How would you describe the meaning of love to someone?
This short ten minute animation is from director Soubi Yamamoto (This Boy Caught a Merman and This boy is a Professional Wizard) who in recent years has become my favorite anime director, for the elegant beauty of her work that pulls you in by the heart string and does not let go till you are an emotional mess, but at the same time it’s emotions that feel earned for the story and not just some cheap anime feels that many anime go for. There is, in my opinion, a thin line between a story being emotionally manipulative and being an emotion-driven story.
Emotionally manipulate stories will go for the easy pull at your heart string, a cute child being sick or the death of a character for no reason other than the plot says so. A true emotional story has a build up to these moments. You see a character and not just an archetype of a cute sick child, that child had personality, dreams of their own a life outside of just the story we have seen. In an emotional story, characters need to be more than just plot devices just there to tell the story. Though just over ten minutes, Robotica Robotics in it’s short run time creates endearing and believable characters.
The short itself is a series of conversations between three characters, Haru and Natsu who are robots who were abandoned by their previous owner and the scientist Masa who took them in. The robots are curious about the world around them and want to understand more. Natsu does this by constantly asking questions and Natsu buries himself in books. The curiosity of these characters instantly make them relatable as who is not curious about the world around them? Even as an adult long out of school, I myself still enjoy learning something new, especially through reading. This makes Natsu a relatable character for me as when not online or watching anime I’m either playing video games or have my head in a book.
In this collection of conversations we see the growth of these characters and they will work their way into your heart through genuine emotions and character growth and I have to say this short anime is a must watch for any boys love fan especially if your looking for a quickie with enough heart to give you those feels I’m sure you are craving.
Yaoi Playground 