qrowe - 2016-02-21 21:27:52

Cencoroll is a 26min movie. The lenght may put some people off but it is a fantastic movie that works well with the short time given. The movie follows the boy protagonist Tetsu, the girl protagonist Yuki and the mysterious shapeshifting blob named Cenco. 
The film is filled with a sense of weirdness and becomes very surreal at times. Especially when the focus is on Cenco and his fellow blobs. The film is a little to short to offer any serious development in the story but it makes up for that by having absolutely fantastic art. 
The character designs are a little plain but manages to be very expressive and convey emotions really well. The animations they make are very fluid and feels natural. This makes it really great watching Cencos transformation scenes which feel very surreal yet somehow natural. 
The film has nearly no music contrasting to most shows that uses music to reinforce emotions in scenes. This absence of music leaves the film with a sense of calmness that at times can be a little disconnecting, but im of the opinion that it helped to really showcase the fluid animation and really suited the film. 
Those who want a short, surreal and weird experience I would recommend this film. It is only 26min so why not?

aron42 - 2015-08-20 14:31:46

انیمش خیلی باحال بود...بنظرم یکی از بهتریناس ... خیلی ازش خوشم اومد و منتظر ادامش هستم

mconn - 2014-05-04 23:51:35

I'm just going to put this out there; this isn't going to be much of a review. Before you start whining and asking for a legitimate review, let me say that the reason this won't be a very long review is because the movie in question is only 26 minutes long. However, it is a very interesting, quirky, peculiar, and enjoyable 26 minutes, and I believe that this deserves an honest review. So, I'm going to voice my thoughts and try not to spoil anything.

Cencoroll takes place in modern Japan, centering around three main characters: Yuki, Tetsu, and a monster named Cenco. Cenco is a weird monster who can transform into anything as long as he's biting it, and seems to follow Tetsu around. An inquisitive Yuki encounters the two and begins to spend more time with them. Honestly, that's all I can really say about this movie without delving into spoilers, but I'll try to talk about the aspects that I really liked vaguely, so you can get an idea of whether or not you'll like this movie.

If you can give this movie any credit, it's one of the most creative and weirdly interesting movies that I've ever seen. The monsters like Cenco have so much mystery surrounding them, but at the same time you don't really care whether or not you learn what exactly they are because the movie doesn't seem to rely on you knowing that fact. The movie's tone was very calm and relaxing somehow, even with all of these unexplained plot holes, and it feels like you're a younger kid again listening to this weird story about transforming monsters. I also really liked the interactions between our two mains, Yuki and Tetsu. To be fair, a lot of people can interpret their interactions as unnatural, but I kind of thought it fit with the strange tone of the movie, so it worked for me. Finally, my favorite aspect of this movie is its art style and animation. It was simple, yet effective. It doesn't have many colors beyond black, white, gray, and green for the backgrounds, but again, it also fit with the tone of the movie; the movie's attitude was that it was just going to present this story to you, and nothing else. The animation was fluid, the shadowing was amazing and gave the characters dimensions, and is just easy on the eyes.

Overall, I give Cencoroll a 3.5 out of 5, and a recommendation to watch it. It's short, memorable, and if you're sick of your average mediocre anime, give it a watch. As always, though, this is only my opinion, and it is up to you to decide yours.

umedhurst - 2014-02-26 01:03:30

As always, my reviews are spoiler free.

It is very difficult to tell a story in less than 30 minutes. In such a short time, a series must introduce the entire cast, explain and enact the full extent of the plot, and actually lead up to an ending that is enjoyable and conclusive.

More often than not, anime in the same vein as Cencoroll are not able to deliver on one or more of these requirements, and as a result there are very few stand-alone OVAs/ONAs that actually leave me satisfied. There have, however, been a few that met or exceeded my expectations: Little Witch Academia, Death Billiards, and the subject of my short review today, Cencoroll. With a sequel in the works, I thought it was time I brought this gem to a few more fans’ attention, at the suggestion of one of my followers.

Story - 6/10

Cencoroll covers a day in the lives of Tetsu and Yuki, with their chance meeting leading them on a short adventure involving some giant blobs of transforming white Play-Doh. Tetsu telepathically controls one of these blobs named Cenco, who can transform into anything, and during one of these transformations a girl named Yuki finds out about their relationship and these strange creatures. When she follows them into town, they are confronted by the “antagonist” of the story, Shuu, who uses his own blob of Plah-Doh to attack. Things get even stranger from there, as they each use their creatures to fight for control of an even bigger one which appears in the center of the city.

While it is difficult to go into depth with such a short story without giving spoilers, I can say a few things.

A 30 minute stand-alone anime like this needs to, as I said above, have a plot that is simple enough to be completely covered in such a short time, but also a story interesting enough to keep the viewer interested or to even attract them in the first place. In this, Cencoroll succeeds, but nothing more.

I want to praise Cencoroll for having an original plot, and that I have never seen anything like it before, but I realized it is just a new coat of paint on the same old story I’ve seen in the likes of Digimon and other children’s anime/cartoons. After all, Cencoroll is just another short anime about monsters transforming and fighting each other.

