Melan & Chory is the first short-story by Takuya Okada to be uploaded on his official
Youtube channel in 30th May 2010 (here). This movie has a second
version, uploaded in 29th July 2012 (here), due to Okada’s urge to
remake its soundtrack (music and sound effects). Since narratively speaking
there are no changes between versions I’ll focus my review in the original Melan & Chory.
Created
in an imaginary world of fantasy, Melan
& Chory centers around two characters, a boy and a girl, presumably
Melan and Chory although no identity is given to them during the short.
The
story begins with the male character climbing some stairs that appear in front
of them with each step he takes. Seems like a perfectly usual day in the life
of this wanderer until he finds a stagnated floating island, kept in the sky
with the help of an helix.
There’s
a girl in the island, alone and with a cloud up her head, a dark cloud. The
character approaches her and offers her a flower but she refuses, destroying it
and running back to the house.
For
days the boy comes back to leave some flowers at her door but she remains
locked inside. At a certain time we manage to see some shadows that
emanate from the little character.
The
next day the boy finds out a concrete cube instead of the house. Entering, he
encounters the girl now with a rain cloud up her head. When he tries to approach her, the girl throws blades, impaling him against a wall.
The small rain cloud spreads and fills the room. The girl walks to the flowers, which are now dead, knees and hugs them, probably getting ready to embrace the shadows for the last time. Meanwhile, the boy gets loose and walks to her one more time, using his umbrella to protect her from the rain.
This manages to finally make her free herself from the shadows where she lives and both characters walk in an island full with flowers and life.
Melan & Chory shows us how bad feelings and negative thoughts (that we frequently form about ourselves) can make us isolate ourselves from the world, repelling anything and anyone that tries to shows us affection, in this case the flower (representing the love or friendship, being a sunflower symbolizes light) which is destroyed.
The girl (looking like a sweet character and making us feel worried about her) closes herself more and more, controlled by shadows and fears about the world, reaching a point when her welcoming house turns into a concrete cube, where a rain cloud keeps making her wet.
The boy, on the other side, shows dedication and won't let the girl drown herself in the dark, insisting everyday. This strength is clearly marked when he manages to survive the blade. She can attack him all she wants but he won't give up, knowing that he'll be able to bring her back to the light no matter what.
The flower's death is a result of a desperate act that the girl regrets immediately. She destroyed the only affection given to her in a long time. Kneeling on the dead flowers she's ready to embrace the shadows and her own death.
Before this, the boy returns, protecting her from the rain and giving her his hand. She accepts and stops living inside herself, returning to the light and defeating the dark and negative forces that bonded her. The island transforms again, filling itself with flowers.
Both the characters look to the rainbow. The darkness was defeated and all ends well.
Although there are some natural problems, this being a first work (like per example the last shots when the boy leaves the flowers in the stairs are a little confusing), Melan & Chory uses a small and simple story to talk about something deeper, leaving a message of hope. There will always be someone to fight for us.
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