Don't let the bright pink colors fool you, this animation by Sawako Kabuki is not meant for children's eyes. With its images of masturbating, defecating and puking “Master Blaster” does not comply with the general notion of Japanese animation filled with cute characters. But it would be just as wrong to dismiss her work as just sexual innuendo set to music.
So, just like Sawako Kabuki's previous work, “Master Blaster” does not steer clear of sexual orientated imagery. However, even if at first sight her films are all about phalluses, anuses and in this case intestines, but there is more than meets the eye. In essence, the main theme of Sawako Kabuki's work is love. Here she uses the image of girls desiring to hide in the rectum of the person they like or devouring someone's head to toe as a metaphor for wanting to be together forever. It might sound rather sordid but the director ads humor to it and there are some tender moments too.
Sawako Kabuki's hand drawn animation uses a lot of morphing and multiplication of its characters. “Master Blaster” for instance, has only 2 main character designs, but the rapid succession of poses and flurry of images offers much to see without getting bored. Also, the film features what looks like intestines and characters fitting together like a jigsaw puzzle to fill the screen, in almost Escher-like patterns. “Master Blaster” at times feels like a hurricane sweeping over the viewer and it evokes feelings of yearning, possessiveness and sexual excitement and impatience.
This idea of morphing combined with the way Sawako Kabuki uses outlines in her films are reminiscent of the work by Yoriko Mizushiri, another young and successful Japanese animator. However, her works are more subtle and miss the boldness, not only of the colors used but also of the imagery and statements made by Sawako Kabuki.
Sawako Kabuki made “Master Blaster” was while studying at the Tama Art University. Looking at her earlier work such as “Requiem” we can already see the path she has set for herself with transformations of her characters being present from early on. It is no surprise that during her time there, she made quite a few successful films such as “Anal Juke” that amongst others won the award for best student film at ANIMAFEST Zagreb and her breakthrough film “Summer's Puke is Winter's Delight” that won 2017 student competition Jury Award at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
Most of Sawako Kabuki's films made while at university, feature music quite prominently, and this is also the case for “Master Blaster”. She met the funk musician Shinsuke Sugahara in a bar and he asked her to make an animated video for this single. As a result of this collaboration “Master Blaster”, unlike many of her previous films, not just offers Kabuki's take on female emotions but also offers room to the innermost feelings of a man. Her feeling for rhythm really stands out, making for a perfect fit between the animation and the song, making this synergy one of the strong points of this film.
