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Short Peace, an omnibus film that features the works of top creators who represent Japanese animation, is going to be released on July 20 Japan-wide. It features works in the subject of Japan, such as “Combustible,” the latest work by director Katsuhiro Otomo, world renown for Akira and Steamboy; and “Tsukumo” by director Shuhei Morita, who is known for the work Freedom. “Gambo,” directed by Hiroaki Ando, whose past work includes Tekkonkinkreet, is an anime that stands out even among such unique works.
“Gambo” is set in the Tohoku region at the end of the Warring States period. It is a violent work that depicts the battle between a giant, red demon and a white bear. Original character design was done by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, who is famous for Neon Genesis Evangelion and Wolf Children, which is a unique collaboration. Speaking of Sadamoto, he is gathering great attention as his manga adaptation of Neon Genesis Evangelion that has been serialized for 18 years, is now complete. He accepted a direct offer from Otomo, and that is how his participation in this work was decided.
Yasumasa Tsuchiya, producer of Short Piece, explains how it happened: “I made a proposal to Katsuhito Ishii only telling him that it was themed around Japan. However, some were too crazy, it was astonishing. Otomo thought this was interesting, and he mentioned there was a person he would like to have do the character design, and the partner he called on his cell phone to ask his participation in this project was Sadamoto.”
Director Ando told the following about Sadamoto’s character designs: “He created characters in a short time with more precision and charm than I imagined. The girls are especially cute and have a certain liveliness to them, I think the design has a different atmosphere from both Evangelion and Wolf Children.” What kind of luster will “Gambo” show in Short Piece, this omnibus that lines up fascinating short works? Wait for the summer release to find out.
Source:
http://animeanime.jp/article/2013/06/07/14325.html (Japanese)
Source article written by Katsunori Takahashi
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