Shelter the Animation

[IceHism]

I like the visuals. This is basically a porter music video comprised of well animated sequences. The music is okay to meh. I didn't care for the story. I'll just post a review from someone I know since I basically agree with him when it comes to the story

Spoiler for Text:

https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=232021

This might be one of the worst things I have ever watched.

Despite my acerbic persona, I don't think I normally say stuff that's this outlandish, but with Shelter, I feel like something crucial needs to be said about why this kind of content is not acceptable.

Let's get two things out of the way. Undeniably, this video looks good. It's well drawn, well animated, and is certainly eye catching with its colorful visuals and impressively imaginative landscapes. As music, this is not something that's suited to me, but I can at least understand people who think that Porter's music is palatable to them.

My problem with this piece is not related to the audiovisuals but rather with the idea that this should be taken as a story or a music video that is trying to be something more than just Porter's music meshed with beautifully animated sequences. I understand that these criticisms are often held back by the difficulties of critiquing something that isn't overtly concerned with story, but in a piece so unabashedly attempting to draw sympathy, there's fair ground here to levy some serious concerns.

Shelter exemplifies everything that is wrong with storytelling in anime, namely that rather attempting to tell a real story developed with content and meaningful emotion, it takes the most abusive shortcut by designing a cute character, throwing her into a position of bittersweet melancholy, and using that as a means of manipulating our basest emotions into believing there is something meaningful and tragic to be said.

People are praising the emotional resonance in the story and its ability to bring out the loneliness lost in the profundity of memory. Yet, consider a world where the main character is not a beautiful teenage girl, lost and confused in a world completely foreign to her. When you remove that physical appearance that makes us so inexplicably attracted to her stake in the story, there is ultimately no reason for us to feel sympathy. It is completely superficial.

One might say that it's only a six minute short, but the fact that Shelter goes out of its way to show for a split second the main character's letter from her father, to invoke the community to spend time and read it on a second watch, tells me that there is a serious intent to manifest some semblance of a meaningful story. However, that is undermined precisely by the video's own neglect of that story. Much like many other anime designed purely for cheap tears and easy pity, we are given not substance, but rather a montage of a young innocent girl cherishing sweet memories with someone we barely meet.

Sure it can be cute, but that does not preclude it from being utterly trite. Shelter offends its audience by presenting us with its fascinating visuals, the ostensible undertones of a post-apocalyptic world, the perceived loneliness of being potentially the last human in the universe, but gives us nothing more than the lowest common denominator of a story, one that galvanizes its sympathies out of the most mundane and pathetic tricks in the book, and half-expects us to take it seriously. I cannot in good conscience, recommend this music video to anyone.

[kuromitsu]

^While I think some of the criticism is a bit over the top, I do certainly agree with the whole emotional manipulation with clichés thing. I remember thinking as I watched, "yep, another cute little girl, oh for pete's sake" (And also: "of course it's her dad, why can't it be her mom or something? because moms are not supposed to be scientists?") I've seriously had it with little girls as anime's creative shortcuts to get emotions out of viewers. If I ever make my own tear-inducing anime it will star a sea cucumber or a praying mantis or Jay & Silent Bob, or something.

Then again, it's a six minute short written by someone who, as far as I know, is a casual anime fan.

Originally Posted by monir

You know your point about the resource made me think about the technology used here to keep her alive thus far.

It doesn't seem like a conventional cryogenic technology since her body is still growing and her brain is also active. So how was it possible to keep her a live for 7 years? So my point is perhaps the limited resource would be enough to sustain her a lifespan as long as she stay in that state. We don't know where that rocket is heading toward either. Perhaps it is going toward the nearest M-planet. Alpaha Centauri is only 4 light years away. Half of light speed would take about 8 years to get there, so in an essence she is a star traveler. And during her journey if she comes across an alien race that can bring her out of her comatose state, her dad's will for her to carry on is a success.

See, it's not all too bad. Her dad was not without hope no matter how absurd it seemed as soon as he made the choice for her to live.

