I was a very imaginative kid when I was younger. While other kids were playing sports or socializing during recess, I would often lie down at the nearest bench, and simply imagine. A fantasy world empowered by the wonders of magic. A desperate expedition to gather the remaining heroes and conquer the forces of evil. The limitless bounds of my imagination back then stretched as far as my creativity could go, conjuring up fantastical universes and settings.

Then I received a game for Christmas, unaware of how it would completely change my life: Super Mario Galaxy. I watched Mario explore the cold and empty, yet warm and comforting vastness of outer space, embarking on a voyage to the various galaxies all across the universe. I remember sitting down in the Observatory, simply gazing at the wonderous universe in front of me. Super Mario Galaxy showed me the power of imagination and how fictional media could breathe life into magical, mystical worlds. It was an experience like no other.

Life moves on, though, and as I got older, that imaginative spark I once had had started to fade. I became swept up in "adult" issues and concerns, constantly looking towards the future while neglecting the once-cherished memories of the past. I was lonely and struggled to make friends, often electing to keep to myself.

Eventually, I got back in the spirit of consuming more media, and turned my head towards anime and manga, hoping to find that imaginative spark that I had lost in the early years of my life. I eagerly churned through as much anime as possible: the highly-recommended ones, the high-scoring ones, the ones with interesting premises, etc. A few of these anime were able to re-ignite the spark, but none had been able to re-invigorate the imaginative fire that I had been yearning to revive for years. Eventually, I had come to terms with the fact that I'd probably never find that one special anime for my heart.

Then I heard that for the Spring 2021 season, an ONA was coming out on YouTube called Yoru no Kuni. The synopsis was vague and the poster art wasn't super up my alley, but as an avid shortfilm watcher, I gave it a shot. What I didn't know at the time was that I'd finally find that one special anime that I had always been searching for, the anime that would ignite the embers in my heart and revive the imaginative fire that I had lost in my childhood.

Yoru no Kuni is a series of short episodes, each of which are about a person who enters the "Night World", a place inside every person's heart. The Night World contains all the memories and things that the person had left behind in the past. Although the Night World is dark, it is truly beautiful, as every person who enters it comes to see. Yoru is the creature that guides these people through the Night World, as he helps guide the person through their intrapersonal struggles.

The first thing to talk about is Yoru no Kuni's art style. Yoru no Kuni employs a very imaginative and distinct art style, feeling very dream-like with its pastel colors and warm lighting. It feels more like Nintendo (ex. Kirby, The Legend of Zelda) than an actual anime art style, which gives it a nostalgic feeling. Similarly, the lighting used in this show is captivating. The Night World never feels intimidating or scary thanks to the beautiful warm lighting employed in its shots, showing the beauty of the Night World. Though the Night World is dark, every person that enters it comes to realize its awe-striking beauty.

The second thing I want to talk about is Yoru no Kuni's storytelling. Despite its short runtime, Yoru no Kuni manages to tell unique and emotional stories with each episode. The stories are intrapersonal, not interpersonal, which to me is big. In so much anime (and fictional media in general), characters' struggles are often marked with interpersonal conflicts: someone has social anxiety or is introverted? Usually, it's because of bullying and/or abuse, and hardly ever due to the person's own psychological problems. Someone has depression? Usually, it's because of bullying and/or a death of a loved one. Although anime and manga often approach these inner-emotion topics, they often take the route of pointing the finger on malicious characters ("other forces") to get the audience to sympathize with the MC, but as a result, intrapersonal conflicts can often be neglected. People who've never been bullied yet still have social anxiety and depression problems, for example, can often feel like that there's few media that can represent them (ie. "I've never been bullied or suffered from a great tragedy, so I have no right to feel depressed").

Yoru no Kuni manages to tackle these topics from a unique angle with how intrapersonal the character's problems are. These characters have no "big bad/evil character" or "melodramatic tragic event" at the cause of their problems: rather, their problems are moreso an inner emotional and psychological struggle. In Episode 2, the character we follow is not the wants-to-be-nice-to-everyone friend, it's the friend who's jealous, a bystander-type and has malicious thoughts, yet is still very sympathizable. These characters don't follow your typical Main Character insert/hero archetypes, and that's what makes them great: they feel human, like they could've been any one of us.

Third is the messaging, both from Yoru and the Night World. Yoru is the constant character between all episodes, as the eternal dweller of the Night World and everyone's hearts. Yoru has an initially imposing character design, but you quickly realize that Yoru is meant there as an ally, not an enemy. What I like about Yoru is that Yoru indirectly offers advice to help guide the person forward, letting them reach their own solutions. As I said before, these stories are intrapersonal, so Yoru helps the people along the way, but it is up to the person themselves to come to the solution to their personal struggle. The struggles are rarely resolved fully by the end of the story, but that's arguably the beauty of it: human struggles are rarely overcome by a single realization, but simply arriving at an answer is a big step forward.

Fourth and finally, the personal nostalgia that this anime evoked in me. Ever since Super Mario Galaxy captured my heart 14 years ago, I thought nothing would ever re-capture the feelings I had playing that game. But it's here with Yoru no Kuni. The Night World of Yoru no Kuni is dark, lonely, and sometimes empty, much like the vast openness of outer space in Super Mario Galaxy. But much like SMG, Yoru no Kuni manages to find comfort and beauty in its dark world. Similarly, at the end of SMG, there's an ending cutscene with Rosalina that talks about the beauty of death: even though familiar things may end, new things will start anew, hence the cycle of life of our universe. Yoru no Kuni talks about a similar theme, the beauty of goodbyes: we see each person, right as they are about to leave the Night World, ask Yoru "Will I see you again?", and it hits me like a truck as I'm reminded that this'll be the last interaction we'll see between the two characters for a long, long time (maybe never again). Yet the farewells here are treated with reverence and hope, not sadness and tragedy, showing how goodbyes can truly be the new beginnings.

In short, Yoru no Kuni is my favorite anime of all time, quite possibly my favorite fictional media of all time as well. I thought nothing would be able to recreate the feelings that Super Mario Galaxy gave me 14 years ago, but I've finally found it. At its core, Yoru no Kuni brings forth the power of animation and creativity and harnesses it to create a world and story that reawakened the imaginative euphoria I once had as a child. Thank you, Yoru no Kuni, for everything. Good night. おやすみなさい。