Sing In My Own Way

Most of us sometimes think of what would've been if one had done something, however, overwhelmed with the amount of possibilities we eventually give up on thinking about it. Kyousuke Sugimoto, awarded with Tokyo Anime Award for "The TV Show" - a music video he uploaded on his YT channel, strikes again with another self-made anime short, which tries to pursue this subject, and ends up proving it is... indeed pointless. Story - 9/10 As it is not written in Anime description, Korekuraide Utau ("Singing my own way") show us what could be an answer to the question I mentioned earlier. It's really original trick -we are told 6 (or even more!) alternate stories in what seems to be a single one. However, alternate "universes" merge in the end creating chaos similar to one seen in "The TV Show". Anime shows now quite an optimistic or pessimistic vision - all the stories have a common ending. So no matter what would we do, we'll eventually end up with the same final (or our day will suck anyway, not to think too positively). I should also mention that the video contains some nice background bonuses - there's even one whole story shown in backgrounds only. It makes more attentive viewers watch it many times to notice everything. That makes 6 min video a fun to spend a hour on it (or even more - especially if you like the music). The final is, in my book, quite funny and unexpected as well. Just as it was meant to be. Characters - 8/10 Despite having only these 6 minutes of screen time and no dialogues the main character can define "multi-layered personality". Why? It's simple - because each story shows him making various choices in various situations. So that we can see geek, romanticist, sanguine, melancholic, an impatient and an unlucky guy etc. The main ones (except for the very main character) also play various instruments used in the song, which is nice thing considering the fact they somehow mirror their personalities. The other characters aren't that good however, but I don't think they have to be. They are just to act they respective roles, not make the story a play of one actor. Art & Sound - 9/10 Well, Korekuraide Utau is in fact a music video to begin with, so it's hard to expect more or less from BGM than to exist and be played all the way long. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned, that it's almost completely unrelated to the video itself. There is only a few connections, but still not direct, and, as far as I'm concerned, not essential. The song itself is not very amusing, but not bad either, piece by Handsome Kenya under the same title as anime, of course. Speaking of art, we can see unusual style here, resembling pure hand drawing. Also, as I mentioned before backgrounds are full of details and hidden secrets such as other stories characters. They are really well-drawn too. Sugimoto definitely did a great job here. Enjoyment & Other Aspects - 8/10 Moving to next aspect I definitely enjoyed it. The humour is fairly good and there's something that holds you before screen. Since the whole thing is really short you won't waste too much of your time if you don't like it, and if you do, you can rewatch it as many times as you wish, and it will be interesting. You may already expect me to mention backgrounds again, but these aren't only things that make you rewatch. You may, and probably will, enjoy rewatching the very combination of stories, following each of protagonist's alter egos. However, if you are expecting something deep, with meaning or philosophy, you'd better look for it somewhere else. Final Thoughts: This anime is only 6 minutes long, so if you haven't seen it yet, why not give it a try? I can assure you won't be dissatisfied. Final Grade: 8.5 => 9 of 10

This is something unique, just like the rest of the creator's works. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the music just had me swaying back and forth, I especially love the art. Story- So, it's basically seems to be a story about a somewhat nerdy guy who looks like he's recording a song, he meets a girl and immediately falls for her it seems. It's a very silly, but happy video to watch. Art- I love love love the art. It's very unique and sort of reminds me of the art that's used on the album covers for the Gorillaz, except much less scary. XD Sound- Considering it's a musicvideo, it really does depend on what you're into for liking this song. I myself enjoyed it, because it seemed very catchy to me and i'm humming the song itself right now as i'm typing this. Enjoyment- I very much enjoyed this and would gladly watch it again to brighten up my day, it's definately worth sitting through all 7 minutes. Overall- I give it a 9/10. This didn't count to me as a masterpiece because even though it was fun to watch and the song itself was catchy, the song didn't seem to have that much of an emotional meaning to me. ( maybe it's because I don't speak japanese XD ) So yeah, I definately recommend sitting down for 7 minutes and watching this, you won't be disappointed.