ONI: Thunder God’s Tale, An Animation Overflowing With Warmth

ONI: Thunder God’s Tale, produced by Netflix, was created by renowned artist and former Pixar art director Daisuke Tsutsumi and his animation studio Tonko House. It is also the first feature-length animation produced by Tonko House since its establishment. A total of 4 episodes, with 45 minutes per episode, the series combined makes for a three-hour animated film. Its style takes the texture of felt, combined with CG, to create a wonderful world. Not only is does the animation give soft and cute vibes, but it also seeks to be inspirational, incorporating heroic and hot-blooded elements.

The story is based on Japanese folklore, starring Onari and her father. The father and daughter’s daily routine begins with fun and games, and they tend to play until they are satisfied. Then, the hunky dad begins to cook, cut vegetables and burn the pot. Although the kitchen gets destroyed, a meal of soup, vegetables and rice is still guaranteed.

The father and the daughter Onari have very different images, but they both have horns on their heads and you cannot tell exactly what kind of creature they are.

Onari’s classmates are also strange spirits. Every student has his own superpower.

White radish’s and carrot’s superpowers are growing legs. Interestingly, the lunch of the white radish is a small red carrot, while the carrot’s lunch is a small white radish. The scene shows the two radishes exchanging a glance before moving their chopsticks, and it is unclear whether they are enemies or close friends.

Onari dreams of becoming a hero, to be able to save the villagers in the coming demon month.

The style is very distinct, and this is also a very comforting cartoon coming this winter.