Shelter Short-Film Discussion

Off-Topic
#1

So I was browsing the web yesterday (as usual) and I ended up watching this 6 min short anime film called Shelter, which is kinda like a music-video that tells a story.
To be honest, my expectations for a good story were super low when I started watching it, but I decided to keep watching until the end to satisfy my curiosity. However, a few moments after I finished the whole video, I couldn’t stop my eyes from tearing up. I was overwhelmed by the overall story shown in that short video, and I felt an emotion that can be considered a mixture of happiness and sadness. This feeling, I realised, was very similar to when I had finished other Key works. The short film presented one theme that I found resonated with one of the takeaway elements from Little Busters: The strength to move on.

To those who have watched it, what are your thoughts on it? What events perhaps may have led to it? How did you feel when you finished it?

If you haven’t seen the video, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you watch it, otherwise you’d be missing out on something pretty amazing: Here’s the link.
If you’re not a big fan of the music, just try to endure through it, as you definitely won’t regret it by the end. Keep in mind that it is a short-film, so it should not be compared to a full multi-episode anime regarding depth of the plot or quality.

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Overall Music Discussion - Discover new music!
#2

I LOVED this video! Visually, it’s the best from A-1 Pictures I’ve seen. Even without a narrative, it would have been worth a watch, but the on-screen action complements the chosen song, both in meaning and tone. There’s also the added benefit of putting Japanese animation in a more mainstream spotlight than the medium’s seen in a while.

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#3

Ahh yes. Also I think Shelter was pretty awesome. The animation was probably the best animation I’ve seen so far and the music was fantastic. I don’t often watch short films but I love how the story is told in 6 minutes. Every single frame is useful and the story wraps itself up perfectly. No more time is required. I see people signing petitions to make a full movie but Shelter really doesn’t need it. It serves its intended purpose perfectly. Its purpose is to complement and draw attention to the music and that’s exactly what it does. I rated it 9/10, and accidentally rewatched it like 6 times.

Edit: I really like that piano solo at the end. I wonder if someone will make a piano cover of Shelter because I want that too.

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#4

@DangoDaikazoku My thoughts exactly! Videos like these make it so much easier to introduce Japanese animation to a newer audience. For example, I showed it to a few friends - who previously didn’t take anime very seriously - and they were so amazed by it that they actually made a proactive effort to inquire more about the medium. Normally, it would take many episodes of an anime and lots of time to get someone actually interested. The art, the music, and the integrated story harmonize well enough to get almost anyone to pursue Japanese animation, in my opinion.

@cjlim2007 I’ve re-watched this at least 20 times since yesterday, and I’m probably not gonna stop for a while. There are many short anime films/trailers/music videos that I enjoy watching, for example: Owari no Sekai Kara, Muteki no Soldier, Crossroads, Take Your Way. I also absolutely love the Kagerou Days songs, especially Lost Time Memory. If you get time, you should check these out (unless you’ve already seen them of course).
Other than that, the closest thing I found to a decent piano cover was this: link. I hope someone makes a full cover as well (I could perhaps try, though i’m not very confident in my piano skills).

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#5

@EternalSympathy On the topic of short animated films, some good gateway short films that might be of interest are
Dareka no Manazashi (film starts 30 sec)
Cross Road (commercial)

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#6

@cjlim2007 ha ha ha ha ha this is all I’ve been listening to for the past few days.

I agree that the strength to move on is a prevalent theme in Shelter, but that’s not a theme that resonates with me personally. The themes that I saw in it were loneliness and a little bit of coming of age.

I really everything that Shelter did. I could go deep into symbolism (heck anyone can because Wikipedia exists) but I suddenly got too lazy. The first half shows how isolation can be great: you get a chance to explore yourself and “create a world” for you. This reminded me of how you can go on the internet and befriend anyone you want (thus creating a world), but the more time you spent on it the less time you spend with people in real life. However as time goes on Rin becomes less and less happy with being in her own world, as shown by her expressions and the darker worlds she creates. This progression of her discontent is meant to show that being on your own may seem great at first, but ultimately you need human contact. I believe that this could have been injected into Shelter as a message to the people who spend all their time online and refuse to leave their houses (aka the Hikkikomori), which is a problem in Japan (correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t know very much about the subject).

