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The film is set in a location loosely inspired by Pakistan, telling the story of young Vincent and his father Tomas, who run the finest glass workshop in the country and find their lives upended by an approaching war in which they want no part. The arrival in their town of an army colonel and his young talented, violinist daughter, Alliz, shakes their reality and tests the relationship between father and son.

Made by Mano Animation Studios and directed by Usman Riaz, it will be Pakistan's first hand-drawn animated feature film. It will be premiering at Annecy International this year. And I am beyond excited.

I don't want to compare it to Studio Ghibli exclusively as I expect it will stand enough on its own, but for the sake of this post it is worth noting that someone has tried to follow Miyazaki's traditional framework here. The anime inspired visuals, the gorgeous lighting and backgrounds, political themes within its story (what it's like to be an artist in times of war), as well as worldbuilding and folklore that pulls from the rich culture of the country that's creating the film.

Strongly encourage keeping an eye on this one.

It's very anti war.

And also the animation's extremely good.

Both movies are very strongly inspired by Ghibli movies, and the first movie's vibes are very Ponyo specifically (in how normal random humans are portrayed) with quite a bit of top notch shonen anime style fight scenes.

It's actually about a little nature spirit in the form of a catboy, who lost his home to human expansion and is trying to find a new home.

The second one's more of a mystery on who exactly is pulling the strings on this conflict and War Is Bad.

There's also a webseries that's got a much less serious tone, but still has the same kind of fast paced fight scenes and environmental themes.

As soon as the dowels we mail ordered come in.