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# Project Description DOUZO Haruko Koga Summary Final work I am an emerging Japanese animator based in the UK, creating hand-drawn, gesture-driven 2D animation. My work explores the quiet emotions that exist beneath everyday life—feelings that are often unspoken, yet deeply shape how we care for one another. I’m drawn to small rituals: cooking, touching objects, the rhythm of hands, the pauses in silence. These subtle gestures form the emotional core of my storytelling. Using soft textures, slow pacing, and minimal dialogue, I aim to reveal how love, memory, and loss can be expressed through the simplest acts. My visual approach combines experimental, painterly drawing techniques with warm, tactile lines to capture emotional nuance with care and precision. I animate primarily in Procreate , and integrate Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro for compositing and editing. I also use Blender for specific technical and spatial elements when needed. Across all tools, I prioritize the intimacy and imperfection of hand-drawn work, allowing emotions to surface through texture, movement, and rhythm. Sound plays a central role in my process—especially the use of silence, ambient noise, and breathing to express delicate emotional shifts that words cannot. Through my films, I hope to create a quiet space where viewers can feel the weight of a moment, the warmth of a routine, and the lingering presence of someone who is no longer there. I am an emerging Japanese animator based in the UK, creating hand-drawn, gesture... College London College of Communication Course MA Animation Graduation year 2025 DOUZO explores emotional intimacy through everyday rituals. While the series will continue to follow this theme, this episode stands alone as a quiet portrayal of a couple’s life by the sea—and the abrupt loss that shatters their routine. At the heart of this story is the act of making udon, a deeply personal and wordless expression of love between the two. The film captures this everyday ritual to reflect themes of care, memory, and the quiet persistence of affection, even in grief. The visual style emphasizes warm textures, soft colours, and calm pacing to build a gentle, immersive atmosphere. Particular care was given to the udon-making sequence: the rhythm of hands, tools, and sound subtly reveals the wife's tenderness and the couple’s bond without dialogue. Sound and music were composed to express emotional shifts—using silence, ambient sounds, and breathing to contrast the peaceful life before loss with the quiet loneliness that follows. This work represents my core artistic aim: to express what words often cannot. DOUZO is not only a reflection of personal loss, but also a meditation on how simple gestures carry profound meaning. It is a visual exploration of how love continues to echo through the smallest acts. Final work DOUZO (2025) DOUZO is a quiet, hand-drawn short film that portrays the everyday life of a couple living by the sea—and the sudden loss that breaks their gentle routine. At the center of their relationship is the simple ritual of making udon. This wordless act becomes a tender form of communication, expressing affection, care, and presence more deeply than dialogue ever could. Through hand-drawn digital 2D animation and warm, textured imagery, the film traces the rhythm of hands, the sound of dough, and the intimate choreography of daily life. The udon-making sequence stands as a visual expression of love—an ordinary gesture that carries profound emotional weight. After the wife’s unexpected passing, the ritual remains: the space she touched, the movements she repeated, the quiet echoes she left behind. Silence, ambient sound, and breath-based sound design contrast the warmth of life before loss with the lonely stillness that follows. DOUZO is a meditation on how small gestures become memories, and how love continues to exist in the routines that remain. Share this project DOUZO explores emotional intimacy through everyday rituals. While the series will continue to follow this theme, this episode stands alone as a quiet portrayal of a couple’s life by the sea—and the abrupt loss that shatters their routine. At the hear... A link to this page has been added to your clipboard Browse related work Aesthetics Being Human Community Identity 2DAnimation Animation Art Experimentation
# Links ## Official page - https://ualshowcase.arts.ac.uk/project/689318/cover ## External - https://www.linkedin.com/in/haruko-koga-67b7b6371/ - https://www.instagram.com/haruko_monster - https://harukoga23y.wixsite.com/portfolio - mailto:harukoga23z@gmail.com - https://forms.arts.ac.uk/client-enquiry-form/ - https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F689318%2Fcover&text=DOUZO - https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F689318%2Fcover&media=https%3A%2F%2Fportfolio-tools.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F11%2F30165943%2F%25E3%2582%25B9%25E3%2582%25AF%25E3%2583%25AA%25E3%2583%25BC%25E3%2583%25B3%25E3%2582%25B7%25E3%2583%25A7%25E3%2583%2583%25E3%2583%2588-2025-11-30-16.57.53.png&description=DOUZO