Angel's Egg: The Forgotten Masterpiece (Tenshi No Tamago) | Bonsai Pop 

Thanks so much for watching! We had fun with this one, though we needed a break which is why it took a couple weeks, big thanks to our patrons for being so cool about it and supporting us while we dealt with 4+ years of YT burnout. I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this movie, like i said, it's a bit of a Rorschach test, you kinda get what you get out of it. We'll be back next week with another awesome video about some weird shit we fell in love with, hope to see you there! -Mike

Dude, crazy, I was just watching this the other night. Ive had it on VHS for 30 years. (Yeah, I'm a very very old school anime fan)

wonderfully analyzed, expertly told. New insights for me here. thank you.

Talks about god and he shows pictures of saber at the same moment. Nice^^

Yoshitaka Amano was the character designer for the classic Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, known mostly as the heavily-censored, Battle of the Planets. He also worked on Tekkaman the Space Knight, & Genesis Climber MOSPEADA, known as Robotech: The New Generation. The man was basically one of the architects of my youth!

Just watched this anime after watching this video, it was super good. I probably should have watched the movie first like you said but it was still awesome

fucking hell man cracking eggs like splayin legs with this wordplay you slay with these videos. fucking nailed it with this anime.. it's a beautiful thing that you definetly resonate with in the same way I do.. it's got you a fuckin thumbs up and a rock on 👍🤟

What i get from this movie, is that... the man: could be looked at as either a Jesus character or a Satan character, testing the girl's faith. The water: symbolic of femininity, purity, and the consistency at which the girl holds her faith. The girl: symbolic of innocence, naivity and youth The egg: faith (or that of which is important to the individual) The girl falling asleep: symbolic of times when one lets their guard down and questions their faith The man breaking the egg: Revelation of truth, or taking one's innocence, opening pandora's box, apple of eden, etc The girl falling into the water in the ravine: confronting oneself in the reality of one's faith, and achieving personal spiritual growth(independent of religion)

I watched it had no idea wtf did I watch

That scream hits and haunts you for years. Holy shit, I've gotta watch this.

Watched this animated film because of Dark Souls 3.

This is so interesting and horrifying in a good way? As a person of faith, (I dont consider myself religious tho because of the dangers and evils of blind faith and sharpening religion to be a weapon against our fellow humans) I love having these types of conversations with friends and family. And even though it can be scary to talk about, it can also be really eye opening and thought provoking. Thank you for making content like this and for never giving one-sided thoughts or opinions. I love listening to and watching your breakdowns of anime and its various themes

9:50 the revelation of the anthropomorphic angel is one of the creepiest and eerie things I have ever witnessed on screen

“Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.” Zhuangzi

It's a damn shame that RU-vid's algorithm favours the "Trending" shows so much. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate mainstream anime, in fact I love a good chunk of them. It's just that I already know, or at least know of those shows. They are advertised relentlessly and recommended everywhere by everyone. The fact that you guys focus mostly on more older and lesser known shows that most people have either forgotten or never heard of is exactly the reason I subscribed to you. I love seeing what hidden gem I have never seen or heard of that you guys will be recommending every week, and I love hearing your opinions and personal insight for every single one. Thanks to you I was able to discover and enjoy Ninja Scroll and Wicked City. I made darn sure to add other shows and films you guys talked about to my watchlist. I will definitely be watching Angel's Egg as soon as I can! So keep doing what you do, and I look forward to the next hidden gems you recommend in the future!

1 minute in and I'm already sold. You've got a way with words brotha! Keep it up.

My interpretation is this movie is basically a huge allegory for the fact that everybody it's basically floating through life thinking they have a purpose. But in reality and at the end of the day we don't end up doing what makes us happy we end up doing what we're good at to just get by.

Its tough to digest Angels egg on its own, but given the context of its creation (let alone what was created because of it) definitely helped me appreciate the nuances more. Great vid, even if I struggled to get through the film itself, I appreciate that it exists for what it is, ESPECIALLY for what it has inspired.

So Angel's Egg is one of my top 5 animes of all-time. It is raw, powerful and beautiful. Sometimes evoking emotions is enough to leave us with an indelible lifelong impression. We might not be able to sort out exactly the intent, or the message but we surely know how it makes us feel. That is undeniable.

Should any question whether anime can be fine art, you just have to point them to Angel's Egg. Excellent video, Mike, and many props for putting up a video that may not be considered "popular" by the usual YT anime standards.

