Unless you're a Japanese literature obsessive, you'll be forgiven for not having heard of "The Obsessed" ("Toritsukare Otoko"), a novel about a young man who flits merrily from one obsession to another. Penned by Shinji Ishii, the book came out in 2001, but it has managed to stick around in the public consciousness thanks to multiple adaptations for the stage between 2007 and 2021. Still, a 24-year-old novel isn't the most obvious choice for an anime feature, but here it is.
"The Obsessed," animated at Shin-ei Animation and directed by Wataru Takahashi, known for helming several entries in the long-running "Crayon Shin-chan" movie series, revolves around Giuseppe (voiced by Masaya Sano), a happy-go-lucky guy whose past obsessions have included collecting sunglasses, mastering the triple jump and playing private detective (and taking it seriously enough to have cracked some actual cases).
Giuseppe's story is told from the point of view of Cielo (Hayato Kakizawa), a mouse Giuseppe adopts and learns to speak with (mastering languages, including “mouse-ese,” is another one of his obsessions). Hanging out in the park one day, best friends Giuseppe and Cielo meet a young woman named Pechka (Moka Kamishiraishi) and Giuseppe gets a glint in his eye that can only mean one thing: He's got a new obsession.
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