After the release of Porter Robinson's first short animation film, Shelter, one of his fans, Anamanaguchi, tweeted “beautiful video, beautiful song, beautiful story.” No six words could better encapsulate how the producer’s fans have been feeling in the aftermath of the film’s debut.
After much anticipation since the producer originally tweeted on October 14th that there would be a short film, fans have been restlessly awaiting its release. Thankfully, the day has finally come.
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Having an affinity towards Japanese culture, it should be no surprise that Robinson worked with Japanese animation studio A-1 Pictures Inc. to produce the film. Depicting a teenage girl living in a virtual simulation, “Shelter” tells a story of limitless love and boundless hope. Robinson describes in the animation’s YouTube description that:
Shelter tells the story of Rin, a 17-year-old girl who lives her life inside of a futuristic simulation completely by herself in infinite, beautiful loneliness. Each day, Rin awakens in virtual reality and uses a tablet which controls the simulation to create a new, different, beautiful world for herself. Until one day, everything changes, and Rin comes to learn the true origins behind her life inside a simulation.
While including a few minutes of dialogue written by Robinson himself, the film is mostly narrated with Madeon and his’ song, “Shelter”. The accompaniment of an already masterful piece of music to an impeccable film proves once again Porter Robinson‘s genius.
Sadly, moderators on Reddit removed the animation’s front-page thread. They claimed “Shelter” did not adhere to their definition of anime as defined below:
The specific definition we use to determine “Anime” is “an animated series, produced and aired in Japan, intended for a Japanese audience.
Robinson countered by reminding Reddit that A-1 Pictures is a Japanese animation company and that the film was first aired overseas in Japan. Thankfully, due to Robinson’s response along with his fans defense, the thread was put back on Reddit.
Just like everything else Robinson has produced, “Shelter” is a truly passionate piece of work. With the success of this film, the song, and the Shelter Live Tour, Porter Robinson’s vision has come full circle. As fans, we can only begin to imagine what he has in store for us next.
You can watch the full animation below:
