Ghibli fans? Keep walking. Not that I’ve got any grudge against the deliciously inventive gems of Hayao Miyazaki, but we are here as far from his universe as Shuji Terayama or Takashi Miike (you name it!) are from Akira Kurosawa’s. Let’s put it this way: “Mind Game” is a hallucinatory becoming-frenetic piece of animation, a delirious act, both in its form and its narrative. It doesn’t quite belong to the long tradition of pure experimental animation, given the presence of defined characters and a plot but it sounds more like a modern take – amphetamine-fueled – on genre-defying classics such as “Belladonna of Sadness” (1973) or “Angel’s Egg” (1985). Talking about the plot, let’s address it briefly, as it’s merely a pretext for this visual kaleidoscope, even if it could definitely be useful for future viewers.

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Nishi, an apprentice mangaka,...