I never expected that a work that would surpass director Tomohiro Furukawa’s film would appear before the end of the 2020s. I came across director Ken Yamamoto’s film, which dispelled that idea. and there is something in common in both works because they are films that show what happened to those who have to be shown on the screen and the responsibility of those who have to to engrave the look in the eyes of the two eyes off the screen. However, the paths of the two works differ in the way they are expressed. What was possible to express by using all directions and clear dialogue, is easily expressed by combining the originality of ‘animation’ and the originality of ‘film’ under the name of ‘film animation’ , and in the end, it is a masterpiece. and an improved version of the previous masterpiece.
Run without stopping, engraving without limit
The film begins with an homage to the ‘first film’. Do you know? The first film was about a running horse. In the world view ‘Umamusume’, there is the appearance of Umamusume, girls who are personal horses, instead. Such homage is also a guide that gives the audience the formula ‘words = Uma Musume’ in the worldview of ‘Uma Musume’, but before it starts, it is said that this is a clear film and that Uma Musume runs hard in It seems to prove that they want to engrave their beautiful appearance in the eyes of the audience. We have to watch the movie with that in mind. I think that only then will this work be able to properly capture what it is trying to convey. In that respect, I thought so too and they were quite similar jobs. It was about using the meaning of art as a way to express what happened to people with a situation.
The fate of Umamusume, who was born with a constant desire to run, is similar to the fate of stage girls who always want to go on stage and act. It even seems to the point that it is finally caught in the film. Let’s talk for a minute. This film tells how the main character, Karen Aijo, becomes aware that she is a ‘stage girl’ after a fight called a ‘revue’ and decides to revive an inherent desire to act. The foreshadowing of such a conclusion is equivalent to being in a film through scenes and lines that seem to recognize the fourth wall, that is, through scenes and lines that seem to recognize that the protagonist himself is within the screen. To put it simply, the essence of the art of filming a film is revealed through bringing out the sense of the fourth wall, and at the same time, it clearly shows the audience that Karen, a child who is growing, filming and scratching, making her determination stand out.
I found that kind of guidance very appealing. In fact, I still find it attractive. However, after encountering this procedure, I realized that there were blind spots in production. it’s a movie. To be sure, it is an ‘animated film’. In that case, in order to be reborn as a better work, wouldn’t it be necessary to show the meaning of animation, ‘drawing’, together with the cinematography, which is at the heart of a film? In that respect, it was a job without any flaws. The meaning of the film, animation, and animated film is expressed, mixing in one, and ultimately expressing the fate of Uma Musume. The fate of Umamusume is the desire to run. To express this, the image of Umamusume running wildly must also be captured wildly. Let’s talk about it now.
The essence of film is filming, that is, the camera, and the essence of animation is drawing (we’ll call it animation from now on). If so, the meaning of animated films will be a compromise between the two. I think the compromise is ‘the process of capturing the power of the camera through animation.’ it can be said that it is a work that expresses that compromise brilliantly by harmonizing it with the subject. In the film, the desire to run is expressed as “passion.” The main character, Jungle Pocket, runs and runs to become the strongest Uma Musume. Not just her. All the Umamusume that appear in the last story run away without hiding their desire. He is passionate. The whole thing is drawn and captured on the screen. I only remember the names of a few famous animators and am not someone who knows the details of the drawings, but I immediately noticed that Umamusume had the passionate movements of running for running almost interesting.
The beauty of ‘animated films’ is not limited to that. Although I am mainly talking about the meaning of an animated film, the various elements that support the meaning are also made in a look suitable for ‘film’. In particular, I think that sound and lights can be cited as representative examples. If there’s a movie I want to see, I tend to do anything to see it in the theater. The reason lies in the sound. It has a clear sound that can only be heard in a theater space. I was able to clearly sense that fact. The emotions of the Uma Musume, expressed through the clear sound of their hugs and breathing, would not have been revealed if it were not for the theatre. Lights, along with sound, metaphorically express the emotions of the characters. I think I particularly liked the ‘Jungle Pocket’ scene of overcoming frustration and moving on, expressed by alternating light and dark areas, and the scene where mad scientist Agnes Tachyon’s stuff is revealed in red.
I would like to say that our audience can deeply explore the beautiful points of the work because of the exciting run of Umamusume, which is shown on the screen through such good movement empathy, and the elements which gives him wonderful support, and their harmony. . If yes, all preparations are ready. Now all that remains is the fate of the creatures known as Uma Musume. Umamusume is a person with an endless desire to run. That’s why they were born with the destiny to stand on the playground. What teaches that fact more clearly is the story of ‘Agnes Tachyon’, the rival of the main character ‘Jungle Pocket’ and also seen as a main character. Agnes Tachyon had a desire to study how fast Umamusume’s body could go, but she realized the limits of not being able to see the results with her own body, so she stopped running and she made the choice to encourage her colleagues to run as fast as possible. . I want to continue my research. It seems that the character in the film is trying to capture the presence of the camera.
But that is impossible. Agnes Tachyon’s innate desire and the resulting destiny do not allow her to hold a camera. Agnes Tachyon’s passion is not just research. As a full-fledged Umamusume, she is born with the desire to run, so she can never stop because she is destined to run in the end. Thus, Agnes Tachyon descends from the position of observer and camera, which she had never fully ascended in the first place. Now she runs as Umamusume. The image is clearly drawn and captured on the screen. It is what happened to Umamusume that makes them stand in front of the camera in the end. In front of such cameras, Uma Musume is all the same. So, even in the live winning final, there is no clear winner, and each of the four Umamusume shouts to the audience thanking them for coming to see their live. At that point, the responsibility is given to the audience. The images of Uma Musume running endlessly in front of the camera are bound to be engraved in your eyes.
The Uma Musume, who run endlessly according to their destiny, are drawn, filmed and filmed on the theater screen. It cannot be said that it is polite for anyone to look at that appearance. Making and showing a film is no different from making and showing a life story. Is it possible to live life alone? Can you say that you have never deeply studied other people’s lives and sympathized with them? The act of watching a movie is like that. After you have engraved the biographies of the characters in the film in your own eyes, you empathize with their lives, leaving a great impression on your mind. The film is equivalent to the stadium, that is the stage on which the creatures called Uma Musume, who are going to run without stopping, to the presence of a camera, and capture and ‘ screen the race in which the passionate feelings of the Uma Musume on the screen, showing all the creatures that are presented on the screen. The impact of the act of duty will make our lives richer.
That is why this work is a masterpiece as an animation film. This is because the film, passionately completed through the harmony of camera and animation, passionately conveys the events and responsibilities of those inside and outside the film through center of the screen.
