Cencoroll strives to be different, but while the animation is almost flawless, it’s just waaaay too short have any lasting effect.
Note that this post contains a few spoilers, so if you want to surprise yourself first, then skip this post.
Before I begin, let’s get around to the background story, ripped straight from the local weekee.
Cencoroll began as a one-shot manga by a chap named Atsuya Uki. It won the Grand Prix award in the Kodansha’s Afternoon Shiki manga competition back in 2005, with him as the sole writer and illustrator. Only a year later, Anime Innovation Tokyo decided to sponsor him as the first among many in their newly started initiative to help out independent animators and small studios.
Finally, in 2007, Uki released and distributed a short based on the manga over the internet, as well as at the New York Anime Festival. It apparently received so much praise that he took it upon himself to nearly turn into a one-man army again to produce a 30-minute film based on that short, shown below.
And now, the actual review.
Cencoroll revolves around Tetsu, a seemingly-normal school student who happens to own a shape-shifting monster. He tries to keep it a secret (since you know, students aren’t supposed to own monsters) but gets found out by an awesome school girl (I’ll explain in a bit) named Yuki. Together they have to defeat a random bad guy (Shu) that appears out of nowhere and challenges Tetsu to a fight. Oh, and he also happens to own a giant monster sitting on top of a building, sending everyone into a panic.
I just made it sound campy, didn’t I? Well, that’s Cencoroll in a nutshell, though obviously it is much more than the simple summary I just dictated.
A shining example of the point made in the paragraph below
A lot of people compare Cencoroll to the likes of Evangelion and FLCL. I would agree, because (though I didn’t watch Eva, so forgive me for any generalisation) all of them belong in the “WhatTheF#$%IsThis” category. I’m sure there’s a trope about this somewhere, too.
Of course, it’s not that Cencoroll doesn’t do it well. The fight scenes, however short, are quite detailed, and the overall animation quality is actually pretty decent, save for a few moments when the framerate had a major decline. And there is nothing more awesome than growing wings and flying through a city, only to have your hand cut off from a pole thrown from seemingly nowhere shortly after you land. I was, however, denied the jet engines that were displayed in the animated short in all their glory.
I’m no expert when it comes to voice-acting, but I didn’t hear any fail from this one. All four of the voiced characters fit their roles just nicely, and Yuki (Kana Hanazawa) didn’t sound nauseatingly moe or anything, so it’s all cool.
As for the characters themselves…well I can’t say I’m attached to any one of them, except Yuki. She manages to be independent and calm even when she’s caught up in the heat of things. While those two idiots Tetsu and Shu stand around waving their hair-ntenna to their monster buddies a la Digimon/Pokemans, Yuki turns Cenco into a baseball bat and proceeds to beat the living hell out of Shu. Well, that’s a little exaggerated, but at last, some logical thinking in my anime animated film.
And while it’s obvious Cenco is this film’s ‘mascot’, I felt no attachment to it/him in any way. Remember FLCL’s ‘mascot’, Canti? Remember how he managed to be so awesome yet endearing at the same time? Cenco didn’t make the cut for me here, I’m sorry. I guess I don’t find him cute enough.
Also, Cencoroll has a running time of a little under 27 minutes, including the credits. That’s not a lot of time to tell a story and for character development, so the plot feels rushed as a result. In fact, it almost feels like (gasp!) a regular half-hour anime episode, not something you’d watch in a theatre. It should have been expanded into a series instead, especially since the film hints at a possible sequel, though I doubt Uki would be able to cope on his own.
Now that I look at it again, though, a lot of the scenes seem to be cut away. There is little transition between scenes, if any. Take this for instance: a giant pudding monster releases smoke around it, preparing to transform. A tank fires at it. Then, its shell hits the monster which has somehow already transformed into a giant rock thingy and dissipated the smoke. What.
I’ll be honest though; Cencoroll does a good job of making you fill in the blanks in your own head. For instance, Kei (Yuki’s friend) is waiting for her at the bus stop, wondering where she is. Cut to Yuki looking pissed because she’s been captured by Shu. Brilliant.
Sadly enough, even the animated short looked more awesome than the movie itself. Where’s my derelict city? Where’s my helicopter blasting a solid building to bits? Why did you give me a giant pudding walking through the city instead? T_T
Trailer below, so you’ll get a feel of what the movie’s like. There are also more trailers available at the official website; go watch if you’re interested.
Also, introducing the only reason I watched Cencoroll (apart from the jet engine-propelled wings): supercell! He did the ending theme for Cencoroll along with you-know-who, named LOVE & ROLL. It was released in the same album as Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari, which was the ending theme for Bakemonogatari, as we’ve covered before.
I had given the song a listen prior to watching the movie, and I love Gazelle’s soft voice in the first verse. There’s no “rocking piano” in this one; instead what we have right here is strictly a dance/trance/techno/whatever piece, and it sort of feels out of place being in the same album as Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari. Oh well.
Overall though, I’ll have to give the film a 6/10. It’s doesn’t skimp on animation quality too much, but it could certainly use more air time, and a lot more development. Heck, even the lack of content feels too unnatural, too forced. Was there a 30 minute limit for this film or something? It sure feels like it.
Also, lyrics to LOVE & ROLL translated by Suisei:
| English | Japanese (Romaji) |
|---|---|
|
Can you hear me? |
Can you hear me? |
|
Do you hear me? |
Do you hear me? |
|
honto ha konna no narete naindakara |
I’m not really used to this… |
|
DOKI DOKI tomaranai heartbeat |
*thump* *thump* My heartbeat won’t stop, |
|
Do you love me? |
Do you love me? |
|
aseranaide yukkuri de ii kara ne? |
It’s better taking it easy without rushing right? baby Let’s escape from here and when we’re alone, I’ll spoil you! Do you like it like this? Come here a bit, Do you wanna take me out? |
|
maji maji mitsumechau your eyes |
I take a long look at your eyes, |
|
TOKI MEKI kanjiruwa my heart |
I feel the throbbing of my heart, |
4 Responses to “Cencoroll Could Be Better”
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Sorry to hijack this post. I was just watching Toro Station and saw something about Miku, I’ve managed to transcribe this line by cutting and pasting characters together: 初音ミクとコラボしてみた
There’s more but it has some kanji characters and there’s no way I’m hunting the web for those to construct a sentence so here’s a screenshot:
http://i37.tinypic.com/1oqa2f.jpg
Well, for a one short, it isn’t bad. Who knows – it might actually become a series in the future. Stranger things have happened.
Also, loved Love-And-Roll.
.-= Stifler´s last blog ..Melty Blood Act 2: Extra Stage 3 =-.
Seems interesting. The animation style is kind of different
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I thought it was very short, but i still liked it.