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The production and release of anime films Santa Company and Coluboccoro by Itoso Kenji were announced at the Embassy of Finland in Tokyo on June 10,2019.
Santa Company is a short anime from 2014 whose protagonist is a girl who joined a Santa Claus company and struggled to become a full-fledged Santa. The production gained much media attention as new methods for fundraising such as crowdfunding,as well as the development education materials based on the anime,were used.
Coluboccoro is about a girl who inherited witch powers and a fairy named “Coluboccoro”. The anime was lauded at the 2008 Tokyo Anime Awards and gained critical acclaim at film festivals overseas too. Both works will be remade into full-length films and the two works will be bridged into the same fictional universe.
The production of Director Itoso’s works will be backed by the Otaku Coin Committee.
Director Itoso's Comments
Santa Company doesn't have a production committee and all the copyrights are free to be distributed as educational materials for those aspiring to be voice actors and the anime industry, or for art colleges and professional schools. It's a new business model.
We were able to crowdfund back in 2014 and would want to expand the project by raising 40 million yen this round. We'll also be getting support from Sony Bank for production expenses.
Otaku Coin Committee Kodaka Naomitsu's Comments
The Otaku Coin Committee supports the promotion of Japanese anime, manga and game contents to the world. We aim to connect fans to creators. Fans from around the world can watch trailers and support their favorite anime studios, receiving Otaku Coin in return. The coins can be exchanged for gifts and such from their favorite creators in the future.
This time, we will show special content for Santa Comapny and Coluboccoro within the Otaku Coin app. By watching the trailers and sending encouraging messages, fans can be involved in the earlier stage of the promotion. They may also stand to win autographed artboards and tickets to the premiere later on.
NPO Charity Santa Representative of Directors Kiyosuke Natsuki's Comments
We are also here to support this production. Charity Santa is like the real-life Japanese version of Santa Company. We deliver gifts as Santa to kids on Christmas Eve, just like in the movie. If you watch the movie and feel inspired by it, please do consider becoming a Santa yourself. More than 20,000 people have become Santa and around 50,000 families have benefited from our activities. We hope everyone would watch this wonderful movie.
Santa Company and Coluboccoro will open in December 2019.
Santa Company Staff and Cast
Director: Itoso Kenji
Studio: Asahi Production
Character Design: Hidari
Planning/Produce: Starry Cube
KENJI STUDIO
Noel: Hanazawa Kana
Bell: Kaji Yuki
Mint: Tomatsu Haruka
Thomas: Kugimiya Rie
Pedro: Sakurai Takahiro
Nicola Buchou: Kondo Yusuke
© KENJI STUDIO
*This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article with photography by Takemori S.