Weeell, yes, but what happens if the resource runs out and she still hasn't been picked up? And how would the limited resource be able to sustain her body during this growth period, never mind an environment where she can comfortably survive? Also imagine her not moving for ~8 years, not using her muscles, her teeth, anything... just sitting in that chair, throughout that growth period... (Yes, I know, I'm lacking in the heart department. )

[drawr]

I disagree with the criticism that if the girl wasn't cute or hell, wasn't a girl, people wouldn't still feel something about the parent-child love. At least for me, I would still care. Calling it the worst thing you ever watched seems a bit exaggerated unless you haven't seen much anime.
Either way this reminded me of Soma(video game) and I still felt an emotional connection to the characters in it even when they weren't cute anime girls. Cliches are cliches for a reason, all works will resort to some. It all depends on how they are utilized. I think this worked effectively with the limited amount of time they had.

[LoweGear]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Then again, it's a six minute short written by someone who, as far as I know, is a casual anime fan.

Dunno about Porter Robinson being "casual", especially since he actually incorporates samples of various anime songs into his works at times, and he's enough of a fan to be capable of asking a major Japanese animation studio to make an anime music video with him.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by IceHism

I like the visuals. This is basically a porter music video comprised of well animated sequences. The music is okay to meh. I didn't care for the story. I'll just post a review from someone I know since I basically agree with him when it comes to the story

Spoiler for Text:

https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=232021

In a longer work, you would take your time to develop characters and relationships to make the audience care. In six minutes you can't do that, so you gatta take shortcuts, like making everything hyper beautiful and the main character a cute girl that people can empathize with at a base level. Or you gotta forget about trying to tell a story to begin with.

But I don't fault Porter for trying to tell story even though he only had six minutes to work with, therefore I don't fault him for using whatever means necessary to grab the audience's attention and sympathy.

[Stark700]

I think overall, the music video and content was well done especially the visual part. I'm not a fan of anime music videos but for this, I think it was somewhat memorable. Might check out some of Porter's other works as I'm not very familiar with him.

[MrTerrorist]

Oh the feels.
Funny thing happened at the Anime subreddit. The post for Shelter got removed by the mods because the creator for this anime, Porter Robinson, wasn't Japanese and therefore does not fit their criteria of an anime despite the whole video was made by Japanese including a Japanese voice actress.

Cue angry backlash that made the mods to reverse their decision and bring back the post.

[Kimidori]

I get triggered every time I heard of the word "emotional-manipulation", ffs that is entirely the point of a fictional drama story, speak of it with a hint of negativity just to find something to "criticism" is stupid, and this have 6 whole mins to tells a story, within 6 mins that's what you have to do to create something memorable, something invoke the feeling from the watcher, so it's actually a good thing that porter managed to do just that.

the character being a cute girl is just, IMO, how porter best express his loves for anime, an art style many known for its cute its female character. (and yes I know some of you guys watches Jojo and and other "manly" shit like that, but that beside the point, almost all mascot for anime culture include a cute girl, and there is at least one in majority of anime)

[MrTerrorist]

The making of Shelter.

[monir]

Originally Posted by Kimidori

I get triggered every time I heard of the word "emotional-manipulation", ffs that is entirely the point of a fictional drama story, speak of it with a hint of negativity just to find something to "criticism" is stupid, and this have 6 whole mins to tells a story, within 6 mins that's what you have to do to create something memorable, something invoke the feeling from the watcher, so it's actually a good thing that porter managed to do just that.

An audience is emotionally manipulated when the dramatization of a moment isn't consistent with the overall story and just leaves the audience confused rather than the intended affect. When we watch any story in fictional setting, more we can relate to it the more we will be open to the theme of storytelling. In this show, I think the theme of the story will resonate with most audience. Parents will do anything for their children's survivability even if it means they are giving them a chance to live a moment longer. Style, art, character design and all other aesthetic have only helped to compliment the story rather than become a distraction. Emotional manipulation wasn't an issue in this storytelling.

[Top Sergeant]

I know I'm showing my age here, but this video strongly reminded me of the short stories which were written by classic science fiction authors such as Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein and H. Beam Piper. Short stories that were focused, skillfully presented and with high impact. Also many had a bittersweet tone.

Shelter was well done, skillfully made and beautifully presented. Kudos to A-1 and Porter Robinson.