I really get the Dark Souls/Bloodborne feels from this...and the music fits really well.

Even as a Christian, I can appreciate the messages in this beautiful work. We are what we are given in this life and even if you don’t believe in God, you can still improve yourself, for your own benefit. Weather or not you break the egg, weather or not there is something inside of it, either way you make of it what you will. Peace and love y’all👍🏾

Art doesn't need a reason to exist, and that definitely is exemplified in this movie. I watched it before and didn't quite get it until this video essay. Great job in the analysis and explanation! As a Christian, I also see something more than existential dread of the unknown in this work. I also see a lack of consequence for one's actions. Needlessly throwing spears to catch nothing. Breaking an egg that doesn't belong to the guy and nothing really changing for the destroyer. A world devoid of meaning and reason. When a person adopts the idea that there is no afterlife, they also adopt the idea that life loses meaning, too. The existence of an afterlife means there are further consequences for what you do during life (ie: a murderer crossing paths with those they murdered). It would be interesting to see a sequel in order to follow the artist's life journey.

Art is a manifestation of the unconscious mind. What I love about this film is the experience of watching it and not needing to know what it's about, enjoying it for what it is.

Saw this and Akira in the same week when I was five. That might explain some things.

apparently Lovecraft realized he was wrong for being a rascist later in life, but that poor cat...

Yeeeee boiiii

I love these types of films. Hidden gems that allow you to interpret it through your own personal lens.

When one soul seeks beyond one's self into what lies in the dark universe. This reminds me of the creator Neon Genesis Evangelion going through an existential crisis. A Japanese Salaryman is forced by the self, and society, to not look into the abyss of the universe.

Angel's Egg is like watching anime on an acid trip.

Beginning of the video: You should REALLY watch this movie first before going through this video. Me: Okay. Me after watching Angel's Egg: wHaT DiD i JuSt WaTcH?! Seriously though, it's eerie how much this movie gripped my heart and soul. Coming back to this video gave me some much-needed context, though I'm glad it wasn't just me that I was detecting the brush of Lovecraftian nihilism with every long, silent second that passed through this movie. How I saw SO MUCH of myself in the man that accompanied that girl, and so much of my sister in her. How I actually broke down and wept for that girl when she wailed in agony that her egg was crushed. I normally gravitate to movies that would have been part of the Sci-Fi channel line-up, though I honestly have no memory of this ever being on tv. I honestly was more ready for Akira as a small child than I was this movie. I was not meant to watch it till I was older, more jaded, and searching for meaning. in '85, we had Angel's Egg and Vampire Hunter D. Today, we have The Misfit of Demon King Academy. I feel like I don't even know you anymore, Japan. But Angel's Egg is a gift.

Yeah, this is legitimately one of the greatest films ever made. My favorite aspect of it is that Mamoru Oshii said he doesn't know what it's about. And the fact that it's illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano really brings it to another level. Whenever I recommend it, I just tell people it was inspired by the creator's loss of faith in Christianity. I think that little bit of backstory is very important and all you really need. To me, this is a movie you don't necessarily need to understand intellectually or know exactly what is literally happening in the film. Just feeling it and feeling that it's meaningful is enough. I've seen it three or four times and every time I feel I 'understand' it more and more, but less in a way of 'this is what it means objectively' and more of I understand more and more what it means to me, and what my interpretation is. Really just a beautiful and mesmerizing film. My one hope is to see it in a theater.

About Lovecraft, as far as I remember the meaning behind Azathoth was to fill in the place for the reader. Like he meant that the story cannot exist without someone reading it, all of it only exist in our fantasies and our dreams while we read the story. Thus we (the reader) are Azathoth the universe of the story exists within us. We are all the pieces of the blind and idiot god, that is why it is a jumbled mess of horrific appendages because that is how humanity looks like when looked from the perspective of one deeply fearful and isolated individual that Lovecraft was. The ultimate irony of a god that has ultimate power but it just wants to sleep and be entertained by whatever and never wants to wake up to the horrific truths of life.

Bloodborne is what got me interested in H.P. Lovecraft. I guess Angel’s Egg is what inspired FromSoft to make Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Full circle?

This movie did not help with my death anxiety or my existential angst.

