I.G and Kazuto Nakazawa animate Kao's New CM "Asience: Hairy Tales"
Tokyo, March 20, 2007
Production I.G has created the animation for Kao Corporation's new
commercial film promoting Asience shampoo, entitled "Asience: Hairy Tale."
The fully animated film is directed by Kazuto Nakazawa, who gained
international fame by directing the animation segment in Quentin
Tarantino's world hit "Kill Bill: Vol. 1." Nakazawa also designed the
characters and directed the animation. Art direction has been entrusted
to Shūichi Hirata, the texture wizard behind the stunning artwork of
Cannes-nominated "Innocence" and Annecy-selected "xxxHOLiC - A Midsummer
Night's Dream."
The graphic style of "Asience: Hairy Tale" is visually inspired by the
Japanese woodblock prints, and personalized by Nakazawa's nervous and
expressive brush touch used for the characters outlines. The story
concept, focusing on woman's hair as metaphor of feminine life, is
portrayed as a tragic love story in a samurai drama fashion.
The commercial film will receive a sneak preview at Production I.G booth
(B-02) at Tokyo Anime Fair 2007, to be held in Tokyo March 22 to 25,
2007.
On Kazuto Nakazawa - Born in Niigata Prefecture on March 4, 1968.
Director and animator. After graduating the Toei Animation Gakuin, he
joined studio Magic Bus, and is currently in force of Manglobe. His
credits include "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" (animation sequence, 2003), TV
series "Samurai Champloo" (2004, character design, chief animation
director), Linkin Park's video clip "Breaking The Habit" (2004 MTV VMA
Viewer's Choice Award) and the commercial film "Kirin Lemon Black:
Monster Blacks Fights Back" (awarded Best Commercial Film at the 11th
Holland Animated Film Festival)
On Shūichi Hirata - Born on December 25, 1961. Art director. Hirata is
credited as background artist in Mamoru Oshii's "Patlabor 2: The Movie 2"
(1993) and "Ghost in the Shell" (1995). He served as art director on
Rintarō's "Metropolis" (2001, based on Osamu Tezuka's manga). For
Production I.G he worked in "Innocence" (2004, directed by Mamoru Oshii),
"xxxHOLiC - A Midsummer Night’s Dream" (2005, directed by Tsutomu
Mizushima and based on CLAMP's manga) and French diva Mylene Farmer's
music clip "Peut-etre toi" (2006).
On Yoshihiro Ike - Born in Kanagawa Prefecture on August 25, 1963. Music
composer and bassist. After his major debut in 1987 with the Aike Band,
he pursues a solo career as composer for live action movies, TV dramas,
animation and video games. He wrote the scores for many Production I.G
titles, such as "Blood: The Last Vampire" (2000), "Kaidomaru" (2001),
"Dead Leaves" (2004), "OVAL X OVER" (2005), and "Reideen" (2007).
On Production I.G - Established by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa in 1987,
Production I.G is one of the world's leading animation studios. With its
cutting-Edge Works, such as "Ghost in the Shell" (1995), "Jin-Roh" (2000),
"Blood: The Last Vampire" (2000), "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" (animation segment,
2003) and "Innocence" (2004), I.G has gained high reputation around the
globe, inspiring Hollywood creators such as James Cameron, Quentin
Tarantino and the Wachowski brothers.
Production I.G has created the animation for Kao Corporation's new
commercial film promoting Asience shampoo, entitled "Asience: Hairy Tale."
The fully animated film is directed by Kazuto Nakazawa, who gained
international fame by directing the animation segment in Quentin
Tarantino's world hit "Kill Bill: Vol. 1." Nakazawa also designed the
characters and directed the animation. Art direction has been entrusted
to Shūichi Hirata, the texture wizard behind the stunning artwork of
Cannes-nominated "Innocence" and Annecy-selected "xxxHOLiC - A Midsummer
Night's Dream."
The graphic style of "Asience: Hairy Tale" is visually inspired by the
Japanese woodblock prints, and personalized by Nakazawa's nervous and
expressive brush touch used for the characters outlines. The story
concept, focusing on woman's hair as metaphor of feminine life, is
portrayed as a tragic love story in a samurai drama fashion.
The commercial film will receive a sneak preview at Production I.G booth
(B-02) at Tokyo Anime Fair 2007, to be held in Tokyo March 22 to 25,
2007.
On Kazuto Nakazawa - Born in Niigata Prefecture on March 4, 1968.
Director and animator. After graduating the Toei Animation Gakuin, he
joined studio Magic Bus, and is currently in force of Manglobe. His
credits include "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" (animation sequence, 2003), TV
series "Samurai Champloo" (2004, character design, chief animation
director), Linkin Park's video clip "Breaking The Habit" (2004 MTV VMA
Viewer's Choice Award) and the commercial film "Kirin Lemon Black:
Monster Blacks Fights Back" (awarded Best Commercial Film at the 11th
Holland Animated Film Festival)
On Shūichi Hirata - Born on December 25, 1961. Art director. Hirata is
credited as background artist in Mamoru Oshii's "Patlabor 2: The Movie 2"
(1993) and "Ghost in the Shell" (1995). He served as art director on
Rintarō's "Metropolis" (2001, based on Osamu Tezuka's manga). For
Production I.G he worked in "Innocence" (2004, directed by Mamoru Oshii),
"xxxHOLiC - A Midsummer Night’s Dream" (2005, directed by Tsutomu
Mizushima and based on CLAMP's manga) and French diva Mylene Farmer's
music clip "Peut-etre toi" (2006).
On Yoshihiro Ike - Born in Kanagawa Prefecture on August 25, 1963. Music
composer and bassist. After his major debut in 1987 with the Aike Band,
he pursues a solo career as composer for live action movies, TV dramas,
animation and video games. He wrote the scores for many Production I.G
titles, such as "Blood: The Last Vampire" (2000), "Kaidomaru" (2001),
"Dead Leaves" (2004), "OVAL X OVER" (2005), and "Reideen" (2007).
On Production I.G - Established by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa in 1987,
Production I.G is one of the world's leading animation studios. With its
cutting-Edge Works, such as "Ghost in the Shell" (1995), "Jin-Roh" (2000),
"Blood: The Last Vampire" (2000), "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" (animation segment,
2003) and "Innocence" (2004), I.G has gained high reputation around the
globe, inspiring Hollywood creators such as James Cameron, Quentin
Tarantino and the Wachowski brothers.
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