"Tabi no robo kara" or "Robot on the Road" is a 9-minute animated short film from 2015, so not really a new movie, but not particularly old either. The writer and director is Hiroyuki Okiura and he has proved withh full feature films in the past already too where he was the man in charge that he certainly has it, apart from working on masterpieces like "Your Name" in minor positions. So I am a bit surprised this work from him here is definitely a bit on the undersee side. It is a very bizarre story about a hitchhiking robot who looks to get into people's cars/trailers, preferrably attractive young women's, so he can take photos of them naked while they think he is sleeping. Yep. Oh my, I guess only Japanese anime can get away with that because this film really does. Yeah with the plot revelations about loneliness and being liked by others, even if only online, it comes a bit short with the emotional aspect and this did not work so well in my opinion. Had it, then theis film would be a certain contender for my extended list of best 2015 short movies. But it is a good watch nonetheless. The awkwardness of it all and the bizarrity and also the fun component somewhat, especially with the ending, is worth seeing in my opinion. No hesitation for me here in giving this movie a thumbs-down and as a hetero male I cannot deny I liked certain shots more than I should. But looking at how surprisingly okay the girl was quickly with what the robot did after the initial shock, I cannot be too ashamed. Thumbs up for this one, go see it if you like anime.
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