Totsukuni no Shoujo, or The Girl from the Other Side: Siuil, a Run, is a manga that's only been around for the past few years. I happen to own the entire manga, and I can say that it's a wonderful, charming, intriguing, even creepy manga that's rich with engaging characters, making fantastic use of its simplistic art style, has a wonderful atmosphere, and the story, while not necessarily epic, has a lot to keep you intrigued. When I heard that a short OVA was going to be made, packaged with the eighth volume, I knew I had to see it. It helps it was made by Wit Studio, who worked on shows such as Attack on Titan, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, The Ancient Magus' Bride, and so on. Now that I've seen it, I admit I'm rather biased on this one, but I can't bring myself to deny it: I think I may have found not only the best OVA to come out in years, but one of my new favorite anime of all time.

This short animation features absolutely no spoken dialogue, using only music, sound effects, and animation to tell its story. Since I've read the manga, I'll fill you in on what's what: The story centers on a young girl, Shiva, and her guardian, a mysterious demonic creature known simply as Teacher. The two live a nice, cozy life in the quiet countryside, but with a catch: Teacher cannot touch Shiva, as he's part of a race of demons that can curse humans just by touching them, so the two live together without any physical interaction between one another. The OVA doesn't adapt anything from the manga specifically, showing just a brief scene of them enjoying their day together, like cooking a meal and reading together. But they do say less is more, and the OVA basically lets the music and the animation tell the story all by itself, and here it works awesomely well.

The animation style, to me can be described as a mix of both...Ed Edd n Eddy and Ghibli's Princess Kaguya movie. Yeah, an odd analogy, right? The OVA has a very distinct animation style, with beautifully rendered backgrounds that make fantastic use of color. The characters are drawn in a shaky, charcoal stick kind of style, and even as they stay still, their outlines are always moving, like Ed Edd n Eddy, but more similar to something like calligraphy on parchment, like Ghibli's Kaguya. The animation basically conveys the characters' personalities and emotions all on its own, from Shiva's dreaming turning from happy and colorful to dark and gritty when she has a nightmare, Teacher and the scenery around him turning into a scraggly, charcoal mess when he finds Shiva is missing and is frantically looking for her, to the dandelions swaying in the breeze, there is not a single wasted frame here, and the OVA has an incredible sense of detail. The nooks in the tables and tupperware, the beauty of a night sky being reflected on lake water, the characters making their own food, and the characters are always doing something meaningful that may not impact the story but brings so much life to them, the setting, and the world it takes place in. I don't have much to say about the soundtrack, other than that it also does a great job at setting the mood of a scene, from frenzied and frantic when Teacher realizes Shiva is gone, to airy and upbeat when Shiva is playing. Pianos and violins are used here to great effect.

Just from the OVA alone, we don't know much about Shiva and Teacher, as they aren't named in the OVA, nor do they talk, but the OVA tells you all you need to know about them through their expressions and actions. Shiva's a cute little girl who loves to play around and Teacher is her dutiful, stoic guardian who takes care of her despite being unable to touch her. They're not particularly complex on the surface, but the animation conveys so much of their personalities with so little, and does it so well, you can easily glean what they're like without the need for dialogue. Plus, sometimes it's nice to just sit back and watch some characters hang out and spend time together, without the need to think too much about anything.

I don't think I need to say much more other than this: Go see it! This was great on its own, so I'll take what I can get, and for what it is, it's a wonderful way to waste ten minutes, especially if you're a diehard animation fan.