Petting a Dog

I don't write reviews... usually score just say if anime is good or bad, but this time? This time I had to break my own rules and say something that I can't with the score, because there is no 20/10; I can't gave my firstborn to the animators as thanks and I can't even express how much my life changed after watching that anime...

The masterpiece that made even Miyazaki change his opinion and he said that anime was great thing after watching this anime.

Thank you for existing Petting a Dog, I will always cherish you in my heart

Petting a Dog is more than just Petting a Dog. Truly, it is a metaphor for life, humble under God I preach. To those who haven’t watched it yet, I guarantee it will be worth your time the predecessor to the Frieren Borger scene, a lifetime in 3 seconds. Petting a Dog revealed to me the truths of the universe allowing me to become one under Ishtar in just 16 seconds.

The protagonist pets just a dog. but spiritually? He pets us. He pets the soul. He pets the trauma out of my childhood. In that single episode, I experienced the entire Hero’s Journey, five stages ... of grief, and the Third Impact.

And don't get me started on the animation. It looked as if ufotable sold there soul. To think it was just one guy. I felt the Japanese sallery man intternaly dieing only the works of Goya came to mind the repressed pain transcending time and space to truly look inwards and ascend through our own empty reflection.

Kami sama

TL;DR: There is a dog who is being petted. Need I say more?

From the visionary animator Masaki Okuda who directed ONAs such as Count Down, Idea ga Tsukamamaranai and the unfinished project OO1, comes an ONA that’s the shortest he can ever make called “Petting a Dog.” This brilliant MS Paint animation may only be 16 seconds long but it’s definitely the sweet 16 seconds of your life!

The story is simple. It didn’t try to make it complex. No added themes or imagery or motifs. Just a simple message of "loving thy animal" is portrayed throughout this ONA. You would think from the ... looks of it there is one main character in the show but the second character’s appearance what really takes it to the next level. You feel so connected with the emotion that not only do you sympathize with the dog, you start empathizing with it. That’s pretty big. Not a lot of directors know how to do that…yet.

The art and the sound are in perfectly in sync with the animation style. Okuda really wanted to invoke the traditional MS Paint animation style most animators started off with. This nostalgic feeling paired with the action of petting a dog really hits you home with the coziness one feels experiencing this ONA brilliance!

Overall, it will be a crime to not watch this ONA (unless you are allergic to dogs). I can guarantee this ONA has a huge replayability factor to further boost this already boosted ONA. You will surely watch it over and over again as you try to grasp the message behind this ONA savouring the sweet 16 feeling you once felt during your 16th birthday.

I hope you found this review as helpful as finding a red dog and petting it!