Mind Game

is a 2004 Japanese adult-animated experimental comedy-drama film based on Robin Nishi's manga of the same name. It was planned, produced and primarily animated by Studio 4°C, and adapted and directed by Masaaki Yuasa in his directorial debut, with chief animation direction and model sheets by Yūichirō Sueyoshi, art direction by Tōru Hishiyama and groundwork and further animation direction by Masahiko Kubo. It is unusual among features other than anthology films in using a series of disparate visual styles to tell one continuous story. As Yuasa commented in a Japan Times interview, "Instead of telling it serious and straight, I went for a look that was a bit wild and patchy. I think that Japanese animation fans today don't necessarily demand something that's so polished. You can throw different styles at them and they can still usually enjoy it." The film received a cult audience and was well received, winning multiple awards worldwide, and has been praised by directors Satoshi Kon and Bill Plympton. Plot Nishi is a 20-year-old NEET from Osaka with dreams of becoming a comic book artist. One evening, he runs into his childhood crush, Myon, on the subway. She takes him to her family's yakitori restaurant, where she introduces him to her father, her elder sister Yan, and her fiancé Ryo. Two yakuza, Atsu and a senior yakuza whom Atsu calls Aniki (literally 'brother', a term used by yakuza to refer to each other), enter looking for Myon's father, who had ostensibly seduced and stolen Atsu's girlfriend.