Freelance illustrator Sheya Chen has released an animated short film/music video titled WOLO.
The three-minute video, which is set to Cody Lee‘s “I Love You,” features anime-like character art and an arresting painterly aesthetic with eye-catching colors and shadows. In addition to directing, Chen also served as art director, animation director, storyboard artist, background artist, color designer, compositing supervisor, and producer.
Some of the people who participated in the production of WOLO include:
• Weilin Zhang (Tengoku Daimakyo opening storyboard artist and director et al.), as a key animator
• Tam Lu (Castlevania lead animator) as a key animator
• kagaminori (Umamusume: Cinderella Gray) as a key animator
• Roxanne-niu (Arknights 2024 Special Commemorative Animation PV and Chainsaw Man Ending 5 compositing director as Bowen Liang) as a compositor
Chen has shared previews of the WOLO since at least last year and announced its completion on April 5, 2025 JST. While the project is described as a thesis film, Chen added, “Though technically, since I’m not an animation major and this wasn’t a degree requirement it’s probably more accurate to call it an original animated short?” (According to her personal website, she was pursuing an MFA in Illustrator As Visual Essay at the School of Visual Arts between 2022 to 2024.)
In a more recent tweet from May 20, 2025 JST, Chen wrote, “This was my first time making a frame-by-frame animation, and I honestly had no idea what I was doing. There’s no way I could’ve finished it without the incredible support from all my friends. Since I’ve mostly worked solo as an illustrator, I haven’t had many chances to collaborate. I guess I’ve never really expected others to care about my personal projects, let alone feel responsible for them. But this time, I really felt seen. Everyone took what I shared seriously and treated it with care. In a time when everyone’s busy and stretched thin, it meant a lot to see people come together and push through all kinds of challenges just to help make this happen. Thank you so much to everyone who was part of this.”
Source: Sheya Chen YouTube channel
