There was a total of 346 entries to this division this year. We had many fine works in the Short Animation Genre this year whereas there was no outstanding piece of work in long animations. As a result, a short animation, The House of Small Cubes, was selected as the Grand Prize winner with no objections. A man lives in a house amid an eerie silence that skillfully suggests global warming: this …

[Critique by work category] Long Animation (Movie, TV, Original Video Animation)

In the final screening process, a rather harsh view emerged that no piece of work from this genre was worthy of a prize, but after the audition, I paused and realized something. KAIBA, The Sky Crawlers, HELLS ANGELS, SOULEATER, the Garden of sinners, and HAKABA KITARO. Believe it or not, these works are all set in "higan" (the other shore, where the dead live). The river that divides the dead and …

[Critique by work category] Short Animation

The maturation of digital technology has enabled both professionals and amateurs to meet on the same ground, and animation has become rich and varied. Few of the 223 short animation made a strong or conspicuous impact, but it was easy to select 22 fine works. However, it was surprising that the Grand Prize, three Excellence Prizes, and the Encouragement Prize went to short animations. The House …