Zoo: Hidamari no Shi

Synopsis:

Trailer:

Characters:

• Girl (Main) - Voice Actors: Suzuki, Kasumi
• Man (Main) - Voice Actors: Ryuu, Suwaru

Staff:

• Mizusaki, Junpei (Director)
• Furuya, Usamaru (Script, Storyboard, Character Design)
• Midorikawa, Tooru (Music)
• Otsuichi (Original Creator)
• Suzuki, Rie (Art Director)
• Yamaguchi, Tatsuo (Music)

Reviews:

• User flipsard (Score: 8/10):
  Randomly searching for shorts to watch I stumbled across Zoo: Hidamari no Shi, I was at first put off by the mediocre art and weird sounds, but within a few minutes of it starting I found myself entranced in the story of this young girl/robot and the mysterious man who made her. Story - 9 The story is rather simple, especially during the beginning, it simply follows a girl discover more about her world and herself, but as the story progressed I was amazed at how something so short could invoke so much emotion, I found myself tearing up during some parts, something I did not expectfrom this, truly a well made story for what it is.nnArt - 6nThe art is nothing to be proud of, it is very basic, especially the character designs. The background art especially in a few scenes is rather pretty and enjoyable to look at, but the characters don't often blend well with the background and stand out a bit to much.nnSound - 7nThe voice acting wasn't the best in the world, but it also wasn't the worst I have ever seen, I didn't really notice anything bad from watching it other then a few weird sounds when the girl would turn her neck in the beginning.nnCharacters - 8nThe girl was a nice character, I enjoyed watching her emotions blossom as the movie progressed, although she likes to drink coffee with sugar so I don't know about that, I enjoy how she is self aware about many things but also like a young child in many others, the man was also a nice character, especially as you began to learn more about him and his past, I truly did enjoy the character and drew close to them in such a short time.nnEnjoyment - 8 nFrom the simple story to the nice background art, the little details added throughout, I am sure with a larger budget it could truly look beautiful, but I don't think it is something that should put people of from experiencing this nice short movie.nnOverall - 8 nI don't usually enjoy many short movies, but this was something special, that I am glad I found, I would recommend it to someone who is looking for something shorter and easy to watch, from some of the small details and even some of the deeper themes it had, I enjoyed it all.
• User TheFullmetalNaru (Score: 8/10):
  Once upon a time, on a warm and sunny day, a young lady opened her eyes for the first time. Born not of flesh, but of circuits and steel, she was a robot, created in a lab to serve a lonely man who was living in solitude out on a desolate cliffside field. Her duties included making his coffee, doing his laundry, and tending his garden, which had recently been beset by a hungry little rabbit. After a month of this, it began to dawn on the robot girl that there was a purpose to her daily routine beyond mere servitude.He was teaching her to appreciate life, to live in harmony with nature, and to understand the tragedy of death... And most devastatingly of all, that his own demise would soon come to pass. With only a week left to carry out his final wish, burying him so that his body can return to the earth that he loves so much, will she finally be able to peace together the truth behind her birth?nnYou probably haven’t heard of Hidamari no Uta/Hidamari no Shi, otherwise known as Song of the Place Where the Sun Shines, and that’s not just me being a hipster. The background behind this short film is fairly unique, and it’s also the reason why the entry for this title is locked on Anilist(and now deleted, so yay, MAL gets exclusive dibs on this one). It doesn’t technically qualify as anime by this site’s standards, even though it’s a piece of animation that was produced and released in Japan. To be fair, Hidamari wasn’t released the same way most anime are released... It was released as part of an anthology film, and it was the only segment on that film that was animated. The film was called Zoo, and it was a collection of works inspired by the writings of acclaimed Japanese Horror author Otsuichi. Zoo is basically to Otsuichi what the Creepshow films were to Stephen King.nnI personally saw this film at least a decade ago, when the DVD was available for cheap from Rightstuf, and while my memories of the film are vague, Hidamari was one of the two shorts that stuck with me, and for good reason. First off, this is a very visually striking film. I’m not sure what to call this aesthetic... 3D sounds inaccurate, because that’s something you’d need special glasses for, and CG also sounds dishonest, because pretty much all anime is made via computers these days. Hell, you know what I mean without getting all semantic on me, right? I’m going to call it 3D, with that understanding between us. 3D anime is rare even these days, and Hidamari was produced in 2005 for a 2007 release. It’s fair to say that the best looking 3D anime I’ve ever seen also came out in this time frame, but Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children will always be the exception that proves the rule.nnMovies that are just extended video game cutscenes aside,…

Forum Topics:

• Zoo: Hidamari no Shi Episode 1 Discussion

External Links:

• Official Site
• Wikipedia