This review might contain spoilers. You may proceed if you can handle the truth...
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The prolific Japanese director Tadanari Okamoto who won the most Oofuji Noburou prizes in the history of Mainichi Film Awards published at least 37 shorts before he died in 1990 at age 58. One of his last and most mainstream works The Restaurant of Many Orders released posthuman is a modified adaptation of the selftitled short story by the Japanese author Kenji Miyazawa bestknown for the fantasy novel Night on the Galactic Railroad. Like many other famous national writers Miyazawas poetry and childrens tales have become more popular and acknowledged after his early death. The Restaurant of Many Orders is one of his numerous creations adapted to an anime.
Albeit the films plot seems superficially like a straightforward story with a supernatural twist Miyazawas childrens tales always have at least one profound idea to lecture the reader. In the case of The Restaurant of Many Order there are two subtle themes which the author integrated smoothly into the tale: the destructive inconsiderate and reckless human nature and the blind following of orders with the deceptive imagination to escape someones predicament. Even though both protagonists encapsulate those characteristics the short focuses on one of them more than the other. Consequently the other feels redundant for the story.
The animators translated the ominous atmosphere of the story into another medium masterfully. The gloomy creepy and rough handdrawn art style captures the mysterious mood of the scenes. Although the 19minute picture does not have spoken dialogue the fluent animation and the thrilling plot make it almost impossible to look away. As important as the animation in a silent animated film is the score. The wellchosen classical music intensifies the moody and menacing atmosphere to such a degree that the viewer might think he is with the protagonist in the particular scene.
To summarise The Restaurants of Many Orders is a terrifying exciting and thoughtprovoking short film for children and adults. Since anime owes a lot to the legacy of Miyazawa any anime fan who loves the medium wholeheartedly has to watch at least one adaptation of his childrens tales. While better adaptions of Miyazawas works exist the picture is still a decent introduction to his writing style and therefore it is worth watching. At the point of writing the film is sadly not on any streaming service. If you get the chance to see it in the future you should do it. Considering the movies length you would not sacrifice too much of your precious time if you do not enjoy it.
80
/100