The Dance of the Chagamas: A charming, dusty relic

Is it worth your time?

If you're a animation nerd, absolutely. If you want a modern, polished story, you’re going to be bored out of your mind. It’s barely a few minutes long, but those minutes feel like a time capsule from a world where drawing on celluloid was still a black magic trick.

The whole thing has this frantic, jumpy energy. You can tell Kenzô Masaoka was pushing the medium to see how much movement he could actually squeeze onto the screen at once. Sometimes the tanukis move in ways that make my eyes hurt, but it’s impossible to look away. It’s just so jittery.

The temple setting is oddly peaceful until the tanukis show up. Then it’s just pure chaos. They’re knocking things over, dancing, and generally acting like little furry hoodlums. It reminded me a bit of the slapstick you’d see in Tramping Tramps, but with way more whiskers and temple bells.

The line work is honestly impressive. You can see the wobbles, the tiny mistakes, and the sheer effort it took to keep these characters consistent from one frame to the next. It makes the digital perfection we have now look kind of cold, you know? Like, you can actually feel the ink on the page.

I found myself staring at the backgrounds more than the characters. They have this flat, washed-out look that feels very 1930s. It’s not trying to be realistic, but it nails the vibe of a temple you’d be scared to enter at night. 🏮

Is it a masterpiece? No. It’s a messy, loud, and weirdly hypnotic experiment. Sometimes that’s exactly what you need. It’s definitely not as grand as The Princess's Dilemma, but it’s got a weird little personality of its own. Just don't go in expecting a Pixar movie.

• The sound design (or lack thereof) makes the silence feel heavy.
• Some of the tanuki expressions are genuinely terrifying if you pause at the right frame.
• It's the kind of thing you watch once and remember forever, even if you can't explain why.