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https://youtu.be/CPvc_J5a_x4

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My subject is dreams. I have collected a lot of cult animations, they all have a heavy world view, complicated character relationships, nonsensical and full of violent and bloody plots.

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My subject is dreams. I have collected a lot of cult animations, they all have a heavy world view, complicated character relationships, nonsensical and full of violent and bloody plots.

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As the three protagonists of the story, Makoto, Yanye, and the world represent in reality what Japanese culture says: heart, language, and body. In Japanese dojos, there is often a calligraphy like "One Heart and One Body". The next understanding is that it requires martial artists to first achieve the unity of body and mind, that is, the same words and deeds, which is the so-called: honesty! Only by breaking the shackles of words can people deepen mutual understanding, achieve unity and gain real strength. Because the strength of one person is always weak, the unity of mind and body is the foundation for the race to survive in the cruel reality. It's a bit farther...Going back to the three of Cheng, Yan Ye, and the world, the feelings between them are actually the feelings of one person reflected in reality. Cheng's love for Yan Ye is the pursuit of beautiful things in his heart; the world's temptation to sincerity is that feelings are swayed by reality.
The three-step Japanese-style emotional transmission: convey the heart by words, by body, and by heart. In reality, there are very few people who can do the last step; the way of expressing the mind by body also includes the expression of the body and action; and the most widely used is the way of conveying the heart by words, so at the end of the story, only the words are left. ...But it will be a sad world again

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The characters and plot of this work are weird and cruel, it seems that there is no logical connection, but it seems to say something.
Judging from the superficial story, Mao Tang managed to help his sister retrieve the soul through a brother cat, but in the end he was destroyed in vain. It seems to tell the story of what seems to be completely normal and ordinary behavior, which is ubiquitous. Violence, and this kind of violence often requires a change of perspective to see clearly. In our daily life, we actually neglect the evil of the behavior itself, intentionally or unintentionally, so that we can live with peace of mind. Perhaps, this is human.
If we are eating watermelon, we will not consider the two little ants on the watermelon. Although the two little ants in the film may be sisters and brothers, they have exhausted their lives trying to fight with fate. In other words, human sympathy will only affect the existence of a higher degree of similarity to oneself. This is actually a kind of self-protection of life, because if you have unlimited sympathy, you can do nothing and you have to starve to death. Perhaps this is the essence of all life. In order to protect itself, low-entropy organizations always need to make the surrounding environment more chaotic. In this way, this fact is really shocking, ruthless but helpless.

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In the opening scene, Jin Min wants to show Wei Ma's switching between the concert and daily life. Her life includes performing such a gorgeous part in front of fans, as well as daily ordinary parts. Here in the subway, Jin Min uses Wei Ma's gesture of tempo when listening to a song, and cuts to another scene-Wei Ma's similar arm dance movement during the performance, that is, the same movement is used to make the scene transition. This method makes the lens connection very smooth, and this editing method (thimble lens) is also Jinmin's iconic style.
Wei Ma back home, this scene when she was watching the little fish she raised. Jin Min emphasized this composition. The picture is divided into two. Wei Ma on the left side of the screen looks at the fish in the fish tank, while someone is watching Wei Ma outside at the same time. This kind of composition is used a lot. You are looking at others, and others are looking at you.
The first murder scene. At the exit of this underground parking lot, Jin Min also made a 4:3 ratio. It symbolizes that every day here is like a TV, staged scenes.
Jinmin also said that similar methods can be used to express sadness. First express some daily things, and then create sadness through contrast. It's better than exaggerating sadness at the beginning.

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A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated viewings, dialogue-quoting, and audience participation. Inclusive definitions allow for major studio productions, especially box office bombs, while exclusive definitions focus more on obscure, transgressive films shunned by the mainstream. The difficulty in defining the term and subjectivity of what qualifies as a cult film mirror classificatory disputes about art. The term cult film itself was first used in the 1970s to describe the culture that surrounded underground films and midnight movies, though cult was in common use in film analysis for decades prior to that.

