Ibarâdo jikan

One of the shortest films produced by Studio Ghibli also happens to be one of its most perplexing: 2007's: Iblard Time. It doesn't have any real narrative across its half-hour-long runtime, instead opting to depict various strange landscapes that are occasionally inhabited by people, though never very many. This makes it feel overall more like an art piece than a film or a short film by any standard definition, but I guess it technically looked nice. It's got that going for it, at least.

I didn't really like how it sounded, though, and I wasn't able to get much out of it beyond admiring some of the images shown throughout. There are both better and worse ways to spend half-an-hour, I guess, and this could probably be recommended to those who just want to relax and look at some strange and kind of beautiful sights for 30-ish minutes, while being okay with probably not getting a whole lot else.

This is something for any avid anime critic. It from a technical view point is beautiful. Still without a story it can not fully be considered a short film. It is more of an extension of the artworks. Rather than showing the audience pieces of artwork in a slide show manner there is sound and movement added. In one shot they'll have a girl opening a door on a house inside of a painting. On another the painted lake comes alive with the ripples and reflections of real water. Even the sounds from a near by restaurant adds to the atmosphere. I enjoyed watching this from a learning perspective. With that in mind I would suggest it.

The other reviews point out that there's no story here, and that it hinders this video being amazing. However, that completely misses the point of this gorgeous creation. The artwork itself is beautiful, and the animations make the pieces come to life. And I think that's the purpose. Whenever you look at a painting or drawing or whatever, you're looking at a single snapshot. Iblard Jikan challenges you to think of it as more than that, to look at every art you see as a story. Not to just look at what's painted but also what's not painted. It makes you consider the moving parts of the world the artist created. Sure, having a story would have made this more entertaining, but I think that would have detracted from the message and actually made it less enjoyable for me. The message itself isn't some extraordinary new thought, but seeing that idea come to life has given me better perspective, and that is a beautiful thing.