The opening sequence is often the key to a short animated film: its impact can determine whether it captures the audience’s imagination. By that measure, Kakurenbo is exhilarating. Buildings soar impossibly high into the sky. The camera begins at their rooftops, then descends seemingly without end - down, down, all the way underground. Such an extended movement belongs to a realm uniquely open to animation, one that live-action cinema can rarely reach. In this deep, damp underworld, an urban legend known as ‘Otokoyo’s Game’ has been passed down: those who play hide-and-seek in its eerie, labyrinthine alleys may encounter demons. But children who lose themselves in the game are said to disappear. Now, eight children enter the alleys, each for a different reason. Terrifying oni emerge before them, and the action surges in intensity. Released in 2004, Kakurenbo is a 24-minute animated short that went on to earn a cult following. Its distinctive visual style, combining full 3D animation - still rare at the time - with cel-shaded rendering, has only grown more remarkable with age. Once you enter this game of hide-and-seek, its 24 minutes will slip by as if under a spell. (LEE Woobeen)