A Place Where There Are Moths (Ga no Iru Tokoro) is a five-minute short created by Mika Seike in 2001. The avant-garde animation depicts the conflict between drab concrete apartment blocks and the natural environment within Japanese cities. Situated in between these two colossal forces is a middle-aged woman who sits helplessly while a swarm of moths invades her room, pushing her higher and higher within the building.
With no dialogue outside the strange noises from the moths, A Place Where There Are Moths’ message remains elusive. However, it appears to give commentary on many people’s living situations within the large megalopolises of Japan and how modern society has gradually become disconnected from nature. The short paints a bleak picture of life, in which its gray color pallet, rattling pots and static sounds become a disturbing reminder of how synthetic human activity has become.
The Plot of A Place Where There Are Moths
A woman sits alone in an unnaturally still manner while watching her television set. However, rather than the TV playing a film, sitcom or any other type of programming one might expect, it instead eerily feeds back a picture of the apartment complex she is living in. At this moment, Seike attempts to direct the audience's attention to the primary thematic focus of her short -- and sadly her protagonist's life.
The building has become an all-consuming behemoth that has sucked the life out of its residents. Color has been reserved for items that are natural in origin, such as moths, dirt, seeds and trees, while manufactured objects are doused in ash gray and jet black. However, there is one exception to this rule -- the woman who sits in the center of the room.
As a living creature, she should be filled with color and lighten the dingy walls of her apartment complex, yet she remains set in her leaden pallet. Unlike the moths that parade her room, the woman has become one with the building and the sedentary lifestyle it provides. Her inability to fly free has rooted her in a depression and left her unable to connect with the natural elements that now surround her.
After planting a seed, which quickly takes root and becomes a fully-fledged tree, the apartment is taken over by its thick branches and leaves which metamorphose into a series of orange moths. However, the sights and sounds of these occurrences are too much for the woman to take and lead her to retreat into the depths of the building. Eventually, she manages to calm herself down and descend to the bottom of the complex.
In A Place Where There Are Moths' final scene, the woman opens her window and allows the remaining moth to fly outside. As it moves up toward the sky, the woman remains alone in her room once more. While she managed to rid herself of the frustration they caused, the moths were the only form of contact that she had with another living creature. Although her fate is unaccounted for, Seike seems to suggest she is a doomed figure who is unable to connect with anything outside the four gray walls that have imprisoned her.
The Core Message Behind A Place Where There Are Moths
A Place Where There Are Moths attempts to highlight how many of us have become detached from nature and consequently ourselves. Rather than exploring the world, people have instead decided to hide away from it. This state of fear has caused many to become disenchanted with life itself and unable to connect with society or the natural elements around them. People have become cocooned by comforts and, like the moths, must set themselves free in an effort to move toward the light.
While this short may not be the most entertaining or even well-constructed piece of animation, at just five minutes in length it manages to pack a punch and provide a great deal of commentary about modern living. For anyone interested in the avant-garde side of anime, A Place Where There Are Moths is certainly worth a watch and will likely get viewers thinking about the role that nature plays in their life.