This fantasy narrative takes place at a local school in Japan where the students along with one of the teachers must wait out a fierce typhoon that has arrived. In the midst of the storm we follow a boy named Azuma who after getting into a fight with a former friend walks off only to encounter a mysterious girl stealing clothes from an empty classroom. Pursuing her Azuma is instantly taken by her strangeness and the bizarre beautiful necklace that she is wearing and becomes determined to help her in any way that he can. I honestly didnt know what to expect going into the this. From the PV preview video that I saw of it I was mostly swept away but its visuals which are quite akin to Studio Ghiblis animation style. Nevertheless I was worried about how short it was 27 minutes. When I finally sat down to watch the film I became even more invested by Azuma and this shadow of loneliness that he seemed to be carrying around. But it wasnt until after I finished watching it that I came to recognise that a twentysevenminutelong tale can be just as fulfilling and satisfying as one that spans an hour or more. The plot for Typhoon Noruda is wrapped in ambiguity. This works as both its greatest strength as well as a small weakness and a trait that could be offputting for many people. Personally I fucking loved it as its extremely reminiscent of Japanese literature. The unknown and hazy qualities of the story are rather reminiscent of books written by Natsume Sseki or Yko Ogawa. There are just enough details given to help you get a basic understanding of what is going on while leaving your individual mind and perception to decipher the rest. I truly appreciate when a book or film can engage me in such a way paving the way for my imagination to do what I shall with whats provided. One of the key ways that you will see indistinctness play a part to plot in Japanese literature is via the characters. The emphasis is always placed on their facial expressions or their surroundings specifically when related to nature. Azuma is a kid who is struggling with internal strife. While its not explicitly expressed you can get an excellent feel for it when he gets into a fistfight with one of his schoolmates Saijo or when his need to help a girl thats wholly a stranger to him is so powerfully desperate. The storm taking place is in its most straightforward means an allegory for the conflicts brewing within this kid. A novel that you can see something similar in is The Housekeeper and the Professor by Ogawa. Remember when I mentioned the ambiguity as a weakness earlier? You see it here as it applies to the storm and its fantasyinfused traits. The fantasy elements that pop up as a complement to the narrative never felt like they were included merely for shock value or as a means of fluffing out the film. It too matches the theme of vagueness but is a bit more direct in its execution. There is a point where its bluntly stated what the association between the girl and the storm pertains to. From there the relevance of it is crafted into the actions taken the scenery as buildings are destroyed and nature rages with wind and water and once again leaving your imagination to kind of put all of the pieces together. All of these things are great however the reason it becomes a shortcoming is because once I became invested in the girl and her sensationally strange situation I yearned to learn more about herwhat happened to her how she came to be here why she was connected to certain aspects the way that she was and more. Honestly I felt a bit gypped by the abrupt appearance and disappearance of her part in the story. It also weakens the other characters making them lacklustre by comparison. The characters themselvesAzuma Saijo and the mystery chickare simple characters. They have elements to them that give them individualistic charm and zest nevertheless they arent people that have much more to their personalities aside from their specific roles in the film. Its easy to empathise with Azuma to a point more so if you have ever felt inadequate in your life with something you once enjoyed but beyond that hes rather hollow and you will see this in the other two as well making them easy to forget and easy to let go of. With the Mystery Chick Im avoiding her name on purpose shes has more depth to her than the other two yet with the lack of time and the inherent nature of the films progression and format I never got to explore that supposed depth. As I mentioned earlier I wanted to learn so much more about her yet alas I couldnt. As a person who looks forward to investing their emotions and heart into characters more than anything else when watching or reading stories I ended up being disappointed overall. Another facet that somewhat disappointed me include the animation. The animations aesthetic is an echo of Ghiblis with soft lines and gentle semimuted colour palettes thats quite sycophantic to the dreary setting. There is a section where Saijo and Azuma are running through the hallway that is a wonderful blending of handdrawn artwork and computergenerated graphics that I felt was absolutely beautiful. There are moments when the storm is brewing with scenes of twisted clouds and roaring water that is also quite lovely and fierce. Still its inconsistent from beginning to end. Some sections of the film looked like nothing more than choppy illustrations tossed together not warranting too much attention to detail as its a quick flash in a bigger scene. When its sandwiched between great animation it can disrupt the flow of the film and take away from the pleasing aesthetic. Sometimes all you need is ten seconds of a sloppy scene to depreciate the artistry of good animation. The CGI on the other hand never smacked you in the face making it cringingly obvious that it was being used. Its implementation is subtle like the plot and well employed. I could tell the film didnt use much CGI instead focusing on more traditional animation techniques. I was grateful for this because it fit the style of the filmits atmosphere and ambiance the character designs even the musicrather splendidly. Speaking of music it was one of my favourite parts about the film. The musical composition is a graceful balance of piano and stringed instruments as the major focus and wind instruments in the undertones. Music for me when incorporated nicely has the power to evoke even the strongest of emotions. I never felt a strong need to break down and sob while watching Typhoon Noruda but this doesnt mean that I didnt feel a tender tug at the heartstrings every once in a while particularly when Saijo and Azuma had their minor interactions. Music can add layers of depth to an overall singular narrative. I wouldnt label the anime as onedimensional however with all of the areas that it lacked in the music definitely made up for it where it could. Overall I recommend Typhoon Noruda to anyone who is interested in watching a good anime film with a story that has a nice beginning middle and end. It wont blow your socks off or leave you with the sensation of seeing a masterpiece unlike the way your name. did for me but it is not a terrible film by any means. There are some shortcomings but to be blunt they are rather irrelevant in the grand scheme when I think about how much I enjoyed watching it. Even with it being a halfhour long it tells a story about what it means to run away from your problems rather than face them headon and how facing them can be delightfully cathartic and freeing in the end. 7 clouds outta 10.