I had the honor of directing the music video for “animation” by AliA, a six-member hybrid rock band. Set in a fictional Shibuya and a masked group, I developed and directed a story from the concept stage that blurs the line between reality and dreams.

We ourselves were once geniuses. That is what I pursued.

We developed the video around the themes of “freedom,” “deadlines” (breaking away from stereotypes that exist as assumptions), and “summer.” The song itself carries the concept that we don’t need to be influenced by things bound by deadlines as norms, such as summer or youth, so we built the structure in line with that idea. We didn’t want to create a structure that condemns something as an antithesis, so the message is that each person’s free will (or right to choose), which resides within them, does not necessarily have to be bound by social norms. That said, through discussions with the artist, we were basically in agreement that we wanted to make something catchy and humorous, so rather than presenting the concept like a placard, we treated it as something seated within the work itself, while shaping the structure so that it would work well with the song’s sense of exhilaration and tempo. As for the production method, every shot was filmed against a green screen and composited in CG. As mentioned above, we wanted the composition and cuts to feel unique in keeping with the concept, so we combined a noisy retro texture with cinematic shots. We also used bold camera work, including 360-degree cameras.

A minimal visual work that neutralizes the solitude of the urban dweller through the private ritual of dance. It coolly documents the rough, impulsive movements of a lone girl—gestures intended for no one's eyes but her own. The surreal lexicon scattered throughout the lyrics is rendered via AI-driven 'video-to-video' synthesis. Shunning overt sentimentality, the visual design maintains a detached, almost clinical gaze upon this personal indulgence, yet manages to evoke a strangely intimate proximity.