The Niigata International Animation Festival announced on Tuesday that Shigeyoshi Tsukahara and Twiflo’s brand new spin-off anime series Kuramerukagari will premiere as the festival’s opening film on March 15 in Nippo Hall in Niigata. Director Tsukahara’s talk will take place after the screening. The festival also revealed this year’s poster with the theme Senju Kannon (Thousand-armed Goddess of Mercy) with “the hand of the creator”.
Illustration: Atsushi MoriokaImage via Niigata International Animation Festival’s X/Twitter account
© Niigata International Animation Film Festival
Tsukahara and Twiflo’s original anime series project Kurayukaba and the film Kuramerukagari will open in Japanese theaters on April 12. Kurayukaba is also in competition at this year’s festival.
©Shigeyoshi Tsukahara/KURAGARI Production Committee
Staff describes Kuramerukagari:
This is a story that brings people and a town together. A coal mining town crowded with small-scale excavators, commonly known as “Hakoniwa”. In this maze-like town that changes daily, there is a girl named Kagari who runs a map-making business and a boy named Yuya who dreams of escaping from”Hakoniwa”. In the end, the two, along with the town’s peculiar residents, face a plot that shakes the entire town. The fate of “Hakoniwa” depends on Kagari’s drawings on the map.
Tsukahara is credited as the film’s original writer, screenwriter, and director. Ryohgo Narita (Baccano!, Durarara!!) is credited with the original idea. Team OneOne will produce the animation. The film stars Ayane Sakura as Kagari.
Image via Great Pretender anime Twitter account
© WIT STUDIO/Great Pretenders
The festival will also screen the Great Pretender razbliuto anime sequel on March 17 at the Niigata Civic Plaza. Anime director Hiro Kaburagi will also hold a talk session after the screening.
The anime will premiere and stream exclusively in Japan on the DMM TV streaming service on Friday at 24:00 JST (actually at 12 midnight JST Saturday). The anime premiered in North American theaters on January 9 and 10. Crunchyroll streams the anime in over 200 countries outside of China, and Manga Productions holds the master license for the anime in 16 countries in the Middle East. The anime is scheduled to release in the Middle East and South Africa at the same time as Japan.
The anime sequel focuses on Dorothy, a talented con artist who was presumed dead after losing a game with an organization in Shanghai. She finds herself in a small town in Taipei, without any memory of her past. Pursued by Taipei’s gangsters, Dorothy heads to Kyoto, but there, too, something awaits her.
The first anime series premiered in July 2020 on Fuji TV’s +UItra programming block. The anime ran for two seasons (first quarter of the year) with a total of 23 episodes.
Source: Niigata International Animation Festival website (link 2), Comic Natalie