As the video takes this “darker turn”, the lyrics also change. The line:

when i’m older i’ll be silent beside you

is pretty interesting to me. My interpretation is summed up by this line from Rashisa (Barakamon OP):

What does it mean to be yourself? When I was a child I didn’t care
And got angry when I didn’t like how things went, said I liked things if I did

As you grow up, you hold your tongue more because you learn that there are things you can and can’t say, along with appropriate times for those things. On top of that, people will judge you for saying weird things. However you will stay by the people you love no matter what (silent beside them). You can also interpret that line as: I’ll put up with you by staying quiet because I have no one left, but I’m somewhat of an optimist. The next line:

I know that words are not enough

further cements this by saying that words are not enough to express this love, and the expression of standing by your loved ones exemplifies that feeling.

Interpretation of both lines put together:
As I get older, I may not say it, but know that I still cherish our time together.

So is there some connection between my jumbled thoughts?(Yeah, probably)
Stick with the people you love
Be there for them, and they will be there for you. Don’t detach yourself from them, because one day you may find that they won’t be there anymore. And you will be sad.

I’m tempted to go deeper into this
so very tempted

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#7

Short quip here; noticed that the girl was seeking shelter from the emptiness of space and of loneliness through her memories. Despite being what seems to be humanity’s hope for the future or sole survivor, she lives in the past. She’s both spurred on and haunted by her past. Found it a really bleak and depressing note to end the video on.

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#8

@bionic lol, I was desperately trying to relate it to Key, so i chose the “strength to move on” theme as an example. There’s no limit to the depth of themes and ideas in Shelter, so don’t hesitate to share any other interpretations that you are able to extract from this masterpiece. :smile:

Hopefully, we’ll be seeing more of these kind of things in the future. I don’t always wanna have to stream 20+ episodes of an anime just to experience the satisfying feeling of having watched something good.

Anyways, here is a translation of the letter posted by a user called “Heven demo” in the comments of the youtube video:

"To Rin
From: Dad
There was just so little time left after you were born.
I don’t know how much love I managed to pour into raising you after your mother died…
But your smile kept me going. (^_^)

I would like to have come with you, but I couldn’t.
I wanted you to forget everything and move on… I knew you’d be alright.
But you’ll get lonely, and remember.

I know you’ll grow strong, and read this letter some day.
I really wish we could have spent more time together. I’m sorry.
You were so young back then, too young to understand what they meant. So let me repeat…

My final words to you."

the final words were her monologue at the end.

EDIT: To be honest, I’m really bent on expanding this topic to all short-films in general. :

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#9

I watched the film some time ago and decided to rewatch it again. I can’t describe how incredible this anime music video by Porter and A-1 Pictures have accomplished. I really love how the story described Rin making this virtual world she created on her tablet to do things that we take for granted with technology. I use the Internet a lot these days and I’m online most of the time. But when I saw the video for the first time, I was amazed how the animation and the visuals were stunningly beautiful as the world Rin created had everything she had wanted.

Of course, it comes with a price. She felt lonely inside as my personal experience with being on my computer most of the time. I exactly know that feeling all too well. I was tearing up at times when she had those memories of her father and wanted to reach out to him. Technology is not overall a bad thing but it can lead to things that may shorten our lives in the long run and that hit me really hard as I spend my time online as some would call “a fantasy world”. I really love this video and no matter how many times I watch it again and again, it will remind me that I have to be strong and treasure my life as an individual to not get caught up with the virtual world. Thank you Porter and A-1 Pictures for creating a fantastic and amazing video that shows how anime has the artistic quality, visual effects, the music, and the story that can move us on how we enjoy anime for what it truly is an amazing piece of work! :smile:

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#10

I like where it’s coming from. Porter tends to go for these kinds of stories, but having an animation alongside it is really something. It’s like… everything Porter. It’s very Worlds-ey in theme, but the song is nowhere near as good as said album. It’s catchy and I like it, but it’s nothing in comparison to something like Sad Machine. Gonna blame that on Madeon. Not really a fan of the guy.

The animation was pretty nice. Talked about it with my gf and we noticed a few little details. There’s some small stuff like the ship being sent to somewhere specific, or the dad appearing scarier in the first flashback with no context, but there’s some bigger details that caught my attention.

