Ringing Bell
"Ringing Bell" was produced by Sanrio and originally shown as a double feature alongside the US/Sanrio co-production "The Mouse and his Child". It is Sanrio's first anime film to have a dark plot, only two films they co-produced with Sunrise, "The Ideon: A Contact" and "The Ideon: Be Invoked" – both of which serve as the conclusion to Yoshiyuki Tomino's "Space Runaway Ideon", follow suit. Like the above-mentioned "Ideon" films, it is among Sanrio's first work to be aimed at young adult audience members in and outside Japan. Synopsis. A young lamb  named Chirin lives a carefree life with his flock on a farm. He's adventurous and prone to getting lost, so he wears a bell around his neck so his mother can always find him. She warns him he must never venture beyond the farm's fence, or else he might be killed by the wolf that lives in the nearby mountains. Soon after, the wolf sneaks into the barn at night and attacks the sheep. Chirin's mother dies protecting him. Seeking revenge, Chirin leaves the farm and pursues the wolf up the mountain. However, he quickly realizes he  cannot fight him, and instead asks the wolf to train him to become strong. The wolf agrees, despite knowing Chirin intends to kill him one day. Three years later, Chirin has transformed into a ruthless killer and thrown away his quest for vengeance, having come to view his mentor as a father figure. The wolf takes him down to the farm to kill the sheep, but, reminded of his mother, Chirin refuses. The two fight, and Chirin fatally wounds the wolf with his horns. Despite his mortal injury, the wolf happily confesses to Chirin that he is proud of  his student's maturation, declaring that Chirin, like himself, is now a lone wolf. Despite saving them, Chirin is rejected by his terrified flock, and is forced to return to the mountains, now alone. After hallucinating the wolf's return, Chirin laments that he has nowhere left to go, and no one else to love, crying out in sorrow for the wolf to come back. Chirin is never seen again, but it's said the faint ringing of his bell can still be heard on stormy nights, much like the howls of the lone wolves before him. Reception. Though it  is not as well-known outside Japan, Western critics such as Justin Sevakis of "Anime News Network" praised the dark storyline and artwork, and noted that it delivered a "sort of quick punch-to-the-face of the innocent." Sevakis also commented that "there is almost nothing uplifting about "Ringing Bell" and yet it maintains its sense of adorable while simultaneously destroying our concepts of the beauty of nature." One of the most negative comments about the film came from Kimiko Anime Network who stated that the film should not be viewed by young children and could cause emotional trauma