Anime's most overlooked sci-fi masterpiece is streaming free on YouTube

Hiroyasu Ishida's feature debut remains one of anime's smartest celebrations of curiosity and imagination In just over a decade, Studio Colorido has quietly become one of anime's most dependable homes for heartfelt fantasy. Whether it's the shape-shifting romance of A Whisker Away, the emotional floodwaters of Drifting Home, or the more recent Cosmic Princess Kaguya!, Colorido has built a reputation for stories where extraordinary events crash into the everyday lives of children. Its films are defined by bright, expressive animation and a belief that growing up shouldn’t mean leaving behind your imagination. Yet for all the acclaim its later releases have earned, Colorido's greatest achievement remains the first film the studio ever made. Long before Netflix helped introduce its films to a global audience, the studio released a quietly brilliant adaptation of Tomihiko Morimi's award-winning novel that’s unlike anything else in its catalog, and you can stream it for free right now on YouTube. Penguin Highway remains the clearest expression of the ideas that have come to define Hiroyasu Ishida’s work, later cropping up in Drifting Home. Ishida is fascinated by childhood curiosity and