Kakurenbo: Hide and Seek (2005)

A young boy named Hikora enters the ruins of a forbidden city with a group of other children to play "Otokoyo" (a game of hide-and-seek where the players are said to be kidnapped by ghosts and demons) to find his missing sister.

Director:

Shuhei Morita

Writers:

Shiro Kuro (screenplay), Shiro Kuro (story),

Stars:

Dan Green, Mika Ishibashi, Akiko Kobayashi

Cast

Credited cast:
Dan Green	...	Yaimao (voice)
Mika Ishibashi	...	Tachiji (voice)
Akiko Kobayashi	...	Suku (voice)
Rei Naito	...	Noshiga (voice)
Rei Saito	...	Noshiga (voice)
Sean Schemmel	...	Noshiga (voice)
Michael Sinterniklaas	...	Hikora (voice)
Masami Suzuki	...	Sorincha (voice)
Junko Takeuchi	...	Hikora (voice)
Veronica Taylor	...	Suku (voice)
Makoto Ueki	...	Yaimao (voice)
Tom Wayland	...	Tachiji (voice)

Storyline

In a street where no one lives, there is a rumor saying that if you play the game 'Otokoyo', or hide and seek after dark, demons will come and take you away. One night, 8 children play the game, each for their own reasons. A boy named Hikora has joined in search of his missing sister who played the game last. But when the game does begin, it becomes apparent that the rumors were true, and that children do get taken away, and Hikora discovers the fate of the one who is "it".

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Plot Keywords:

hide and seek | kakurenbo

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Taglines:

Ready or not...here they come

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

26 October 2007 (Japan)

Also Known As:

KakuRemBo

Company Credits

Production Co:

D.A.C., YamatoWorks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Jambareeqi Reviews: Kakurenbo (2012)

User Reviews

Kakurenbo: Beautiful but ....

The graphics are amazing. The characters are well spoken. The storyline... well...

The issue is not the story itself but the lack of structure with such a short film. Had this been the start of a series than perhaps it would make more sense as you would expect to get the rest of the information needed to answer the many questions you are left with in the end throughout the series.

Kakurenbo: Hide and Seek is a story of a young boy who is looking for his sister who went missing playing a game of demonic hide and seek. Why are children playing this game at night and where are their parents? What is the motivation to play it in the first place? For three of the children it was the adventure, for one other it was the need to find his sibling, however, what about the other three? You are not told this nor are you told why children knowingly go and play after hearing of all the children that have gone missing before them.

The ending was not much of a surprise but the very last images in the last scene left you thinking a new game had started. There is no explanation as to why it was starting over nor what happened to the winner that passes on the mask. Did she get to go home? What saves this movie is the beautiful graphics. The story is well told, what there is of one, and it does have a haunting feeling of a story that would be told by a campfire or on Halloween.

I do recommend watching it for yourself but do not have expectations that you are getting a full story as it ends up feeling more like a clip from a full length film that never came to fruition.