Robot Carnival

Robot Carnival (1987) is a Japanese anime anthology you can watch online on iFILM. Nine animators were each handed a single premise — robots — and given full creative freedom. What came back was nine entirely different films sharing one word.

The segments span every register: a lovelorn robot pursuing a girl through a seaside town, a post-apocalyptic machine uprising, a craftsman's quiet farewell to his creation, and a full-scale sci-fi battle. Katsuhiro Otomo, then deep in production on Akira, contributed the bookend sequences. Koji Morimoto and Yasuomi Umetsu brought their own distinct visual signatures.

Watched as a set, the film works as a snapshot of Japanese animation at a pivot point — right before the global boom of the late eighties and nineties. Rich with craft and varied in mood. Stream Robot Carnival (1987) online on iFILM.