The next name to define Japanimation is undoubtedly Natsume Shingo. He inherits Oshii Mamoru’s speculative imagination, Kon Satoshi’s visual sensibility, and Watanabe Shinichiro’s laid-back cool and musical instinct, all while retaining a distinctive voice of his own. The story is set in the near future, where advanced technology has rendered human labor obsolete. Upon turning eighteen, everyone is assessed for their usefulness by a vast system known as Altverse; those who are not chosen must spend the rest of their lives without any particular purpose. A girl named Neekei has already been selected to serve as an administrator of the ’starry Sky,’ a realm akin to the afterlife. Neekei dreams of a Starry Sky that is nothing but beautiful, but her limited understanding of people and unfamiliarity with emotion keep her from grasping what ‘true’ beauty really is. That begins to change when she meets Mars. In a cold, deterministic world, how can human beings choose a ‘true’ life for themselves? Natsume Shingo responds to this age-old question by building layers of rich emotion without excess, before ultimately inviting us to follow a certain light. It is an invitation difficult to resist. (LEE Woobeen)