From the director's statement about the film: The theme of this work is the intersection of religion and technology, specifically focusing on AI (Artificial Intelligence). Through this film, my intention is to inspire viewers to discover their inner strength and confront the challenges of life with courage.
In a world where God has departed, leaving only religion behind, an inexperienced female robot is in a church. Her yearning to leave the outside is hindered by her limited vision and mobility. She walks towards the church's center to install a program that would allow her to expand and learn. After successfully upgrading, she experiences the beauty of an expanded world. Although she attempts to install more programs, her power runs out before she can complete the upgrades, leaving her stranded halfway through her journey. Even so, the beauty of the world and the church's light blesses her.
“Departure” review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
The story unfolds in two parallel axes, with the antithesis of the two working excellently for the short. In the first, a contemporary girl is living her life full of color, though a happy mundanity that is communicated through the bright colors and the music. In the second, which is the one described above, the female robot leaves in a world that can only be described as baroque, with the way she is dressed, the gothic setting of the church she is in, and the music, setting the particular tone. As the concept of AI comes to the fore, Takayuki Yoshikawa makes a connection between technology and religion, particularly in the way the music player has written the Greek term for ‘Deus Ex Machina' on it.
At the same time, the two worlds start coming together, with the mixing of the different artforms and the inclusion of SFX resulting in a series of astonishing sequences, particularly regarding the background and the inanimate objects, with the drawing and the animation finding their apogees as the short reaches its finale. The way color finally becomes a factor in the most impressive blooming fashion is a wonder to watch. On the other hand, the characters could have been a bit better, both drawn and animated, as the CGI do not work particularly well, even with their minimal movement.
Moving somewhere between the music video and the video game intro, “Departure” manages to impress visually, while leaving a very appealing bittersweet sense to its viewer, particularly for the finale of the 5 minute story. Takayuki Yoshikawa will definitely need to improve his character design and animation if he is to make a step forward, but in terms of drawing and overall animation, he is definitely on a very good level, with the short deserving a watch even only for these aspects.
