Summary
Dentsu is one of the largest media companies in Japan, and has in recent years played a big part inthe funding and distribution of anime. Its most recent production,Enter the Garden, is a unique anthology of short films intended for a modern digital audience. In a collaboration between Dentsu and lifestyle digital media brand Azuki, the anthology project is intended to showcase Azuki’s aesthetic in the anime and manga space.
Because each of the three shorts in the series is only a few minutes a piece, this project has allowed the A-list creators in the space to really put the most effort intocreating top-level animation quality. The first of the anthology’s shorts, “The Waiting Man,” is now available to watch free on YouTube. Perhaps looked at by Dentsu as something of an experiment in creating direct content for an internet audience, Azuki itself is doubtlessly happy to be getting such a high-profile project out to get eyes on its brand.
Tall Talents for a Shorts Anthology
Enter the Gardenhas one of the most popular creators in anime today. Goro Taniguchi, who both provided the initial story concept for the “Waiting Man” episode in addition to having served as the general producer overseeing the concept, is a big name in the modern anime industry. Most notably, he served as the director and main storyboard artist behind 2022’s blockbuster successOne Piece: Film Redwith Toei Animation.
While Taniguchi isn’t directing the short, the directorial baton has been passed to Junichi Yamamoto, who previously served both in creating the visual feel for Makoto Shinkai’s global phenomenonYour Name, as well as TV anime directing roles for series as diverse asPop Team Epic, to theLove Livefranchise’s “Yohane the Parhelion” spinoff,Sunshine in the Mirror.
At around eight minutes, “The Waiting Man” is a brisk, entertaining short that takes a simple plot and runs with it (or, rather, skates with it) as the means to show off some impressive visuals. Set ina sort of near-future, quasi-cyberpunkcityscape, a rebellious young skater, Haru, comes across a chance encounter with a mysterious man who seems to be waiting endlessly for something. In a rigid society where everything is heavily surveilled and planned right down to the monotony of what’s offered at a bus stop vending machine, a chance encounter between Haru and the Waiting Man takes a supernatural turn towards a world of reprieve and self-expression.
