“Gisoku no Moses”, a delightful anime short inspired by Gene Kelly

Screen Shot 2014-08-25 at 9.22.14 PMLeave it to Japan to combine a catchy Gene Kelly tap-dance number from “Singing in the Rain” with a cute anime ghost girl, to create one of the sweetest, cutest anime shorts I’ve seen to date. A lot of the world seems to agree, since the YouTube video is now over 300,000 views, and the comments section is filled with all kinds of languages from fans.

Screen Shot 2014-08-25 at 9.27.01 PMThe anime short starts off with a lonely, sad ghost girl, who happens to hear two haunted tap shoes singing and dancing to “Moses Supposes” from “Singing in the Rain.”

Screen Shot 2014-08-25 at 9.25.26 PM
She’s hesitant at first, but soon she starts trying to dance with them, and as the song goes on she breaks into a tap-dance routine just like Gene Kelly’s. It’s kind of bittersweet, as the shoes lose their movement, but in the closing we see a shopkeeper (Named Mose!) watching the ghost girl looking at a sign in his window for “Singing in the Rain”, and the last scene shows them in a theater where she’s enjoying “Singing in the Rain” with the shopkeeper!

Screen Shot 2014-08-25 at 9.31.43 PMThis is one to really enjoy!

(Update: I didn’t know this before but the other singer and dancer you hear is Donald O’Conner!)

Dance like you just don’t care…

At the DC Sakura Matsuri in 2011, I happened to catch this couple as they danced to the music of a band playing at one of the music bandstands in the plaza of the Reagan building. They had obviously been dancing together for quite a while, and they were having so much fun that I had to catch a few shots of them. I’m hoping the Matsuri this year goes well, and I really hope I can catch some good views of the cherry blossoms down at the Tidal Basin.

couple preparing to dance
“Shall we?” “Let’s!”
couple dancing
couple dancing