A bored polar bear watching stupid fish do stupid things is somehow the most honest comedy about existing that anime has made in years. The humor lives in the margins of a 12th-century scroll tradition, which means every gag lands like a whisper instead of a shout. You watch this 22 minutes and realize you've been laughing at the same jokes about boredom and indifference that monks found funny 900 years ago. Calm animation, zero stakes, zero plot. Just a predator observing the pointlessness of everything, including itself, and finding that hilarious.

A polar bear in the deep blue sea is thoroughly bored among the many marine creatures around it. The short film revives the old Japanese tradition of frolicking animal caricatures in the manner of a painted scroll, this time turning its attention to sea life. Its lines are built on puns that work in both Japanese and English, such as a pitiable otter. The whole seven minutes unfold as a single continuous scene and cut, with the brief, rhythmic verses offering glimpses into the thoughts and lives of creatures across the world's oceans. The design draws on a picture scroll from the twelfth to thirteenth century that caricatured birds and beasts. The film premiered in August 2021 among the animated shorts at the Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival.