Momotaro Goes Diving: A Weirdly Charming Underwater Trip

Is it worth your time?

If you have any interest in the history of animation, absolutely. It is short, weird, and has that specific hand-crafted energy you just don't see anymore. If you need high-definition polish or a plot that makes perfect logical sense, you might find yourself scratching your head.

It is essentially a folklore hero taking a field trip to the bottom of the ocean. The stakes are low, the shark is mean, and the physics are basically suggestions. 🌊

The Pheasant Situation

I couldn't stop laughing at the internal logic here. The Pheasant can't swim, so he just stays behind. It’s such a practical, dry reason to exclude a main character. No dramatic sacrifice, just: 'You'll drown, stay here.'

It reminds me a bit of the casual pacing in Ride Him, Cowboy where things just happen because the story demands it. No fuss, no long-winded setup.

Odd Little Details

• The underwater movement feels like watching a dream through a layer of gauze.
• The shark looks like it was drawn by someone who heard a description of a shark but never actually saw one.
• The silence in some scenes is actually quite nice compared to modern cartoons that won't stop making noise for a second.

There is this one sequence where the team is preparing to dive that feels like it goes on for an eternity. It is not necessarily bad, but it is definitely stretching the budget. You can almost see the animators thinking, 'Okay, one more frame of them waving goodbye, that should cover the next five seconds.'

It’s a far cry from the grit you find in Body and Soul. It is lighter, sillier, and definitely more interested in being a fable than a heavy drama.

Ultimately, it is a piece of art that exists to be charming. It doesn't ask you to solve a mystery or cry your eyes out. It just asks you to watch a dog and a monkey try to fight a fish. And honestly? I am okay with that.

Don't expect a masterpiece of narrative structure. Expect a weird, grainy, beautiful artifact from a different time. 🐠