The atmosphere in this video is so crazy! The fromsoftware music with the analysis of this dreadful and yet mysteriously beautiful movie is just too fucking crazy. Honestly Bonsai Pop you guys knocked it out of the park with this one👌🏽☝🏽

I downloaded this movie maybe ? 10 years ago?? It's still unwatched, there's so much to watch. But this makes me want to sit down and actually finally watch it

Anime don’t use that degree of lonely negative space nearly enough. The game Xenogears made amazing use of this in the final dungeon, boss, and cutscenes. It’s one of my favorite aesthetics.

One of my favorite films. Yoshitaka Amano is one of the artists that inspires me the most. Excellent video!

"Anatawa dare" has been engrained in my mind to this day years after I've watched it

It is interesting as I always saw the "over turned arc" in the shape of a single grain of short grain race. As if the show is saying as much philosophizing as one may be doing; all that work is perhaps only as valuable as a single grain of rice.

Im really thankful for you guys digging up this obscure gems, some of then are so outlandish that a doubt remembering it, felt like a feverish dream.

Great analysis of this unique masterpiece, a film that defies any reasonable explanation or interpretation. However, as a Rorschach test, I've always found a hopeful message of ultimately letting go of your constraints, symbolised by the Egg, in order to fulfil your true potential, symbolised by the 'hatching' scenes at the end of the movie with the falling feathers and breaking through the surface of the water.

Also, the story of the windfish egg in the Legend of Zelda, Links Awakening has a VERY similar story line.

#PatreonProud Sad I missed the viewing party for this one so I had to watch it on my own. Ah well that's the way it goes. keep up the good work.

Angel's egg is a piece of art that is painfully incomprehensible on a first watch, and yet after that first watch I was overwhelmed with emotion. Watching it instils existential angst and sadness that you can't fully explain without time to process it. Its beautiful

I don't know if you'll get to read this, Bonsai Pop, but man. Really, you guys deserve all the support in the world. All the best to you. I love all the content you produce.

Question: Is it only through a director’s or creator’s mental and/or belief instability that we are able to experience a piece of media that can be put into an endless amount of interpretations?

I love how you incorporated the music (and imagery) of the Souls games into this essay. Needless, this is one of my favourite films. So much so I find it almost unbearable to watch because of its weight.

in what universe is angels egg "forgotten"?? everyone knows about it why do people feel the need to make videos about it. If you want to talk about a forgotten masterpiece anime pick something with under 10k users on mal. For example malice doll or kokoro toshokan idk just don't go around calling a film which is widely regarded as a classic by a well known director "forgotten" wtf

Gotta be that guy.....tenshi no tamago 天使の卵

The "meaning you draw from it" huh? Well I drew no meaning from it, makes sense because I'm well past that phase of questioning religion, meaning, etc. All I know is I'm here to experience and learn till the day I pass away. Is there anything after? No one knows. As humans we're not supposed to know.

The girl pursues her faith differently than the fishermen. They run chaotically and greedily all over town destroying things and never catching a fish... The girl carrying the egg is illuminated and glowing in most shots also she collected the water repeatedly almost joyously. I think her introduction to the tree story was like eve waking up. While the man is a priest but not divine. Hes pretty much obsessed with watching her and watching that eyeball in the sky. I still feel like he raped her/violated her. Taking away what was her choice to attempt to hatch the egg versus breaking it open. He did it without her consent. There is no proof that the egg would not have hatched had they been patient. He was impatient after seeing the Angel on the wall aka breaking the egg. There must be some sort of japanese social undertone here I am missing interpretation on but picking up vibe wise. His choice to force the girl/holiness to the crux of rape/egg break. Reminds me of the pressure of Rod Reiss in attack on titan. Rod Reiss obsesses over the titan power and royalty but never wants to become the titan himself. Instead hes some crazy ass follower of the titan power. Another example of this social awkwardness around witnessing divinity but not embodying itself by the person chasing it - is Shinji Ikari's dad. He obsesses over the human instrumentality project... but is willing to watch/obsess over Rei becoming lilith. or Shinji being the vehicle to divinity. Aka like willing sacrifice... but never man enough to do the job himself or to embody the power they obsess over. Its very japanese.... I also feel like the characters are in some sort of time loop. He stares at the eye at the beginning. Which is noted to have the goddess statues in prayer. He reveres that eye god thingy. They are statues...almost like buddist statues you see at temples. I feel an overlay of Buddhism and Christianity here. maybe he stares often enough and does the loop so many times hes forgotten. However the girl offers something different. He chooses to willingly sacrifice her egg because he knows shes different. By the end of the movie.. he doesnt care if he possibly drowns in the water. He is witnessing that a change to the eye has indeed occurred. The man has forced his physical tangible will / faith and has witnessed physically that the girl physically has died and some how reincarnated / transmutated spiritually onto the eyeball with her own differentiated shrine which represents some sort of honor achieved. The eyeball is God. He will never be eternally honored on that eyeball. She returned to "source" with the egg." hes still just standing all alone on that beach. He isnt greedy like the fishermen, he is patient but physically to involved in the tangible world of his faith and forces it. The girl didnt force but just faith the egg would hatch. Because of his force he will never return to source/peace. The girl didnt force it - she returned to source and has peace. He will never experience true enlightenment. He said the bird never returned to noah's ark. Yet the girl believes the bird is within the egg. There is hope still she believes. By sacrificing her... she promulgates hope further in more eggs. Hes a sort of destructive force always stomping out faith aka like churches and clergy. His cross actually weighs him down.

