for what they are, and enjoy the good parts. Which ARE there. Even after all these years, these titles have a special place in my heart, just for how gorgeous their first episodes are, how hyped I was to see more of that fascinating superhero badassery.. Yeah, both shows feature superheroes, the hot shit during that time, if you remember the HeroAca manga.

Rolling Girls OP also has a super catchy song that I never skipped and sang along :’D

Hells (2008)

Tokyo Marble Chocolate (2007)

Two episodes showing the same events, a date turned into disaster, through the girl’s and the boy’s eyes. All’s extremely simple: their characters, feelings, story itself. There’s one little catch that makes you like these two: they’re clumsy and awkward in the most endearing way! Moreover, focus on close-ups makes everything feel personal and warm. Quite impressive art style, decent animation for such a format and age.

Okko’s inn (2018)

A non-ghibli “ghibli movie” about people’s relationships with life, loss and imaginary friends (of sorts).

Haibane Renmei (2002)

As I’ve started talking about Yoshitoshi ABe’s works, gotta mention this one as well, for not only being a state-of-art work, but also somewhat influencing my art style.

It’s a sorta slice of life of the unusual people in a mysterious world. The nature and history of the characters we constantly see on the screen isn’t fully explained and is up to interpretation and analysis. It’s Deep (tm). Don’t let the cutesy looks fool you. It’s also bizarre, with a few graphic/bloody scenes which may disturb you, take it as a warning. But it doesn’t focus on that.

NieA under 7 (2000)

A deliciously slow paced, grounded, oldschool slice of life focusing, but not limiting itself on the story of a piss poor, hardworking student and an eccentric, “defective” alien. A balanced mix of comedy, drama and peace.