Mirai Mizue & Yukie Nakauchi's "Poker" (2014)

NOTE: This Monday short was originally posted on July 23, 2018. We are re-uploading Peter Hemminger's original Monday Shorts until further notice. I picked this one for the colours, and the same sentiment that it's been super summery and hot with random bouts of thundershowers. Hopefully Stampede is great for all who are going!

It is pretty darn summery outside, and I can think of very few shorts that suit that mood better than Mirai Mizue and Yukie Nakauchi's video for Shugo Tokumaru's song, "Poker". Not that there's anything explicitly sunny about the video, but it's such a burst of cheer and refreshment that it seems perfectly suited to a late July afternoon.

It starts simple enough, with a strange little bird rendered in a style somewhere between Mclaren's Blinkity Blank and the Nazca Lines floating around as Tokumaru sets up a spritely bossa nova melody. As the song gets more elabourate, the animation matches it with increasingly kaleidoscopic compositions, all crafted with Mizue's trademark fluidity. It's a joy to watch, and a rare animated music video that doesn't feel like it would've been stronger as a stand-alone film.