Nobody talks about Anpanman movies because they're children's content, but that's exactly why they work. A sentient bean-paste bun fights hunger and despair by literally giving away his own head, and the movie never winks at how absurd that is. The comfort isn't ironic or self-aware, it's just genuine: a world where the answer to suffering is immediate, physical kindness, delivered by a character who asks nothing in return. This is what happens when a show stops pretending healing has to look complicated. Watch it if you need to remember that sometimes the gentlest stories are the most radical ones.

Three adventures give Anpanman's friends the spotlight. In the first, Baikinman kidnaps Anpanman and others, and the toddler Aka-chanman has to rescue them from the Baikin-dome, Baikinman's dangerous amusement park. The second story heads to the wild west, where the trains carrying deliveries are being hijacked by Baikinman and his Kabi Gang. SLman, a steam locomotive, joins Currypanman in taking on an important food delivery, and the question is whether they can get past Baikinman's gang. In the third and final segment, Anpanman and his friends build handmade vehicles to travel together, and each newcomer to the group sings a theme song, adding up to a medley of Anpanman songs. The result is a comedy fantasy anthology of three tales rather than one continuous story.