Sankichi the Monkey: The Storm Troopers is a bizarre, violent trip

Is it worth your time?

If you have any interest in the weird, forgotten corners of animation, then yes. If you’re looking for a relaxing bedtime story, keep walking. This isn't exactly the warm, fuzzy stuff of modern cartoons.

It’s barely ten minutes long, but it manages to pack in more artillery fire than most full-length features. Mitsuyo Seo was clearly aiming for something specific here, even if that specific thing was just 'monkeys using tanks.'

The vibe is... aggressive.

There’s this one sequence where the bears are advancing, and the animation gets surprisingly frantic. It’s not smooth, but it has this raw, jittery energy that I kind of loved. You can see the hand-drawn nature in every frame, like the artist was working under a deadline that was breathing down his neck.

The whole thing feels like a fever dream you’d have after eating too much cheese before bed. Why are they fighting? Does it matter? Not really, because the next scene is just a barrage of makeshift weaponry.

A few random notes

• The bears look genuinely menacing in a way that feels almost like a caricature of propaganda.
• I spent way too long wondering how the monkeys keep their helmets on. It’s the little things that distract you.
• The music is… a lot. It doesn't stop. Ever.

It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in High and Dizzy, even if the subject matter is totally different. They both share that sense of 'let’s just go for it and see what happens' that you don't really get in big studio stuff today.

I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but it’s definitely not boring. It’s a weird, scrappy piece of work. You can almost feel the pencil lead hitting the paper in some of those faster shots. 🐒🐻

It’s worth a look if you’re curious about how people were doing visual storytelling nearly a century ago. Just don't go in expecting polish. It’s better that way, honestly.