Usavich


(via Ned Batchelder)

Usavich has to be just about the strangest thing I've ever seen. And yet I'm addicted.

I can't summarize this minute-or-two-per-episode Japanese cartoon any better than Ned does:

two rabbits are imprisoned in Russian jail. One is dumb and gentle, the other is placid unless provoked, and then he becomes ultraviolent. There's also a transvestite chick and a frog, and there's no dialog.

The first episode is weird. And it gets weirder after that.

The animation technique is fascinating, mostly 2D (in a style resembling a children's book) but with the occasional shift (especially in the second season) into the third.

And the series involves the most bizarre use of Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring I've ever heard.

Also check out the Wikipedia page on Usavich.