In this omnibus animation created by four directors. Tsukumo and Combustible are miniature animations maximizing the traditional Japanese artistic sensibility of the Edo period. Tsukumo is exceptional in the detailed craftwork of the patterns in props such as the bell and kimono. Combustible paints a beautiful Ykiyo-e like art inside a scroll. Gambo portrays a girl who is to be the last sacrifice made to appease a red monster that causes havoc in a village. The girl meets a white bear, and the bear and the monster fight a duel. The red monster’s ugliness and the white bear’s holiness seem to point to a fight between two monsters not accepted in human society, and at the same time a thirst for peace that is achieved with the noble bear’s sacrifice. The last film Farewell to Weapon is remarkable for the action between the platoon and Gonk in the ruins of future Tokyo, as well as vivid in its rendering of an apocalyptic world. The four films’ recurring images of destruction and apocalypse make us wonder about the impending doom in Japan. (PARK Inho)