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Having forgotten exciting feelings of the early days of the relationship, the man drifts along petting his guinea pig. One day he meets a beauty of flower who appreciates the pet. (Source: YouTube)

An aggressive and martial arts-devoted mantis kicks cans and hunts down cicadas, bringing havoc into the life of a couple of humans. This personal opus by Shintaro Kishimoto, now steady collaborator of Production I.G's 3D crew, won the prestigious Ofuji Award in 2005. (Source: Production I.G)

Hanako-chan, a flower loving person, encounters a mole in her garden and wonders what would happen if the moles could be trained to assist in gardening. Then her idea goes with the wind... (Source: AniDB)

The Tazakis' only daughter named Keiko was born seriously handicapped, deaf and dumb and mentally handicapped. Her parents tried to accept her handicap but their suffering continued. Things changed after Keiko entered a deaf and dumb school. Not only Keiko but also her parents grew up with friendship and cooperation of the teachers and friends. They established a group named "Donguri" (acorn) to make a community workshop where the handicapped people could be independent.

The 25 minute film tells the tale of an ailing elderly woman named Itako who encounters a fox named Okon. The story opens with Itako lying bedridden, as she has for a long time. Okon enters her home and Itako tells the fox that he is welcome to take anything that he wants, for she has no use for anything anymore. Okon is delighted and in order to return the favour (the act of ongaeshi), Okon performs a magic jyōruri (a ballad with shamisen accompaniment) that heals Itako so that she is fit enough to walk again. Everyone is surprised by Itako's sudden recovery. She then hears of a hunter who has been badly injured and is near death. Itako hides Okon in the back of her shirt and has the fox sing the song while she plays shamisen in order to heal the man. This act of kindness is repeated for others until Itako's good fortune leads some to be suspicious of her. (Source: Nishikata Film Review)

An elderly man walks along his house and sees a turtle munching on a turnip. He does not disturb the creature but lets it eat in peace. Later that night, he has a dream of his late wife...

Film by Okamoto Tadanari, winner of the Ōfuji Noburō Award in 1977 for the 32nd Mainichi Film Awards in recognition of animation excellence. The story of two villages on either side of a river who come together to build a bridge to connect their villages and thereby permit a young couple in love to be joined in marriage.

Meet Penelope, the absent-minded young koala. Rarely seen without Deudeu – her favourite stuffed rabbit – Penelope likes nothing more than finding another adventure in the most unlikely of places. A simple gust of wind blowing her hat away can lead to Penelope running her own stall atop a tree stump where she trades flowers for apples, and paper planes for acorns. From games of hide and seek with her friends, to playing with the bubbles in the bath or counting sheep during nap time, Penelope’s life is never dull – even if she does wear odd socks when she gets herself dressed in the morning. (Source: Anime-Planet)

Short animation by Tadanari Okamoto.

Typically brilliant OKAMOTO Tadanari short film, based on a traditional story retold by MATSUTANI Miyoko, with narration by KISHIDA Kyouko. (Source: AnimeDB)

The story follows the protagonist girl Yui Kotani, a second-year junior high school student who is obsessed with men's underarm hair, and the relationship with her male classmate Masato Takeo who has the thickest underarm hair in the class. (Source: Crunchyroll)

A panda rolling around to music.

Chi earned her American dream after persevering with her studies in Taiwan. Following her grandmothers' death, Chi returns to her family on Happiness Road, where she begins to feel nostalgic about her childhood and starts to contemplate the meaning of "life" and "home". What is happiness? Will Chi find her own happiness? (Source: Official Site)

As oppose to the mythological creature Minotaur, a monsters of western culture, a Japanese monster Kudan has a human head and the body of cow. Kudan is born from female cow. It speaks human language, predicts significant incidents such as war or disaster and dies in three days. This story is about a man who is accidentally transformed into a Kudan. (Source: Official website)

This account summarizes what I experienced between spring and summer of that special year when all human and material activities came to a standstill. I had retreated to my highland forest lodging away from the city, and while I was pent up there avoiding human contact, I chanced upon evidence of mysterious creatures in my yard. So I set up a surveillance camera, which to my surprise captured images of miniature humanlike beings about 15 centimeters tall. I named them "Pukkulapottas" and followed their activities daily with my camera, but as spring turned to summer and people began moving about again, I lost my ability to see them. This experience has prompted me to ask the question whether all the truths in this world are confined to what our eyes can see. (Source: Official Site)

An stop-motion puppet animation adaptation of The Ugly Duckling Hans Christian Andersen story.