It is how Cencoroll differentiates itself from these inferior shows that makes Cencoroll something special. Most of these aspects will be covered in the other sections, but the one thing that can be praised here is that it is able to pull off all the whole package of one these monster fighting shows in a tiny fraction of the time, all while actually having some character. The transformations of Cenco and the other Play-Doh monsters into certain objects in combat, such as a walnut and baseball bat, were clever, and the setting they were placed in was rather fitting. The fact these monsters and the world and intricacies surrounding them had to be hidden from the outside world was addressed and actually used as an advantageous plot point rather than being ignored entirely, and for that I applaud it. The town they were in seemed dark and almost hostile from the eyes of the protagonist(s), which is an interesting contrast from the outwardly normal appearance of the city.

The real bonuses come from other aspects of Cencoroll, so let’s keep moving.

Animation - 5/10

The character designs of Cencoroll give off distinct Ghibli vibes to me. They are very simply drawn, but with expressive faces and exaggerated movements unlike the standard robotic motions of most anime characters. This is nothing on the level of Little Witch Academia, but it gets the job done.

The backgrounds are the highlight, and seem to have been meticulously adapted from real world photographs. The detail is astounding, as is the variety of locations and tiny additions to make it feel more real. This seems to be a recurring theme in Cencoroll’s production: realism. The city, characters, and style itself make it seem like this is something that could be happening at your own school, in your own town, right under your nose. It does this subtly, but there seems to be enough aspects pointing to my theory of realism that it makes sense that this was intentional.

The real downside to Cencoroll is the overall quality. Not only is the animation itself relatively poor, the color pallet is incredibly bland and the entire product feels like it has been compressed to a great extent. The vast majority of Cencoroll is blurry, and I feel like I’m watching something from the 1980s, not 2009. It is readily apparent that the budget was not high, but I can’t give it too much heat because it was created almost entirely (written, designed, directed, and animated) by one person, Atsuya Uki.

Sound - 7/10

Being only one episode, Cencoroll chooses to include an introduction rather than an opening, but makes up for it using Supercell’s “Love and Roll” for the ED. Supercell is also responsible for the theme of Cencoroll, and the episode includes a strong backing soundtrack and good effects. The only downside is that there is a significant amount of time with no music at all, and the silence can get tedious.

The voice acting is good, but nothing too memorable.

Characters - 7/10

Cencoroll does an admirable job of giving the small cast of characters personalities in their short time on screen, though it was not able to overcome a few problems with time constraint.

Tetsu is the center of the story, and is, sadly, the most poorly handled character. Because there is so little time, he is given no backstory about his power or meeting with Cenco, and his personality amounts to nothing more than irritable and gruff. As the main character, he really should have been given more development, even if it came at the expense of other characters. Luckily, the remainder of the cast make up for his lack of performance.

One could argue that Yuki is the true protagonist of the story, as the audience follows her point of view a bit more closely than that of Tetsu. While she is given no background either, her circumstances do not really require one, and in the time she is given in the episode she is able to prove that she has a strong will and caring personality. While she starts off as a nuisance to Tetsu, she takes the lead in the latter half of the episode, and I believe the anime is better off for it.

Shu is the antagonist, and proves that one does not need a lot of information to have an enjoyable villain. While it is certainly preferable to have a villain with a strong backstory and motives one can sympathize with, a short story like this just needs a mysterious character who the audience knows is up to no good. That’s really all the audience gets from Shu, and those who have seen Cencoroll know it’s enough.

Cenco, despite not actually having any lines, is still a very interesting character. He still is able to show emotions, and demonstrates his care for the leading duo is visible at many points during the anime.

Enjoyment - 8/10

While Cencoroll is by no means a masterpiece, I can’t think of a better way to spend about half an hour. It has a unique style about it that I haven’t seen in other shorts, and I feel that it is probably worth most any anime fan’s time.

breanna.stiedemann - 2014-01-31 09:45:08

"Cencoroll" is a very fresh and unique story based on the Manga "Amon Game."

Both works were original creations by Atsuya Aki, who created, wrote, directed, and animated (Yes, animated) this film alone.

The only help he had were the Seiyuu, Music, and production by Aniplex. I must say this first before I begin... Thank you Aniplex!

A giant alien shows up on top of a skyscraper, "A boy and his blob" watch over it, "There's another one, are you hungry? You're lazy today, huh?"

The boy's name is Tetsu Amamiya, he owns a blobby alien life form he named Cenco. Cenco can transform into any object imaginable.

There are many more people with the possession of aliens with similar, if not, more unique powers. You have to always be on your toes. Just like the mystery alien that formed on the skyscraper, what is it?

It's a simple story. But the execution, animation, and creativity make this film feel fresh and surprisingly original.

I have not seen artwork like this in an anime, except for maybe Tsuritama (Atsuya Uki was the character designer of Tsuritama).

The animation, character designs, and backgrounds bring out an atmosphere that is full of unique emotions.

The whole development has a feel like it is a piece of art.

There's no musical score in Cencoroll, just an ending theme. It was a good idea, and it fit the production very well.

The Seiyuu all did a great job voicing their respective rolls.

Same in the Sound effects department.

All the characters have that bored teenage mentality to them, but it is never to the point of annoyance.

It's almost like they are all at that stage between childhood and adulthood, there's just no emotion.

It's directed in such a way where it feels realistic and fits the production.

---

I knew that I was going to enjoy this show, but I enjoyed it even more than that. The atmosphere alone is worth it, and the artwork is just beautiful.

This man Atsuya Uki, really has talent.

This is a production I would purchase if it was possible.

It's very well thought out, and executed.

Keep on the look out for this one, it's a very original production worthy of the 30 minutes of your time.