Despair of the Monster

絶望の怪物

5.77(1K votes)

Ranked #11985Popularity #12947

episodes

Type

Movie

Status

Finished Airing

Aired

Jun 10, 2019

DramaHorror

Synopsis

A story about fourteen-year-old alien girl Aoi Hoshino. Her family uses certain medicine to disguise themselves as humans. For some reason the medicine slowly stops working, but only on Aoi... (Source: Official Website, edited)

1,827 Members

Worth Watching? — Global Verdict

6.0/10

Average Review Score

50%

Recommend It

Reviews Worldwide

International Reviews

delta5

Mixed Feelings

This is an incredibly sad short film about the impossibility of belonging in a society that will never accept your existence as you truly are. It's frequently described as a horror anime, but if you're looking for scares or gore this short film won't offer any of that. It will, however, probably make you pause for a bit and consider what you just experienced. I really appreciated that the whole creative team behind this story committed to a very specific vision, one that isn't likely to appeal to a broad audience. The music is simple but evocative, and it complements the melancholy story quite well.I'm glad I took a chance on this. I will, however, say that the animation is woefully subpar on every level. Please don't let that dissuade you from giving the movie a chance. I would, however, say that I would have increased my score if it didn't look so cheaply done. That being said, I hope that the people who worked on this get much better funding in the future. They deserve it.

14 found helpfulApr 5, 2023

loreeellaii

Community Discussion

Look, I quite enjoyed it, but if you're somebody who can't watch something with obvious production problems, don't watch it. My opinion here is that this anime film would be awesome either as a short series or a longer movie -- 30 minutes isn't enough to really flesh it out and hit those sad beats in time. And that's a good thing -- that means your story is very well-written, and it is. The story seems like it could've been based on a short story somewhere, it's almost Edgar-Allen Poe meets aliens. It's a tragedy, through and through. I wouldn't be surprised if the director was themain person who carefully constructed this narrative, but they obviously have talent. The pacing wasn't horrible, but like I said, if it was longer, I feel it would've been better. On the other hand, making the film longer would require more production, and it feels as though they were hurting for money. Valid issue. Yeah, there's not much to say other than that. The story's great, but if you can't watch something unless it's super high-quality, don't waste your time.