Modest Heroes

I don't understand the low reviews. I found these shorts adorable, heartfelt, well-animated, and full of life with the limited time granted. I particularly loved the design of the crab characters from the first episode, the invisible man from the last, and the fact that almost no words were needed in either to create a moving piece of work. I'd highly recommend to anyone that likes heartfelt shorts. While none of the stories are particularly unique, that's a big part of the charm. The art style varies from story to story and I found it especially fitting. The only story I found a bit lackingwas the middle one.

Appearance and technicality is not everything in an anime : These 3 short movies produced by the Studio Ponoc seems more a beautiful technical demonstration of the studio pure animation capabilities than real narrative works, in-depth reflections or compelling/original stories. The first one is a mildly fantastic family friendly scenario with superficial events, classic stereotypes and extremely predictable outcomes. The second one is an ordinary slice of life story about allergy. The last one which seems at first the most original of the three was obviously inspired by John Carpenter's version of the Invisible Man and ends up in an ordinary fashion instead of bending tothe mystical symbolism or spiritual side (which would have been more interesting to my opinion). Therefore, everything looks like very superficial and do not offer much aside from the beauty of the drawing, lighting and animation. When compared to other Japanese short movies such as "Memories" and "Neo Tokyo - Manie Manie", or simply recent anime series such as "Mob Psycho 100" or "Mushishi" which features unusual scenario, strange and disturbing symbolism, ambivalent emotion, and unpredictable events (and beautiful animation as well) you can realize the huge difference in terms of narrative and reflective qualities. Therefore, unless you are interested solely in animation technical details, I do not recommend watching these very ordinary and somewhat trivial short movies.

"Chiisana Eiyuu: Kani to Tamago to Toumei Ningen (Modest Heroes)" is Studio Ponac's second movie project after their debut film, "Mary to Majo no Hana (Mary and the Witch's Flower)". The film is a collection of three non sequential shorts that each tell a unique story about a heroic character and his or her respective journey. "Modest Heroes" is obviously not going to beat "Mary and the Witch's Flower", but it's still an enjoyable watch and it did certainly kept me interested the whole way through. Short One: "Kanini & Kanino" "Kanini & Kanino" surrounds the tale of two crab siblings whose life of living underwater becomesdrastically different when their pregnant mother goes to the surface to give birth, leaving only their father to protect them from the dangers of the river. One night, one of the siblings attempts to travel to the surface, only for something dramatic to occur, ultimately leaving the two siblings to fend for themselves in the vast river environment. I can't really say much about the short. I enjoyed the visuals way more than the characters or the plot, with its fantastic blend of 2D animation with splashes of CGI for the river environment that is eye-catchingly beautiful to say the least (despite the CGI fish, but whatever). I'm not really invested in Kanini or Kanino, as forgettable as they are, and the fact that the short doesn't have any dialog hurts their dynamics as a whole. For the story and characters to be lacking in depth, the visual did make up for it to be considered for an enjoyable one-time watch. Short Two: "Life Ain't Gonna Lose" "Life Ain't Gonna Lose" is about the relationship between a mother and her son, Shun, who has a severe egg allergy that in-contact, could cause a life-threatening case in which Shun only has minutes to live. The short is based off a true story (claimed by the director) and it does a pretty good job keeping me interested in the characters and how they deal with Shun's condition. The mother is overly protected of Shun and tries her hardest to protect him from any harm, just to amend for all the times that she isn't there for him. Shun himself quickly learns to stay strong and formidable despite his unfortunate state and is eager to overcome any obstacles in his life to prove that he isn't frail and weak. The characters in this short are way more realistic and the hand-drawn artstyle complements it by having a sort of nostalgic feel, reminiscent of a children's storybook. The animation is fluid and the movements are more expressive that doesn't distract you from the overall atmosphere of the short. The intriguing aesthetic and the lovable character makes this short exceedingly enjoyable for anybody to enjoy, and this, along with the next short, produces a well crafted compilation if it weren't for the first short. Short Three: "Invisible" "Invisible" contains an interesting and ingenious concept that is explored in a very creative way. The short follows an invisible man, whom others cannot see. The man is required to carry a heavy object since he could easily be carried by a gust of wind without it. The short basically surrounds a day of his life, in which he ponders about his identity in life and his struggle of loneliness. What makes the short especially unique is through several brilliant action-packed moments that is exemplified by the gripping animation and the spectacular choreographer of the whole segment. Aesthetically, the short is bleak and almost depressing with its dimmed colors and almost dreary tone that sets it apart from the bright and colorful visuals of the previous two shorts. The Invisible-Man himself carries a dispirited mood that I can't help but feel sympathetic for. These design choices overall make the conclusion of the short extremely satisfying and makes the whole experience well-worth the watch. So what can I say? Studio Ponac did a fine job producing these shorts and I highly recommend this to those who are fans of their previous film. Creatively impressive and tremendously entertaining, "Modest Heroes" is huge step for Studio Ponac to work with other directors and their consistency in quality has me anxiously waiting for their next project.