[BWTraveller]

As with I hope many, my one big regret is that this's all we got. I would so like to see a sequel. I almost immediately created a simple plot after watching too. Just couldn't stand to let that bitter conclusion be the end of Rin's story.
One day Rin's making a new world when her world's overwritten somehow. Freaking out she rewrites it only to have it overwritten again. She figures out where this is coming from and races toward it, with the writes and rewrites coming more quickly, until she finds herself standing in front of a young man. At first they "fight" with their writing, destroying one another's worlds and imposing their own. Then they start to enjoy the competition, showing off what they can make and do. Eventually things change, and they start creating worlds to please one another, and truly delighting in the wonders the other creates for them. When at last they've reached a point where they're actually making worlds completely together as one, they suddenly find themselves being pulled apart, and Rin and the boy go running after each other even as they're pulled farther apart. The last scene can then go back to Rin's shuttle and show on the monitor calculations for a trajectory change, with just enough detail to imply that the ship's adjusting its course to match another object/ship's trajectory, and that the two both have a destination. I think it'd be really cool to present communication and relationships in the context of showing and sharing the world of one's own perception and wishes, conveying the ups and downs of a couple without words through nothing but the evolution and interaction of two imaginations.

Anyway, that's just a quick concept, and here's hoping Porter gets a chance to make some sort of sequel at some point. I'm sure it'd be awesome whatever they make.

Also, really cool that she shares the name with the CEO's daughter. I hope she enjoyed the video too when it was finished.

Finally, I'd have to strongly disagree to the reviews given earlier. Frankly, I get the feeling that a couple people here are prejudiced AGAINST little girls, to the point that if they see a little girl being happy in a scenario they automatically emotionally detach from the scene, perceive even emotional moments as meaningless and unmoving and declare that it'd be trash without a little girl doing it. Frankly, if we'd had a little boy in this same situation, playing with virtual worlds in a life pod created by his mother to give him just a little bit more time and happiness, I'd still be moved just as much. Also, I'm not sure if I misread the review above, but it sounded like he even wanted us to consider whether it would be as moving if not for the situation of the character being lost and alone with nothing but memories and imagination for company. Frankly, that's sort of like asking if Romeo & Juliet would be as touching without the boy and girl falling in love despite their families' rivalry. That's the core scenario, and it's frankly absurd and silly to ask about the quality of the story without it. This is not so moving that it'd make me cry or anything, but it did move and fascinate me with its world and story and heroine, and did a fairly good job in its short runtime displaying the pain of loss and solitude as well as the strength to continue and find one's own happiness, even when that happiness appears to be entirely illusory.

[Infinite Zenith]

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

Finally, I'd have to strongly disagree to the reviews given earlier. Frankly, I get the feeling that a couple people here are prejudiced AGAINST little girls, to the point that if they see a little girl being happy in a scenario they automatically emotionally detach from the scene, perceive even emotional moments as meaningless and unmoving and declare that it'd be trash without a little girl doing it. Frankly, if we'd had a little boy in this same situation, playing with virtual worlds in a life pod created by his mother to give him just a little bit more time and happiness, I'd still be moved just as much. Also, I'm not sure if I misread the review above, but it sounded like he even wanted us to consider whether it would be as moving if not for the situation of the character being lost and alone with nothing but memories and imagination for company. Frankly, that's sort of like asking if Romeo & Juliet would be as touching without the boy and girl falling in love despite their families' rivalry. That's the core scenario, and it's frankly absurd and silly to ask about the quality of the story without it. This is not so moving that it'd make me cry or anything, but it did move and fascinate me with its world and story and heroine, and did a fairly good job in its short runtime displaying the pain of loss and solitude as well as the strength to continue and find one's own happiness, even when that happiness appears to be entirely illusory.

The reviewer in question plainly missed the point of this short: their text ultimately boils down to knit-picking a small point and using big words in an attempt to elevate their own credibility.

I enjoyed this short for its visuals, and ultimately, since this short succeeds in combining the music with imagery, it's a thumbs up in my books.

[MrTerrorist]

Youtuber react to Shelter.

OMG! Leigh Lahav! I love her animated shorts.

[Tiberium Wolf]

Oh... I just found this. It's awesome. it was a missed opportunity to make a film out it.