Video Poll #1

I plan to make all three of these videos likely at some point this year, so don’t worry if your pick loses!

Mamoru Hosoda’s MIRAI

Mamoru Hosoda needs no introduction, famous for his work directing films like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars and Wolf Children, but this beautiful story of family was nonetheless my first foray into his work. This would be a video reflecting on how the times at which we find certain works can greatly influence our relationship with them. I’m a little nervous about this one as it’s quite a personal film for me, but vulnerability has become a key element of the things I make, so it’s a challenge I’m willing to take on. It’s hard to convey this movie’s imprecise, midsummer magic in so few words—that which I hope to capture in the video itself—so if you want to be sold on this option, look no further than its stunning theme, quite possibly my favourite song I heard all of last year.

VA-11 HALL-A

I can’t describe VA-11 HALL-A better than its own tagline does: Cyberpunk Bartender Action. It’s a short visual novel released back in 2016 by an indie studio based in Venezuela—and I do claim to be a channel that talks about visual novels, so it’s time I got to one that isn’t Higurashi. VA-11 HALL-A is endlessly unique and stunningly realised, with its gorgeous neon-drenched world and phenomenal synth-y soundtrack. I remember my experience with this one vividly—and not much else. It’s a work that was defined, for me, by the world it invited me into, far more so than the very loose story it told—and I absolutely don’t mean that as an insult. Rather, it made me reflect on what defines good art, and it’s a ten hour experience that has stayed with me for four long years. In this one, I'll be taking you guys on a trip into the unforgettable Glitch City.

Sound! Euphonium

And last but not least, something a little more in line with what I usually do, but still with a firmly personal lens. Sound! Euphonium is the story of Kitauji High School’s Concert Band, and possibly anime’s most mature and relatable take on life during the strange transitioning period that is high school. I originally had plans to make a collective video on a few different slice of life series I love set in schools, but throughout my rewatch of Eupho in anticipation of this endeavour (and my first watch of its second season plus Liz and the Blue Bird), I realised it very much deserved to star in a video of its own. In this one, I’ll look at how Eupho powerfully and beautifully immortalises so many of the experiences and emotions associated with adolescence and how its use of a setting found all over anime made me reflect on my own teenage years.

The poll will close in exactly three days. Get voting!