Aru Tabibito no Nikki Specials

In a certain distant land, home to numerous intriguing towns and people, many wondrous sights can be found. Traveler Tortov Roddle encounters a curious patch of red berries and after sampling one, happily indulges himself with more. He soon realizes, however, that this delectable fruit has considerable hallucinogenic effects and finds himself partaking in his greatest trip of all.

Elsewhere, a little girl finds brief yet fantastical escapes from her everyday life. In yet another city, residents are baffled when giant black apples begin raining down from the sky, but find that they may have use for them. A journey into the extraordinary, Aru Tabibito no Nikki Specials explores the surreal occurrences of its setting, and how the land's inhabitants react to certain dreamlike experiences they encounter.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Roddle, Tortov Main

Katou, Kunio Producer, Director

Matsumoto, Emi Producer

Reviews

Jan 6, 2009

Retro8bit

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (1/3 eps)

So tell me, got three and a half minutes to spare? Looking for something soothing to fill the time with? Well I think I have a video right up your alley.

Fantasy Story is a short musical piece pertaining to a young girl who appears to live in a dream world all her own. She is not a particularly deep character, heck she never even speaks. Instead its up to the audience to actually feel what she is feeling, by way of her emotions and expressions. She appears to be a quite mellow individual, that gets easily entertained by the things around her. The video is ... cut into 5 different mini story arks, and in each one she is expressing a certain astonishment and interest in something. Whether it be a book, a leaf in the breeze, or just watching the rain fall on a calm day.

The art certainly doesn't look like a tried and true anime, but more along the lines of a painting you might see hanging in your local art museum. Not very colorful or detailed in any regards, but still oddly alluring at the same time.

The thing that stood out the most for me in this video was the music, its all done with a piano in a classical sort of fashion, but with different tones and feeling to each segment. I felt sympathy, joy and peace--all in a matter of a few seconds between each skit. It brings the sort of emotion that you would see either in a "drama act," or perhaps a "ballet." The one thing that I didn't like about it, was the fact that they spent a bit too much time breaking off into each story ark, I really don't understand why they couldn't have just blended them all together in one long session.

Either way though it is a very soothing piece of work, its the kind of music video that is great for when you need to unwind. I am not the biggest fan of these types of videos, but I honestly felt it was a great way to spend 3 plus minutes.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Aug 28, 2010

Noonsies

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (1/3 eps)

Long before Kunio Katō created his renowned animated piece, "La Maison en Petits Cubes," he was experimenting with recreational drugs. One fateful night he decided that he would animate his hallucinations - and name it "The Apple Incident." Using the method of deduction, it can only be fair to say that not only was he high - but he was also very, very bored.

Despite the fact that I made it sound like a terrible piece of art, it really isn't. If you've got two minutes to spare and nothing else better to do, you definitely should give it a chance. However, to hail it ... as a masterpiece, you must have either a fetish of apples or you're quite into noise music.

That being said, watching this animated piece is rumoured to give an individual hair loss, amnesia, ultra migraines, the flu, ingrown hairs and many other symptoms. But who cares about rumours? Besides, it's only two minutes, so what are you waiting for?

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Nov 7, 2025

FAKEANIMEGIRL

Mixed Feelings

Spoiler

(Check out my profile for a link to my personal site containing more up-to-date reviews and bonus media!)

Originally written on September 11, 2016 7:38 pm EST

Three special episodes of A Traveler’s Diary. The first one has Tortov eating a strange fruit and getting high off of his ass as he hallucinates, acting uncharacteristically unrefined with a pretty funny ending. The art style is noticeably different here, with much more saturated colors and a bit of a different face on Tortov. It may be different staff, given the three-year break.

The second episode is an instrumental music video that uses appropriate clips from the series in chronological ... order. It makes a decent recap of the series, but who needs a recap for something that’s only 16 minutes? Just rewatch it. The song is great though and in the style of the rest of the series.

The third is a very surreal short that displays the sudden invasion of giant apples throughout the city. No one knows where they came from or what’s making them suddenly appear. I don’t know why this is associated with A Traveler’s Diary because it has a completely different tone and doesn’t have Tortov anywhere in it. This goes for a mix of the humorously absurd and the inexplicably creepy, and may end up being the most memorable thing of this trio even though it’s so insubstantial in the end.

The music is a discordant off-key string piece that sounds like something out of an underground horror movie. This is an okay set of bonus material, not highly recommended even for Tortov Roddle fans but there’s enough creativity on display here in a short space to admire it a little bit.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Short Films to Satisfy Short Attention Spans

by NoelleIsSleepy

31 Entries · 101 Restacks

OVAs, specials, ONAs, and music-centered anime.

by RAVEN_LORD72

39 Entries · 54 Restacks

	Poll: Aru Tabibito no Nikki Specials: The Apple Incident Episode Discussion aero - Oct 9, 2008	31 replies	by satyrelfheim »» Jul 25, 2024 8:27 AM
	Poll: Aru Tabibito no Nikki Specials: Fantasy Episode Discussion aero - Oct 9, 2008	11 replies	by satyrelfheim »» Jul 25, 2024 8:22 AM
	Poll: Aru Tabibito no Nikki Specials: The Red Berry Episode Discussion aero - Oct 9, 2008	16 replies	by satyrelfheim »» Jul 25, 2024 8:17 AM
	Extra 4 & 5 nx6 - May 30, 2009	3 replies	by asd987 »» Oct 4, 2009 4:31 AM