2015-02-05

Pale Cocoon

Pale Cocoon (ペイル・コクーン) is a short sci-fi OAV by Yoshiura Yasushiro and was originally released in 2006. 

    Ura works in the archival restoration department and spends his days working with the colonies computer systems to restore fragments of lost data.  People have had to live in an underground colony following the destruction of the surface of Earth long ago.  Through his work on restoring the collected archival information Ura is searching for the truth in the past.  He feels that there is more to the world around him than he understands.  The number of people in the colony is slowly dwindling and Ura is concerned that humanity will be lost in a sea of apathy.  If nothing more he tries to help continue their existence through the archives.  A friend of his who works in a different division challenges his conceptions of the world around him, pushing him to the point of finding out the truth himself.

    It has been a long time since I had seen this anime and realizing the creator is the same one behind Eve no Jikan made me want to rewatch it.  This is a beautiful display of CG animation and focuses heavily on personal interaction, as his other works have.  The concepts and background in this series are entertaining and well done.  The story is simple.  Two people contemplate the history they know and the truth behind the reality around them.  In he end this was a well done and enjoyable sci-fi story that dealt with average people living in the future, instead of hero's and super beings.  We need more stories that do that.

    Unfortunately this OAV was never released on disc in North America, one of the victims of the industries retraction in the 00's.  It was available for a time on Crunchyroll but is no longer available.


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