Japanese films from before 1920 are very rare. Japanese animation from that period? This is the second example I have seen. It's a bit of a Samurai cartoon and the two characters' faces are drawn in a fashion that suggests political cartoons. Of course, that's a western perspective and if there is anyone who can speak of Japanese cartooning in this period, they aren't saying much on the Internet.
The other question is how does this half-minute scrap from perhaps a two-minute cartoon link into the history of Japanese animation? That's another conundrum. You can't build up a picture from two dots -- or rather, you can build up so many pictures that two dots don't tell you anything.
So all we are left with is this quarter-animated bit of cartoon. The questions it raises are interesting enough to make it very watchable.
The other question is how does this half-minute scrap from perhaps a two-minute cartoon link into the history of Japanese animation? That's another conundrum. You can't build up a picture from two dots -- or rather, you can build up so many pictures that two dots don't tell you anything.
So all we are left with is this quarter-animated bit of cartoon. The questions it raises are interesting enough to make it very watchable.
