The rules of Otokoyo are simple: seven children go into an abandoned city after dark. They are hunted by demons, and some will go missing.
This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Kakurenbo: Hide and Seek (2004), the 25-minute cel-shaded short film written and directed by Shuhei Morita, and one of the most atmospheric pieces of anime horror ever made in a single sitting's runtime.
The film takes place in a derelict, neon-lit corner of Tokyo that has been quietly quarantined by the supernatural, a Kowloon-inspired labyrinth of crumbling tenements and flickering signs where children have been disappearing for as long as anyone can remember. Seven children gather here to play a supernatural game of hide and seek, where the children are hunted by demons, and those who get caught vanish forever.
We discuss how well Kakurenbo uses its limited runtime, how the industrialization metaphor lands, and how much we miss Adult Swim attempting to freak you out if you watched it in the early hours of the morning.
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