Umi ni Ochita Tsuki no Hanashi
English title: The Moon That Fell into the Sea
Japanese title: 海に落ちた月の話
Type: Movie
Source: Original
Episodes: 1
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: 2013
Duration: 18 min
Rating: G - All Ages
Genres: Award Winning
Demographics: Kids

The moon that fell into the deep sea woke up in the darkness. An angler fish came there. The moon explained why he fell into the sea, but the angler fish did not hear the story because he was absorbed in fishing. Eating a fish, he went away. A shark came next. He tried to take the moon to the sky, but he got too tired partway and left the moon. Crabs came. They carried the moon to the beach, because they needed the light of a full moon to lay their eggs. When they finished laying their eggs, they went home. The moon left alone on the beach was washed away by the waves and returned into the sea. The moon rolled down a hill and fell on a turtle. It was a very old turtle who should know a lot. The moon asked him how to go back to the sky. The turtle asked a ray in the sand to take the moon with him. The ray took the moon with him and dropped the moon in the deepest sea. The moon sank deeper and deeper. There was a big fish in the bottom of the sea. Wrapped in particles of light coming out from the mouth of the big fish, the moon emerged on the surface of the sea and melted.

Did the moon return to the sky? This animation can be interpreted differently by different viewers. It can be interpreted, for example, as a story of the moon that fell into the sea whether in reality or in a dream, or as a story of an old moon that had to die for the birth of a new moon, or as a story of a soul heading for heaven. Whatever interpretation viewers make, the story conveys a positive message that we are all allowed to exist. Represented by this animation is a small world gently embracing us all -- transient existence...

(Source: YouTube)

Winner of the 2013 Oofuji Noburou Award at the Mainichi Film Awards.