Cult films trace their origin back to controversial and suppressed films kept alive by dedicated fans. In some cases, reclaimed or rediscovered films have acquired cult followings decades after their original release, occasionally for their camp value. Other cult films have since become well-respected or reassessed as classics; there is debate as to whether these popular and accepted films are still cult films. After failing in the cinema, some cult films have become regular fixtures on cable television or profitable sellers on home video. Others have inspired their own film festivals. Cult films can both appeal to specific subcultures and form their own subcultures. Other media that reference cult films can easily identify which demographics they desire to attract and offer savvy fans an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge.

Cult films frequently break cultural taboos, and many feature excessive displays of violence, gore, sexuality, profanity, or combinations thereof. This can lead to controversy, censorship, and outright bans; less transgressive films may attract similar amounts of controversy when critics call them frivolous or incompetent. Films that fail to attract requisite amounts of controversy may face resistance when labeled as cult films. Mainstream films and big budget blockbusters have attracted cult followings similar to more underground and lesser known films; fans of these films often emphasize the films' niche appeal and reject the more popular aspects. Fans who like the films for the wrong reasons, such as perceived elements that represent mainstream appeal and marketing, will often be ostracized or ridiculed. Likewise, fans who stray from accepted subcultural scripts may experience similar rejection.

Since the late 1970s, cult films have become increasingly popular. Films that once would have been limited to obscure cult followings are now capable of breaking into the mainstream, and showings of cult films have proved to be a profitable business venture. Overbroad usage of the term has resulted in controversy, as purists state it has become a meaningless descriptor applied to any film that is the slightest bit weird or unconventional; others accuse Hollywood studios of trying to artificially create cult films or use the term as a marketing tactic. Films are frequently stated to be an "instant cult classic" now, occasionally before they are released. Fickle fans on the Internet have latched on to unreleased films only to abandon them later on release. At the same time, other films have acquired massive, quick cult followings, owing to spreading virally through social media. Easy access to cult films via video on demand and peer-to-peer file sharing has led some critics to pronounce the death of cult films.

