ShortCircuited

In an artificial world colored in faded tones of grays and browns, the past has long been obscured - forgotten even.

“There are things you want to stay the same.”

The story follows Ura and Riko, workers in the Excavation Department, who are one of the few employees left. Before, the Department actively restored data from ages past in an effort to learn more about what the world used to be like, but as people saw more and more of what they lost - what no longer exists, they could no longer bear the stark contrast with their dreary reality.

Pale Cocoon felt much like a story of how truth can bring both despair and hope. Bring people together and have them drift apart. And the truth is not always what it seems (a recurring theme in Yasuhiro Yoshiura’s works).

But people still seek their truths.

“Blue.”

Edit: Forgot to append with the critique.

Pale Cocoon was an interesting watch and in the short time the story unfolds, we are exposed to many different ideas: environmentalism, apathy, pursuit of truth… the list goes on. Of course, due to the length, this animated short doesn’t get a chance to say too much either, but maybe its for the best, as the watcher is then left to fill in the blanks - we are only shown just enough, most of the characters thoughts and feelings are expressed through dialogue and action. This also means there doesn’t seem to be much weight to the story however, and with no strong central message, we aren’t always sure what was the point of this OVA (as can be seen in the different interpretations by various people) and I found that I had to watch this more than once to fully appreciate it. This is a bittersweet story and the heavily melancholic overtones that cumulate into a largely satisfying ending make this recommendable, but it isn’t for everyone.