Rin’s World-creating tablet is quickly taken over by memories she has… But I don’t think they are her memories. It’s easy to believe, with the random swing that appeared, or with the entire street that was drafted up, that her memories take over creative control, however there are a few scenes that show how these memories are unreliable.
See the portrayal of the moon or dwarf planet that crashes into Earth. We see it far above the clouds mid-way through the video, then later we see (from the perspective of Rin’s older self, sunken into the ground) her father looking up at the rocket she was launched away in, while the invading body breaks through the atmosphere. There’s also a “Mirai Satellite” broadcast on the news, showing what I assume is a prediction of the collision.
If you don’t pay attention, it’s easy to assume that events happened when they really didn’t, or that there were inconsistencies in the size of whatever is crashing into Earth.
Anyway, with the memories being weirdly inconsistent, the addition of an email that triggers after the memories are shown makes me believe the father planted them there.

The actual MV isn’t so great, but if you couple it with the behind-the-scenes video, it’s quite nice.

Also, this sketch is beautiful.

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#11

I saw this video being circulated in the Kaza chat a while back, but I didn’t actually watch it until Gigguk (a good friend of my favorite anime reviewer, Arkada) recommended it on his personal channel. While I didn’t do a “Shinji Ikari” before the video, I thought it was fantastic. Shelter is a good instance of minimalistic storytelling with not only high-quality visuals, but an exceptional music track accompanying it if you’re into electronica.

Now, while I do agree that the film emotionally moved me, I don’t think it was as powerful as the best Key or Ryukishi07 works could have evoked. I’m definitely impressed that such a short video was able to move me, but being on here and Rokkenjima has taught me that there’s more value to a good story than just how it resonates with someone emotionally. Shelter feels rather bleak with its story, but its message is hopeful. I tend to associate this sort of storytelling more with Makoto Shinkai than Key, but I can see why people would make that sort of comparison.

The fact that people are clamoring for a full-length movie version of this is a testament of how good storytelling is just as important to the future of anime as pretty visuals or good music. Although the ultimate point of this video was to advertise music, it may have become an unintentional reminder of what anime should be as a storytelling medium and an art form. I have a good feeling this video may stand the test of time better than most currently airing anime today.

tl;dr I’m totally buying this song come Christmas. :smile:

#12

A lot of people have been telling me that they found Shelter to be really moving and beautiful… But honestly I couldn’t help but think it was quite the opposite, and a bit… morbid… And I can’t say that I was particular enticed by this as much as most people.

Animation was great, don’t get me wrong. But the idea of sending your daughter into space, left drifting in more or less a vegetative state is not something I would be comfortable doing to someone, let alone my own daughter… With all humanity wiped, there was never any glimmer of hope for survival, procreation, or anything for that matter. I would be more content with just… Dying together and being by her side. But I digress.

Song was dope.

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#13

I couldn’t possibly disagree more. The shelter is a beautiful display of parental love by means of which a father has granted his child not only pure survival, but an actual life. A life in luxury. He knew the world she lived in was on the brink of destruction, so he created a new one. A whole new world, just for her. A world as vast as her mind (in other words: infinite). That’s the most amazing gift imaginable in that situation.

The only thing he could not give her was company. But did grant her time. Enough time and the means to grow up and become strong enough to deal with loneliness.

The thought of simply choosing to have her die with him, being content with spending HIS last moments with her even though she could be saved… Don’t take it personally, but I cannot view it as anything but selfishness.

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#14

That’s one way of looking at it. But…

That in and of itself is what irks me about the story of this music video.
If there’s one Little Busters! taught me, it’s that escapism and hiding from real issues is a form of weakness, because everyone has to face the world no matter how cruel.

I don’t really feel that the girl was truly granted a ‘gift’ as you put it.
In reality she has no hope, because there is nothing left. She’s guaranteed to pass away at some point like every one else. Only in her case, it will most likely happen unknowingly, which is kind of sad.

I realise that’s a bit fatalistic, but this is in summation of why I don’t really like the concept of Shelter.

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#15

The point of facing the world is to regain your ability to live in it instead of remaining at a standstill (aka being dead inside). Choosing instant death in order to display some kind of “strength” is not only putting the cart before the horse, it’s just utterly and entirely pointless. And even if it wasn’t, that’s Rin’s decision to make, NOT her father’s! Choosing the death of an innocent child in an attempt to uphold some lofty value that won’t benefit absolutely anyone sure as heck doesn’t sound like strength to me!

