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Iwate Prefecture's Tōno City Streams 'Kataribe Shōjo Honoka' Promotional Anime Short
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
The city of Tōno in Iwate prefecture began streaming a promotional anime short on Saturday titled 'Kataribe Shōjo Honoka' (Storytelling Girl Honoka).
The 10-minute short centers on a girl named Honoka, an elementary school student who is a storyteller of Japanese folktales. After Honoka tells a story for her school, her friend Haruna asks her if she can see gods and yōkai like her storytelling grandmother, but Honoka says she can't. Honoka's friend Yūma teases her for not being able to see them, calling her "normal," and Honoka gets upset and runs home. Honoka's strict grandmother admonishes Honoka for her storytelling performance, and Honoka storms off. At school the next day, Honoka sees that someone else was chosen from her school to be the representative of the Tōno folklore festival, and she pretends not to be upset. Honoka then runs to a temple, and meets a mysterious girl there who tells her to experience what Tōno's nature and landmarks have to offer, so that her storytelling will get better. Honoka then spends the next year exploring Tōno and practicing her storytelling. She is then chosen as the representative for the next year's folklore festival.
While she is waiting for her performance at the festival to start, Honoka remembers the time when she was younger and she was lost in the woods. At that time, three yōkai came to her aid and played with her and told her stories. As Honoka is about to start her performance, the mysterious girl shows up again to cheer her on. Honoka then sees a tengu and kappa in the audience.
Tōno is also known as the City of Folklore due to Kunio Yanagita's famous Tōno Monogatari book, which features various folklore stories from the region.
The cast of the short is as follows:
- Houko Kuwashima as Honoka
- Yuka Saitou as Haruna and Honoka's grandmother
- Akemi Satou as Yūma and the Narrator
- Ako Itani as the Zashiki Warashi (mysterious girl) and Kappa
- Yûsuke Handa as Tengu
Kuwashima is from Iwate Prefecture.
Ishikawa Pro (Magical Chocolate) directed the short and is credited as the original creator. Eiji Yamaoka (Xenosaga: The Animation producer) wrote the script, and Misato Kurematsu composed the music. Yo-kai Watch character designer Masami Suda designed the yōkai.
Source: MoCa News