Modest Heroes is 3 shorts film by the newly formed studio Ponoc, former Ghibli employees. These 3 shorts films give us a much better indication of how Ponoc films are going to be different from Ghibli. I first have to say some sad news if your wondering ( probably not) why is this film so short like it doesn't even reach an hour all together well sadly this was supposed to have a 4 short film directed from the legendary late Isao Takahata for a personal reason or to give these new directors more exposure. Also got to give credit to Yoshiaki Nishimurathe producer and is the only reason why this studio was formed giving these animators a chance to show off their abilities. 1st Short directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi definitely the most established director out of the 3 directing two films from Ghibli " The Secret World of Arrietty " and "When Marnie Was There" plus the debut film of this studio "Mary and the Witch's Flower". Plus he a veteran animator some of his best works in animation was Ponyo where she was running on the water catching up with the car... Unfortunately, this is weirdly the weakest film out of the 3. It doesn't feel as intimate and personal than the other two felt for the directors ( how I see it). However, what this man is really known for is his expectational background work how he characterises his surroundings. They is a youtube video that does a solid job describing it but basically, his backgrounds is a reflection of characters attitude. it shows the rawness of the sea how its not only beautiful but dark and scary due to pollution ( not hamfisted) its easily done from symbolism. Unfortunately, the characters for me is really that effective however you got to appreciate its animation and making up a language. When watching i thought was watching the Japanese version however i was incorrect it just a made up language and its brilliant through characters expression you pretty much understand everything you need to know. The blend of CGI and 2D is usually hated for good reason as its uncanny however similar to Metropolis from Osamu Tezuka's the mix between the two is pretty good, however some moments it is noticeable. Takatsugu Muramatsu did the music i ain't much a critic of music however its really good his past work was all this directors film except The Secret World of Arrietty however the sync between the two is great two artistic complementing each other. I feel like this 18 minute short should have at least been 30 minutes for a good introduction however its still worth watching. A 2nd Short well this one is fantastic but first the director for this one named Yoshiyuki Momose a veteran Ghibli animator work since Grave of the Fireflies by Isao Takahata. This man done severely great key animations you just got to search it up, however for directing he's also just been doing music videos, specials ... hasn't really got too much experience directing however animation he's a champ. Lol sorry for long set up anyways this film is about a kid dealing with food allergies. Its also about a mother dealing with these circumstances and teaching her son the right ways. Honestly thinking about it truly sad like going to festivals bunch of food around you and if some accidents go on ur mouth you could die ... They some interesting circumstance with the mother, however the short doesn't showcase it for too long however really looking at it it's kinda sad about how a child can affect ur dream career ( however maybe that's looking too deep into it). I don't want to give anyone spoilers as you know its 18 minutes each so i won't. However, will go little more in depth. The animation is excellent that's a given but holy damn they is like one section where people are dancing and honestly reminded me of the animation style of Princess Kaguya. Anyways less said about animation the better but visually it reminds me of those flashbacks in Only Yesterday well it does make sense as he did storyboard the movie. Ohh yeah the English dub is excellent highly recommend and the facial animation is truly top notch maybe not as good as Only Yesterday ( best facial animation in anime period fight me lol) however comparing a legendary film to this is unfair. its basically maybe just about standard Ghibli ( which is a truly high bar) definitely better than Kyoto Animation. Also last note is the music is done by Masanori Shimada is i think his first music in anime however has tremendous talent can't wait for him to be apart of more projects in the future. 3rd and final short directed by Akihiko Yamashita which is my favorite film out of the bunch however strangest. His credits is impressive Animator director from From Up on Poppy Hill, Howl's Moving Castle, The Secret World of Arrietty ... done alot of key animation like Evangelion: 2.0, Spirited Away ... he got an impressive career however in this directorial not so much only a small 13minute short for the Ghibli museum which is like impossible to access. They aren't really a lot of to be said for this one because they aren't really a plot of a sort. It's about an invisible man I think literally and figuratively. I won't really talk about the plot as its something you just have to experience. The animation is the most fantasizing out of the 3, due to the main protagonist being an invisble man. They is an end sequence which is just epic.... the use of color is excellent and how the background is kinda a reflection on the main protagonist mindset everything being a kinda greyish hue. The cinematography is spot on and the camera work is damn impressive. Yasutaka Nakata the person who did the music did an excellent job can't really commend on more. Conclusion these 3 shorts are pretty good, considering how mediocre anime has been becoming this is definitely a breath of fresh air. I wish the success for this studio and live up to Ghibli legacy as i assume after Hayao Miyazaki last film How Do You Live? ( however its miyazaki he probaly never retire at this point lol). Anyways hope you check out these 3 shorts by any means possible as these shorts aren't really for the money basically giving the studio exposure where the money rake in will be the studio next big project.