[Anime Review] Pale Cocoon - A Forgotten Gem About Being Forgotten

Disclosure: this is my number 2 favorite Anime property of all time and has been such for about 15 years now. The studio that made it haven’t done a massive amount over the decades but most definitely fit the “Indie” title. Welcome to my review.

What It Is

This one-off OVA (original video animation; think short film or limited episodes TV series released outside of theatres and television networks) is one part mystery, one part music video and another part barely not a stage play. It takes place in a future archive where people catalog and attempt to restore lost history after mass overpopulation has made the Earth uninhabitable. It also has a limited cast with a supporting cameo from the director himself in an early scene.

What It Isn’t

It’s not a character piece. There’s barely any dialogue (outside of the music video portion and a small handful of early conversations). It will live and die on how much you enjoy its presentation and blending of a few different styles to tell its story and build its world.

Before You Read Any Further

Go watch this on Youtube or Crunchyroll (apparently only available in certain regions outside of the United States according to this link). It won’t take long at all. I don’t plan to spoil anything major but due to how short this is, anything I say could still possibly ruin the experience for you beyond this point. You have been warned.

What Impressed Me

Early to mid 2000s 3D CGI often has been a miss for me. Here, that’s not the case at all. I think the visual style is phenomenal even by today’s standards. The vast majority of environments were crafted to not be photorealistic or high poly but instead stylized with a heavy usage of blacks, whites and greys with a synthetic yet modern feel. If you’ve played or seen the game Mirror’s Edge (the original, not the prequel), that’s probably the closest comparison I could make. Outside of the archives and cubicles where those were processed and viewed, the walls, hallways, doors and general human-populated areas were very sterile and bright with much of it lacking true detail. It was very post apocalyptic but not a wasteland. Instead, much of the infrastructure felt uncared for and left to rot.

The standout part of the visual presentation that could be divisive (but impressed me nonetheless) were the character designs and how they fit into this world. There were only three faced characters, and their expressions and physical movements could be classified as very stiff. Early on, there’s a scene where people were leaving the facility in a group but most of them had no noticeable facial features and all were presented like they were made of cardboard, protruding out of the 3D backgrounds in a way that made it feel intentional. All of them also had a very washed out, almost aged photographic sepia tone filter to them, making them stand out from the backgrounds while also not feeling bizarre or out of place. It’s a visual style that has been done very poorly in the past but is strikingly distinct here.

Prior to Pale Cocoon, the director, Yasuhiro Yoshiura, had been credited with doing a variety of music videos for various acts; here, it took up around one-third of the story’s runtime, and it’s well integrated into the greater mystery and themes. Outside of anything related to audio, according to the official studio page (linked at the bottom), this entire project was animated solely by the director himself. I only recently discovered that fact while researching for this review. This right here blows my mind when I see it.

The vast majority of the presentation lives in the sound of machinery creeking and churning in the background, the steps of characters that may or may not be there, the whirring of computers as they process data, and the voices of the four cast members. Outside of the music video, and the opening and ending scenes, there was barely any music at all on display. If any one part of the soundwork hadn’t been finely tuned to fit my tastes, this might not have been as impactful for me. I am big on sound and this never disappoints.

What Disappointed Me

Few people know of this online. I found it only because of a fan made music video combining multiple different properties together with the main male lead of this piece being timed to the singer’s voice (The Search For Others; there are heavy spoilers in it in places). Its studio’s work typically doesn’t release outside of Japan in any official capacity, so this is very obscure to Western audiences. There’s also not a continuation or side story tied directly into the mystery that further fleshes out the world that was built in a tiny space here. I have watched this about three times over the years, and I yearn for more each and every time I finish. I also cry at the finale.

The studio and director are still active in the industry to this day; in 2021, they collaborated with JC Staff to release the musical film “Let Me Listen to Ai’s Singing Voice” (also titled “Sing a Bit of Harmony” by Funimation before their closure). You can find out more information about it here.

My Final Thoughts

Go watch this. Go talk about it. Be that person that may not enjoy it but still discusses it with others online and in real life. Thank you for your time and reading this review. Please respond in the comments down below, vote, and reblog this. Follow me if you want to be notified of more Anime reviews in the future and check out my previous ones.

Important Info

• 23-Minute OVA
• Studio: Rikka
• Genres: Science Fiction, Mystery, Music Video, Seinen
• Season / Episodes: Winter 2006, 1 Episode
• Recommendations For Similar Content: Juniper’s Knot (free Renpy-based short visual novel with a similar style of storytelling); Ergo Proxy (for the Post-Apocalyptic fans that want something different)