Comedy

Written by Little_Wolf-18 on July 25, 2013 at 10:34 AM

“Comedy”, or in Japanese “Kigeki”, is just about the third- or fourth-shortest work of animation I’ve seen so far, yet it’s also definitely among the better.


Story-wise, “Comedy” may be quite original, yet it’s actually pretty simple. Being only ten minutes something in length, most of the plot can be read from the summary; what cannot be read from it does offer surprises, but those are few and already hinted at during the first one or two minutes of the film.

Nevertheless, the storyline is generally consistent, and it works wonders in the way it develops. There may be questions that aren’t answered straight-up, but enough is hinted at for the viewer to get the bigger picture.

It only helps that “Comedy” ties closely into legends and folktales. The general theme of the fantasy aspect in here is one better-recognised in Japanese legends, but there’s a charm to the entire story that could well be found in an Irish folktale if you ask me. There’s melancholy, there’s the slightest bit of creepiness, there’s the oddest kind of bonds, there’s a childlike honesty to both story and dialogue that got me personally all the more involved.

That dialogue is an odd one. Most of this tiny film is written like a personal flashback of the main character, so the dialogue most of the time is rather like monologue. The Black Swordsman gets but a few lines.

For that fact however, the dialogue (monologue) is amazing. It creates an atmosphere--the reminiscence, the mentioned dose of creepiness and tension, the childlike honesty of the main character, the hope and the trust she sets in the strange swordsman, even if at the beginning he’s but a legend to her. On the surface, the script may be as simple as the plotline, yet it is what completes the story; both in terms of hints so the bigger picture can actually be seen, kind of like a tale between the lines; and in terms of intriguing and involving the viewer. It’s simple, but it works incredibly well.

Not much can be said about the characters without getting closer to spoiling the entire mini-film. There are only two of them, and where they (as everything in this anime) are depicted in a simple way, they’re definitely interesting, both in themselves and in their relation.

The art I found to be odd at first glance. “Comedy” being from the ‘90s, the line-art isn’t quite as clear as in 2011-13 anime. That may be expected, but what’s odder is the use of colour. Black, white, and red are vibrant, yet the rest of the colours look mostly pastel to faded--an odd effect, kind of abstract-looking perhaps. I don’t think a normal anime, or even an OVA of 25 minutes, could have survived art taken to such an extreme, yet it kinda works with this one. It goes with the characters, it goes with the simplicity of the storyline, and it goes oddly well with the historical setting.

It should come as no surprise that the animation isn’t quite up to date. Nevertheless, it works well enough with the art and setting, it doesn’t make the art style look vague (quickly happens with abstractness), and I haven’t been able to find any particular bugs. It’s not excellent all in all, but it’s still good at least.

And the music is awesome. It’s a very traditional piece (European, not Japanese), kind of like a spiritual song. It complements the setting, the story, and, in a way, the characters and art beautifully, and it only serves to enhance the atmosphere.

Lastly the entertainment’s a tough nut to describe. There is action, but “Comedy” is far from a shounen action work. There were one or two moments that made me laugh (and I didn’t see those coming at all), yet despite its title, “Comedy” is generally far from over-the-top funny. Mainly, there’s fantasy, the historical connection, the folktale feel it shows in itself, the drama. It’s involving, both emotionally and in trying to piece the bigger picture together. It’s unique. I can say for sure that when I stumbled over this anime I didn’t expect what I got in the end, but it was a surprise I love.

“Comedy” is short and simple; but where it’s small in scale, it’s mighty in effect, and I found it to be more involving than many complete one-season series. I watched it twice now, and I’ll definitely do so again sometime.

Cheers.~ :)