Genius Party

(2007)

★ 6.5 IMDb · 60 votes

Genres: Animation, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Action, Drama, Comedy

Year: 2007

Runtime: 102 мин

Country: Japan

Director: 福山庸治, 木村真二, 二村秀樹, Синъитиро Ватанабэ, Масааки Юаса, 河森正治, 福島敦子

Cast: Томоко Канэда, Ринко Кикути, 矢部太郎, Юя Ягира, 岩井七世, 山本美希, Гакуто Фурухара, 三上博史, Lu Ningjuan

Plot

The seven short films making up GENIUS PARTY couldn’t be more diverse, linked only by a high standard of quality and inspiration. Atsuko Fukushima’s intro piece is a fantastic abstraction to soak up with the eyes. Masaaki Yuasa, of MIND GAME and CAT SOUP fame, brings his distinctive and deceptively simple graphic style and dream-state logic to the table with “Happy Machine,” his spin on a child’s earliest year. Shinji Kimura’s spookier “Deathtic 4,” meanwhile, seems to tap into the creepier corners of a child’s imagination and open up a toybox full of dark delights. Hideki Futamura’s “Limit Cycle” conjures up a vision of virtual reality, while Yuji Fukuyama’s "Doorbell" and "Baby Blue" by Shinichiro Watanabe use understated realism for very surreal purposes. And Shoji Kawamori, with “Shanghai Dragon,” takes the tropes and conventions of traditional anime out for very fun joyride.