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"It would have been not interesting if I had given all that info in advance." Harada wrote me in a recent e-mail. "I wanted surprise. The audience suddenly encountering something totally unexpected - that was the point."
Now, what is Shojo Tsubaki? Well, it's animated, it's on celluloid, it is about a poor young girl who lives a hard life in a freak show circus, and its scenes often switch from being extremely kawaii to extremely graphic, violent, and at times oozing into the territory of far-out sexual fetishism. Sex among disfigured freaks, eye-ball-licking, rape by a disgusting, diseased... it's all there. And yet, Midori, the main character, does find true love here... and then things turn violent again... You never know where the movie is heading. You can't even guess what dangers or pleasures might be coming Midori's way from one second to the next.
Shojo Tsubaki is set in the early years of the Showa emperor's reign, the late 1920s in the Western calender. The original inspiration for the film dates from around the same time: a kami shibai performance going under the same title. Kami shibai translates to 'paper play' or 'picture show' and it dates back to the middle ages. A storyteller would tell a fantastical story in busy market places or wherever else he could find an audience, illustrating his story with a series of drawings. Often, his story was written on the back of the cardboards displaying the pictures to make it easier to do the performance and also to enable the storyteller to sell copies of his act afterwards.
Shojo Tsubaki (which literally means Camelia Girl) is said to have been originally created by a legendary kami shibai performer from the 1920s working under the name Seiun. It was a lengthy performance back then, consisting of 21 chapters and lasting for several hours. One of those original sets of pictures still survives and the play actually has been performed at times as part of the Shojo Tsubaki film events.
The paper play tells the story of a poor family whose father went too far into gambling debts. He runs away and lets the others fend for themselves. Midori, his daughter, goes into the business of flower selling. It's a sad job and one day she is kidnapped by two men and sold to a travelling girl's revue theater where she performs under the name Tsubaki Midori.
In the early 1980s, underground manga artist Suehiro Maruo began to turn the old kami shibai into one of his own disturbing picture stories. The earliest evidence I could dig up was in his 1982 book Das Ungetum der Rosenstck in which the beginning of his unique take on the Midori story is shaping up. The title of the book is of course some sort of flawed German. Though his grasp of the language might have been lacking, Maruo was deeply influenced by 1920s German expressionism and his heroes were Nosferatu, Marlene Dietrich and Doctor Caligari. They all figure prominently in the book - and the drawing style is a fascinating mix of Weimar German influences and vintage Japanese. Truly mesmerizing stuff.
Lullaby had already strong Maruo-esque tendencies: an unpredictable, sexually-charged story, experimental techniques and a main character who underwent a wide variety of forms of bizarre abuse. Even the drawing style appears to be heavily inspired by Maruo. So it seems almost logical that Harada choose a real Maruo as his next project: Shojo Tsubaki.
Knowing that this would demand much bigger resources than his previous films, he went back to the studios and tried to find financing. None was to be found at all. The subject matter of Maruo's book simply scared all potential investors away. Undeterred, Harada sacrificed his life savings, even went to money lending outfits to keep going. Maruo himself had told him "to make the film any way he wanted", as Harada told me. They did stay in close contact during the production period, though, with Maruo providing readings of old-fashioned kanji he had used in his book, advising on what colors to use for scenes and otherwise providing a great influx of ideas - some of which Harada then used. Maruo also lent his original source material to Harada, photo books on Tokyo of the period for example.
Harada started the great work in 1987 - and then continued drawing for 5 years, all by himself. Every single image of the movie was drawn by just one man alone! Harada did however receive a great deal of volunteer support from the Tokyo underground scene of the time for the final completion of his work: from musicians who provided the soundtrack, animators, people at independent documentary film studios, theater groups, even S/M clubs.
In 1992, the premiere of Shojo Tsubaki was held as a giant spectacle in a red tent on the grounds of Mitake Jinja, a Tokyo Shinto Shrine. Amidst strange decorations and exhibits, undergound theater group Aka Neko Za (Red Cat Theater) staged acts which are also performed by the freaks in the movie, and smoke was blown into the audience.
Here's what was projected onto the big screen: To a collage of violent freak show images, an announcer screams out what kind of an incredible story the audience is about to witness - in rhyming vintage carney lingo which almost no young Japanese would be able to understand. Then Midori, a poor girl about the age of 12, selling flowers in 1920s Tokyo. One of her regular customers is a strange man she calls "Mister Bowler Hat" due to the hat he wears. One night, she comes back home and finds her mother dead in her bed, rats already feading on her corpse. She runs away... With nowhere to go she turns to "Mr. Bowler Hat", who turns out to be a freak show impressario going under the name of Mr. Arashi. She joins his travelling circus... and right from the beginning becomes the focus of endless abuse by the real freaks, grotesquely disfigured perverts with bizarre fetishes and giant egos to boot. Relief comes in the form of Wonder Masanitsu, a magician who can squeeze his entire body through the tiny opening of a glass bottle. She falls in love with him but Masanitsu has powerful dark sides too...
It's an animation film, for sure, but the animation is extremely limited. In many instances, it's just a series of drawings, held together by music and dialogues... a modern-day kami shibai. Which of course is quite fitting to the origins of the tale and the time it takes place in.
More screenings of the film followed in rapid succession. Harada himself developed a new modus operandus of screening the work which made it even more difficult to access: he handed audience members who had made a reservation a map of a residential neighborhood. The people had to follow cryptic signs like dolls placed on street corners or folks in strange attire standing by the street to evenutally find an unassuming building and enter its basement. There they were handed candles and had to make their way through a dark labyrinth of corridors and rooms before they could enter the actual venue. Couples were separated, smoke was blown in, fans blew paper snippets resembling cherry blossom petals. While the film ran, theater group members threw objects at the audience that were also thrown around on screen...