I appreciate your take on the movie but I gotta say you guys do break the tension and immersion of its presentation by this weird ass background music and completely unrelated clips every now and then.

5:27 sauce?

I remember watching this for the first time at age 12 oddly enough late night on adult swim and it was both weird as fuck and beautiful XD! Now having played bloodborne and all the dark souls games it's crazy to think that this played a roll in inspiring the creation of those games.

Apparently this was the inspiration behind Hollow Knight and Dark Souls.

i watched it and it was the bor boring thing in the wrold. i can understand why many people are pretending to like it tho. it makes them feel more cultured than the rest of us

At some point I remember one of my friends bringing up the point that we don’t know if we really exist or if everything’s just and illusion. At first, I really struggled with it because hey what if we DON’T exist? What happens then? But after several years, we started talking about different philosophies and faiths in history class. After that, I eventually learned that it doesn’t have to matter whether or not we exist, because everything feels real enough. Sure, one day the beast that has created us in it’s dream may wake up and I’ll be nothing more than a forgotten memory, but what about right now? Even if it’s all fake, I have things I like, things I want to do, people I want to meet. So what if there’s no real purpose in life? I’ll just make one myself.

I literally watched this a week ago! It was gorgeous and haunting. I’m so happy you could cover it!!!

Dude, after watching this film I have the need of seeing another films like this.

This fear of unknown or cosmic horror is best thing about Berserk and Lovecraft's stories. And now you introduce Angel's egg to me.

FANTASTIC video! I've been a fan of this anime since 96 and have shown it to many friends and family and love discussing it. Keep up the great work on your videos. Thank you

Watched the film, REALLYYYYYY boring

There’s a new Netflix show “Ju-On Origins” that I absolutely cannot watch at night, but I think would be right up your alley.

I stumbled upon this film by accident when I looked up obscure 80's anime, and as I watched it I thought to myself "this film is too smart for me." Your video helped me understand it a bit more, but I am also glad that I shared many insights on the film that you had. I still don't know what I feel about this film. I think it left me empty and I feel nothing, but that's also what I think the film is trying to impart. This was a really good video. Thank you for making it.

Got around to finally watching this masterpiece earlier today after watching this video, imo this video served as a super well needed piece of context for a work so surreal and dream like in it’s presentation. I absolutely loved the movie and really enjoyed seeing some of the very clear inspiration from soft games like darksouls and bloodborne took from angels egg. This video really pushed me to watch this awesome piece of cinema but also gave me a bit of a guided lens to view it from. So i’m definitely happy i check out this video

Angel's Egg is one of those pieces of media that you really benefit by coming back to it again and again at different points in your life. It seems to change as you do.

It's getting really Bloodborne in here. : >

Hey Mike! Took me a couple days to get through it but i finally got to watch this GREAT video. You did awesome job reviewing this film. I took something completely different from the story but still enjoyed your perspective. Thanks for expressing your personal experiences with faith and dread, I do however, challenge you to dig deeper into those topics. That's a video I will surely watch on day it's uploaded ;) thanks for your hard work.

if you break a egg you fuced it up, even a dog knows it

The gruff of your voice definitely makes your vids worth listening to. Keep up the good work!!!

HA! Still love the Domestic Girlfriend thing

I think the whale represents every man’s personal ambition, like the metaphor of the great white whale from the Old Man and the Sea.

I don't get it but it sure is pretty. I guess that's enough.