A Handmade Animated Cat! Stop and Look at Me for just 4 minutes! It's the first time for the Cat to be all by itself at home. This Cat does not have a name yet and nobody knows whether it is female or male. And it has two faces, one is very sensitive and the other is rather naughty. We try to make sensitive animations, and do not want to bombard children with too much noise and too many images. (Source: N&G Production)

The Spirits of Cairn imagines a state of limbo which is the destination of those who die in childhood. The protagonist feels remorse about having died too young, but the emotion is just an echo and he has no idea how long he's been there, why he is there, or the source of his regret. His work of interring the many necks buried below the surface continues without end. (Source: Official Site)

The film is inspired by the costumes of folk art performers at Taiwan's ceremonial festivals. Adapted from the Southeast Asian folktale The Mousedeer Crosses River, it integrates similar folktale narratives from different countries to create animated puppet dancers. (Source: Goldenhorse)

1. Police Men A human dramedy set in Kyoto about three police officers with very different personalities who sometimes work together and sometimes butt heads as they run toward the shared goal of catching the bad guy. 2. One with the City Day-to-day life in Aichi is peaceful, and there are people behind that peace who keep its cities safe. The moment they put on the uniform, they transform from "the protected" to "the protectors." This short animation shows the police officers who support the safety and future of the people. 3. Offbeat Leo spends his days feeling robotic and oppressed. Soon enough, he starts to feel that his existence is meaningless, as if he's been tossed into the trash can like a piece of garbage. But then he reunites with the one thing he loved most that he had given up on. From that moment onward, Leo begins to remember the joy of living. 4. Requiem for the Endless Night An elderly man lives alone on another planet after an apocalyptic disaster. After spending thirty years searching in vain for signals from other survivors, he decides to return to his home world, embarking on one final homecoming to mourn all those who were lost. 5. Magokoro Musubi: Gyutto Komeru Omoi Our story follows Shio Musubi, a lightly salted rice ball. He meets several other types of "musubi" rice balls in the park, but all of their unique characteristics make him feel like there's nothing special about him. Then, right at the end of his travels, the scene he sees at a little old lady's house makes him realize something very important. 6. Traces of Summer Two years after moving to Tokyo from the countryside, the hustle and bustle of the big city has wiped the calm from our heroine's soul. Then she receives a message that prompts her to pay a visit to her hometown. There, the smells and memories of summer restart something in her heart that had stopped. Her journey follows the tiny traces of summer as her heart quietly moves forward. 7. Live in Red Somewhere on a vast red planet, there sits a city enclosed by a barrier. Outside the barrier, dust storms and harsh winds rage. Suddenly, a giant robot breaks through the barrier and infiltrates the city… (Source: Crunchyroll)

It's a story about a life trying to find its name and identity. Through the journey of stray animals, we see the dark side of the city. It traps a lot of creatures, not only animals but also some of us. (Source: IMDB)

In an unknown time when everything is colorless, the world pale and desolate, everybody is born with pale white skin. There is absolutely no sign of color in this world at all. However, one boy is born with yellowish skin. Everybody treats him like some sort of monster, and the boy lives in isolation, in the woods with his mother. The year he turns 16, the boy’s depressed mother, unable to bear the seclusion, commits suicide. The boy blames himself for her death and dreams of becoming a normal pale-skinned person. (Source: koreanfilm.or.kr)

Montage of the human body fusing stop-motion and computer animation into a bizzare scifi representation. It was shown at the Japanese Media Arts Festival and got the Excellence Award. And it won the Special Jury Prize in the Off Theatre Competition at the 10th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival.

Frostlight, a naive girl, disregards the fortuneteller's warnings, and tries too hard in keeping Westwind's heart. Her attempts catch the attention of Asura, and a war breaks out. Frostlight quickly boards a mysterious ship and departs on a perilous and fantastic journey. This strange ship carries a cast of helpless, tormented souls as it drifts through a mysterious space, unable to make port. The souls fear that Asura could strike at any moment and send them to the Asuran Realm, never to return. (Source: AniDB)