Pica Towers may be on the strangest series I have ever sat and watched. I’m not sure that I would have ever come across it had I not been in a class where watching it was required. The three clips provide a very interesting storyline that follows these characters in a dark and twisted world filled with torture, violence and even murder.
The initial reaction to Pica Towers is that the content of its story does not seemingly match the characters that are working with it. It’s very strange to watch small, almost adorable, looking characters performing very violent acts. The juxtaposition of these characters in this very dark and sinister environment doing very malicious things is part of its appeal and seemingly may be the reason its animation is so effective. Had the characters been fashioned after humans, the collective project would not have been as effective, in my opinion.
The animation itself is so fascinating to watch. The creator situates a whole world in this series and its in animation and design gives it depth and nuance. The world in the small video box seems huge without having to be told that it is huge. The use of shadow and lighting sometimes is the primary way that the story is moved along. Shadow and lighting plants the seed of assumption in observers as opposed to being shown action deliberately that functions as a plot element.
Pica Towers is a twisted look at a world that I am entirely fascinated by but am so glad doesn’t actually exist.