My first impression of this half hour short film was that it felt like I was watching a more mature Pokemon, except without the cute creatures. Cencoroll is an independent anime singlehandedly created by Atsuya Uki, which supposedly took over two years to complete. Taking that into consideration, it is a visual delight. There are four main characters: Tetsu, Cenco, Yuki and Shu. Tetsu, the high school student, is in control of his 'pet' aka weird shapeshifting creature, called Cenco.

Yuki, a fellow student, accidentally discovers Tetsu's secret, and all three of them eventually make an enemy, Shu, who also controls such creatures. Confrontations leads to battles between the creatures; thus the reason why I felt it was a mature Pokemon. The unique aspect is the entire tone of the film. What I mean by that: it is all very subdued and subtle. There are intense fights, but even those seem peculiarly mellow. It is strangely calm but it provides the necessary humour and surprisingly draws you in. Though bizarre, Cencoroll is highly original and a treat to watch.

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A high school boy named Tetsu must protect his transforming pet monster Cenco when a mysterious boy comes to town looking to steal Cenco for his own purposes.

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