2:27 "Who are you?" Is a trick question. It's being directed to the viewer. *head explosion noises*

Here are some other anime you should talk about Devil Lady Magic M-66 Code Geass Hellsing & Hellsing Ultimate Bubblegum Crisis City Hunter Naoki Urasawa's Monster Master Keaton JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Soul Eater Golgo 13 Anohana Gurren Lagann Space Patrol Luluco Space Dandy Michiko and Hatchin Basilisk Sengoku Basara Assassination Classroom Shin Mazinger Z Getter Robo Armageddon BNA:Brand New Animal SSSS.Gridman Yu-Gi-Oh Shaman King Cobra Digimon Adventure Monster Rancher Beyblade Great Teacher Onizuka Vinland Saga Overlord Konosuba Cells at Work Danmachi AKA Is it Wrong to Try Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Fruit Basket Ouran High School Host Club Food Wars Fairy Tail Naruto Bleach Detective Conan Dr Slump Kinnikuman Bungo Stray Dogs Danganronpa Durarara Lupin The Third Studio Ghibli movies Little Witch Academia Captain Tsubasa Haikyuu Kuroko's Basketball Slam Dunk Drifters Elfen Lied Magi:Labyrinth of Magic Puella Magi Madoka Magica Revolutionary Girl Utena Shimoneta The Vision of Escaflowne Megalo Box Tomorrow's Joe The Prince of Tennis Initial D Ace of Diamond The Seven Deadly Sins Tower of God Blood C Hell Girl Fate series Ghost in The Shell Goku Midnight Eye Mobile Suit Gundam Cyber City Oedo 808

Like your channel, like your vids. Don't watch always but I always like when I do. Only Complaint. Coelacanth = SEE-le-kanth. That's it. Hang 'em high, plant 'em deep, my friend. Peas.

"Man why did I think watching this at 12 am knowing full well I have a faith crisis was a good idea. " Immediately subscribes*

Who's decision was it to flash Domestic no Kanajo (no clue if I spelled that correctly) when the word family was said? Stop it.

The egg phrase at the beginning reminded me of Revolutionary Girl Utena

Do one on Bloodborne the tiers on consciousness and the duality of [ Beasthood ~ Insight] Both ways of losing your humanity but polar. Beasthood is offered in the opening scene, the beast arrives from below the blood soaked floor. A layer of consciousness lower than the Yharnam Dream. And it's not malicious, the beast offers you it's clawed hand beckoning you, when the alien force of the hunters dream burns it with the little ones, beckoning the player into the realm of insight and away from primal urges. The game begins and insight is how you turn into an alien and beasthood turns you into well- a beast.

The dance party made it into the video. Awesome!

11:07 a volume warning would've been nice T^T my poor ears

"Did humans make-" -yes,, yes they did

I'll never forget staying up late and randomly finding this movie on Kissanime And watching this in the dark Had no idea what this movie is and I only planned to watch a few minutes of it...the more I watched, the more I was blown away and next thing I know its one of my fav anime movies of all time

This movie looks SO familiar to me. I swear I must have seen it many years ago, but I don't remember where......

Another interesting thing to note is that in the ending, when we zoom out and see that the island is the overturned ark, we the audience can see what it is, but from the characters perspective, its impossible they figure it out.

it’s mind boggling to me that I had no idea this show existed

Cheers for the existential dread👍

I watched this year's ago and didn't get it at all. Was strange and intriguing but your video has shed some light on it. Loving your channel, please keep up the good work. Just patroned you so 🤗

where i can find the movie?

one of the best movies of all time.

I watched Angel's Egg cause I randomly found it here on RU-vid. I miss art anime. Yeah once and a while we'll get something now, but we'll never get something as grand as this that isn't indie/

What is the name of the anime in 5:17 ??

music was gnarly on this one,dunno how you guys manage to create so much feeling with your choices

Pretty impressed with the video, and I never heard about this film. Its amazing and fits my genre of anime very well. Keep up the amazing work man. 😃

I was introduced to Angel's Egg and Evangelion from my Cousin...... I don't know how I am even a functioning adult after experiencing some crazy shit like this. This movie still baffles me and amazes me with art alone. The story is just so mind boggling its fascinating

Anyone know where to find this film? Or way to find it on the high seas?

I remember watching this a year ago when I was so fucking high I didn't even know what was going on, and then I had to re watch it again the next day cause I couldn't get the imagery out of my mind, so I re watched it again next day and still came out of it being confused, but at least I got the chance of re watching this beautiful film.