Baan

For many years, numerous anime fans have crossed the line and joined the anime industry. On September 21, 2025, anime YouTuber Garnt "Gigguk" Maneetapho released his pet project to the world. Produced by Studio Daisy, Baan tells the tale of Daichi Arai and an Euthaninan named Rinrada Ratchamanee, as they venture on their own personal journey towards independence and finding their place in the world. 

Studio Daisy was able to bring Gigguk's vision for the world of Baan to life with its vibrant colors and a mix of A1 Pictures' and Pokémon Sun and Moon era OLM's art styles. The designs for the humanoid beings are reminiscent of the IDOLM@STER TV series. The faces for Rin and Daichi, for example, would be something that would show up on the latest season of whatever generation of IDOL@MASTER is running on TV. As for the OLM side of things, there are some sequences within the film wherein the character models look like they were plucked out of the Alola region. Notable examples of those would be the invasion scene and one of the call center moments where Rin was getting reprimanded by her superior for not following the center's guidelines.

To fit with the Southeast Asian visual themes of the show, Ryouji Kameda (Gurenn Lagann) incorporated a bit of Indonesian gamelan music into its musical score. Granted, it's not as memorable as Geinoh Yashirogumi's work in Akira, but it's nice to see some music from that region. As for the dubbing, I watched this in English instead of Japanese, so my thoughts on the dub would center around that specific dubbing track. Sydney "Sydsnap" Poniewacz is a great fit for Rinrada as she was able to portray how Rin would sound perfectly. As for Aleks Le, he was able to pull off differentiating the restlessness and uncertainty of the younger Daichi and the contentment and happiness of the older version of Dai.

Continuing with the presentation aspects of this review, Baan was able to accurately capture the struggles and dilemas young adults face as they embark on their own life's journey. For Daichi, he wanted to be his own person and find a place where he belongs. As for Rin, she yearns for self-reliance and independence after the death of her father. She also wanted to prove to herself that she can successfully face the challenges that come her way. Each scene in Baan shows how each of the protagonists progress throughout their separate journeys with satisfying payoffs.

As much as I would like to heap praise on what Baan did well, there is something that totally derails my enjoyment of this 18-minute short film. Whereas the visuals, sound, dubbing, and the presentation of its themes were spectacular, the plot progression and pacing of Baan is where things fall apart. For one, first-time viewers might expect the older Rin and the young Daichi meet at the opening of the film. That is not the case, as the story of how Daichi and Rinrada meet was placed at the middle of the movie via flashback. Worldbuilding is also nonexistent in this anime, as there is no explanation as to why Japan has a portal that can travel between our dimension and the one Euthania is located in. There is also no reason as to why the Euthanians had to harvest dragon eggs. In fact, the identity of said dragon hasn't been revealed at all.

Perhaps it has something to do with its format and how it's written. Gigguk and director Yoshimitsu Oohashi (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Haikyuu!!) decided to present the plot in a nonlinear fashion as it is more of Garnt's personal love letter to anime and his own origins. Add that to the movie's 18-minute runtime and we get no time to put together the pieces of Baan's plot into something understandable. Maybe if it were given a larger budget and a green light to make it a TV series, Maneetapho and Oohashi would have fixed these glaring problems that hinder people from enjoying Baan as it is right now.