What would there be to gain by letting Rin die? She was too young to understand what was going on. She’d just die in ignorance. Only by surviving and maintaining a healthy mind does she get a chance of growing up, actually comprehending reality and finally facing it. And that’s exactly what happened in the video! Isn’t that what you wanted to happen?

Because she will die eventually, she might as well die right away? The only thing she’s lacking, really, is company. So what exactly makes her life not worth living in your eyes? The fact that she won’t see her father again? The fact that she has no hope of meeting another person? That she probably won’t escape the shelter? But there is no other world to live in. Does nothing else matter anymore? Does living have no value whatsoever if you’ll be forever alone? Even if you don’t actually feel lonely? Even though you have found the strength to keep living despite how tough your circumstances are? What’s wrong about living on???

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#16

The song was great and the animation was pretty good too. The video did a nice job at portraying the narrative and it actually matched the audio to the video to control tone.

The story itself was simple and entertaining, but nothing exceptional. I was kinda surprised when I heard people cried from this, but to each their own I guess.

Overall 7/10

#17

I can understand how you could have derived that interpretation from the story, and I agree that it does seem like that at the beginning, where she has no idea what’s gonna happen to her and she has stopped thinking about it. However, you’re forgetting that Rin is a dynamic character. Her receiving the memories from the past signifies her ascent from a fake reality. Furthermore, she not only accepted the truth, but decided to channel these painful memories into strength to keep on living. If she died as a child, then she truly would be a victim of escapism, as she would have been too young to comprehend the occurring disaster. In contrast to your idea, I felt that dying early would truly signify the end of all hope. I believe that her father wanted her to “go forward believing in the future even when [she] realize[s] [her] loneliness”, as it is mentioned in his letter, in the form of his final words.

In creations like these, the message is more important than the actual sequence of events, in my opinion. I’m actually surprised that you were able reach such a different conclusion than me on the same concept of facing the world, no matter how cruel it is, but your thoughts do make sense, so they are not “wrong”. (it just goes to show how different peoples’ minds think). Ultimately, it’s just that I don’t think Porter was going for something like that so it would be kind of a misinterpretation of his work. But hey, there’s not really a “correct” interpretation either so…yeah, im just gonna leave it at that. :slight_smile:

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#18

You guys are talking like you know there is no other life for her. She was being sent along a projected trajectory, so there must have been a reason to send her there. We can also assume that if a single dad was able to create a rocket and launch her along that trajectory, there must have been previous efforts to do similar things. I don’t think you can throw away the possibility that previous colonization efforts may have happened.

I’m getting more of a Pale Cocoon vibe from it.

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#19

I like to think that she found company with her memories. I think @bionic is right in saying that this is a coming of age. This is her whose memories have been sealed away so she wouldn’t feel pain from so much loneliness, who eventually grows up to accept that her father is no longer physically beside her, and mature enough to find happiness from being with her memories of her father. It’s quite bittersweet.

The art is gorgeous, I agree. The song is nice. It’s not going to be a favorite, but it’s catchy.

As for piano cover, Theishter has one. okay somebody else liked it already ahaha

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#20

Rather a bit late, but I will just give my thoughts on the matter for Shelter as I do have somethings to say the least for my end.

One thing I will give credit is the visual presentation, as it captured some pretty nice effect and viewpoints, reflection to the female protagonist, along with the fluid animation by Megumi Kouno. Another thing though is the music which is actually pretty catchy as hell for me, heck I have it on my new phone which I listen to it when I can.

The story itself even thought it was rather short, it was rather emotional ride, even more impactful than the Kagerou Project songs which are probably the ones that made me cry the most, but this made me cry a lot more than them due to how the visual presentation and the way it was telling the story, and yeah its supposed to be turned into interpretation, which I guess to say for me in a short perspective:

The father wanted to protect her daughter and wanted her to be saved, so he worked his hardest to at the very least create a shelter for her so she can be alive and well, showcasing what a father could do, sacrificing every single second in order to protect the one he cares for, which is his daughter at the very least, but at the same time we see within those memories those times that they spent together, creating memories in which showcases the bond between the two of them, and how the end resulted that this was all created by a father’s love and care for her. Of course, the ending is rather bitter sweet since it showcased the ending… But I think it was well done to put things through.

In the end, I did enjoyed it a lot, loved everything about it of course.

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