Anime Column] 100 Anime to Watch by Keyword! 100 Anime to Watch - Vol. 15 "Little Witch Academia" and more!

Drinking parties among anime fans tend to be a game of association. Whenever someone says, "XXX has XXX scene," someone else replies, "Speaking of XXX scene, don't forget XXX. Anime and animation are connected by invisible threads like this. Let's follow the "anime to watch" using keywords as clues.

The main character of the TV anime "Little Witch Academia" is Atsuko Kagari (Akko), a student of magic at Luna Nova School of Magic. Akko, who had a yearning to become a witch when she was a child after watching the Shiny Chario magic show, has plenty of motivation, but her abilities are not good enough at all, and she is always running on empty. She always ends up in a big trouble with her roommates Lotte and Sucy. But Akko always seems to take it all in stride. Akko's strong points are that she has no bad intentions (she is pure) and quickly forgets her mistakes (she is always positive).

This film is based on one that was originally produced as a participant in "Anime Mirai 2013," a project by the Agency for Cultural Affairs to nurture young animators. The project, which began in 2010 and continues today under the name "Anime Tamago," aims to nurture young, inexperienced animators through actual production.
In principle, the project targets original projects. Production companies submit their projects to the program, and after screening, four works from four companies are selected for production each year. The completed works can be used by the production companies.

In the case of "Little Witch Academia," when it was uploaded to Youtube with English subtitles, fans around the world went wild. Fans from all over the world went wild when the film was uploaded to Youtube with English subtitles, and there were calls for a sequel, so a crowdfunding campaign was launched. This reached its goal within hours, and by the time it finally closed, it had raised $625,000, about four times its goal. The sequel , "Little Witch Academia: Magic Parade," was released in 2015.

In other words, "Little Witch Academia" is a success story in itself, as it "grew" from a short film to a TV series. Another dramatic point is that Shuhei Handa, who participated in "Anime Mirai" as a young animator, is in charge of the main character design for the TV series.
Incidentally, the TV series has been rewritten to start the story from the point where Akko enters Luna Nova School of Magic, unrelated to the previous two works, so that it can be enjoyed even if you have not seen the previous two works.

So this time we introduce the first animated work of the Young Animator Development Project. Among them, we will focus on those that can be seen on TV and in packaged software.

Death Billiards" was another work that appeared at "Anime Mirai 2013," the same year as "Little Witch Academia. The hard-hitting story of a young man and an old man playing billiards in a mysterious bar and putting their lives on the line was one of the most unique of the project's two works.
The "Death Parade," which began airing in 2015, made use of the "Death Billiards" setting.

While the TV series was based on the setting in which customers visiting a mysterious bar are challenged to a game of death, the final part of the TV series was to get to the heart of the bartender Dekim, who has been watching the game for a long time. It also finally depicted who the dark-haired woman was who had been by Dekim's side since "Death Billiards". Despite its dry beginning, the film ends with a touching drama about what it means to be human. In addition, one of the highlights of the 11th episode, "Memento Mori," is a full-scale depiction of figure skating.

In addition, the project has only had "Anime Mirai 2013" and "Anime Mirai 2013" made into video software in the past, making it difficult to see other past project works.

One such work that was made available as a stand-alone video alongside "Little Witch Academia" was "Armoni" from "Anime Mirai 2014".

The main character, Akio Honjo, is a high school student. He is an otaku whose main interest is last night's anime. However, Akio has always been interested in his classmate Juri Mashikina, who is surrounded by sociable friends. One day, something unexpected happens and Akio is introduced to Juri Mashikina's world. Juri Makijina is not the girl Akio thought she was.
The play is a series of simple life plays set in a school, but it is also a typical choice of subject matter for the Nurturing Project.

Speaking of "anime mirai 2012," the work "Wasurenagumo" is now available as an iOS app for animator learning, "Anime Mirai Plus 2 'Wasurenagumo' Full. For 8 basic movements such as running and walking, you can freely view the cuts used in the film. (A free lite version is also available.)

The project is continuing this year, and on March 11, "The Story of Charanpo Island (Land)" (Studio Comet), "RedAsh -GEARWORLD-" (STUDIO4℃), "Gemba no jo -Gemba no jo-" (Nippon Animation), "Zunda horaizun" ( (WAO Corporation + Studio Live + SSS LLC).

These four films will be screened at Theatre Shinjuku from April 22 to April 28 as a late show. Those interested should definitely visit the theater.

(Text by Ryota Fujitsu)

Recommended Articles