Aki loses her sister on a summer day, and a doll made of straw starts moving at the funeral. That's not magical realism playing dress-up, that's grief learning to walk. The animation is deliberately rough, deliberately small, deliberately yours to finish in your head. By the time the rainbow appears, you're not watching a story about loss anymore. You're inside it.
When Haru dies in a sudden accident one summer day, her younger twin Aki is left facing an impossible grief. On the day of the funeral, something inexplicable happens: Haru's Teru Teru Bouzu begins to move on its own and leads Aki into an unexpected adventure. Following it, Aki comes to learn that sorrow is not the end, and that hope can appear once the storm has passed. The mood moves between melancholy and hope. A one-episode supernatural drama released online, created as an independent work by Tomotaka Hoshi.
Streaming Haru no Niji no Soushiki legally, as of the last catalog refresh. Availability changes by region.
YouTube