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MAPPA, Contrail Animate Short About Japan's 'Young Carers'
posted on by Joanna Cayanan
Sibling animation studios MAPPA and Contrail produced an anime short titled "Kikasete Hoshii Kimi no Koto" (Tell Me About Yourself), which started streaming on the official YouTube channel of Tokyo's Nakano Ward on Wednesday.
The animated short centers on the theme of "young carers" and "connections with others." The story is about Yūma, an elementary student who learns about "young carers" through his friend Kenta, who takes care of his family and their household.
Japanese law defines a "young carer" as a child or a young person who is recognized as excessively caring for family members or other aspects of the family's daily life. Being "young carers," it becomes a social problem for the children, affecting their school life and making it difficult to have time for themselves for play and leisure activities.
The animated short project is part of the Cabinet Office's local Loneliness and Isolation Countermeasures Public-Private Partnership Platform Promotion Project, in which Nakano Ward in Tokyo was selected as a model organization for the project in 2024.
MAPPA and Contrail produced the short with the hope that it will encourage people to talk to someone about their own situation.
The animated short's cast members are:
- Hana Satō as Yūma
- Natsue Sasamoto as Kenta
- Yuki Ōminami as Yūma's mother
- Fū Hirohara as Yūma's big sister
The Nakano Ward Community Support Promotion Department and Manabu Ohtsuka of MAPPA and Contrail are credited for the planning. Yasuyuki Kitazawa (INU-OH film key animator, Folktales from Japan storyboard, episode director) is the short's director, scriptwriter, storyboard, and original character designer at Contrail and MAPPA. Saki Oshitani composed the music.
Additional staff includes:
- Characted Design Assistance/Original Illustrations: Dokan
- Animation Checker: Mutsuko Kajigaya
- Art Setting/Art Board/Background Art: Kumi Dobashi
- Color Design/Color Key/Checking: Ayaka Itakura
- Compositing Director of Photography/Cinematography: Rio Konishi
- Editing: Shunya Takarakura
- Sound Production: dugout
- Animation Prducer: Ayako Sekine
An exhibition of the animated short will be held at the Nakano Higashi Library from April 26 to June 26. The short's storyboards and character designs will be displayed at the exhibition.
Source: Press release
