It gets you in about the time it takes the leaf to crumble. The premise is a piece of environmental dread disguised as a fairy tale: the annual message leaf arrives with its colors already draining, withers, and falls apart in the hand, and nobody has to explain why that's terrifying. Five envoys from five different lands get sent out, and the film trusts the animation to carry the difference between them instead of stopping to introduce anybody. This is Studio Ponoc doing what the ex-Ghibli crew does best under Yoshiyuki Momose, the tiny guiding spirits and the hand-drawn weight of a long walk toward bad news. That it was commissioned for Tokyo 2020, an Olympics about the whole world showing up together, is the whole point folded into a leaf. Short, quiet, and it sits on your chest afterward.

Each year a message leaf arrives in bright, long-lasting colors, but this time its hues fade fast and it shrivels and crumbles. Something is clearly wrong. Five envoys from five different lands set out to learn why, traveling to a faraway place with tiny spirits quietly showing the way. Every envoy has particular strengths and weaknesses. Crossing dangerous ground in hard conditions, they both compete with and help one another, and through athletic trials they come to see the good that friendly rivalry can bring. Studio Ponoc made this short fantasy adventure for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, drawing on the Olympic ideals of excellence, friendship and respect.