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Fukushima Gainax Produces 15-Minute Anime Short Set in Iwaki City

Anime studio Fukushima Gainax completed production on its "Jinryoku Senkan!? Shiokaze Sawakaze" anime short on Tuesday. The anime debuted at an event in Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture on March 20. The Onahama City Planning Citizens Conference commissioned the anime last year, and the anime is set in the Onahama district in Iwaki City. The anime is intended to boost tourism in the area after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

The anime's cast includes:

Seiichirō Yamashita as Shinpei Hoshi

Sumire Uesaka as Sawakaze

Hiroyuki Endou as Shiokaze

Sayaka Senbongi also plays Shiromizu, a manager. Fukushima Gainax president Yoshinori Asao is the anime's overall director.

The anime centers on personified versions of the Shiokaze and Sawakaze, two former Japanese navy destroyers that were scuttled after the war to serve as part of the breakwater at Onahama Port in Iwaki City. In the anime, the 2011 earthquake sends disruptions in space-time, and a wormhole opens that spews forth extradimensional beings. An aspiring cyclist stands against them alongside Shiokaze and Sawakaze, who can transform into robots.

The anime shows the Sawakaze's turbine, which is on display in Iwaki's Misaki Park, as well as kajiki menchi, a local delicacy.

The anime will stream on YouTube, and will also be screened in other events. A sequel anime is being considered.

Fukushima Gainax announced in November that it is producing an anime titled Rescue Academia. The story will be set in the city of Minamisōma in Fukushima Prefecture, and will center around a down-and-out protagonist who gets to know a robot while working rescue efforts. The studio is producing the anime to promote Fukushima's "Innovation Coast" initiative that aims to revive industry and tourism in the region after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The anime is currently in production, and is slated to be finished in 2018.

Gainax opened the new studio in Fukushima in 2015. The new studio and museum makes use of a closed junior high school building. The studio announced its Flying Girls anime project in November that is set in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture. The studio also debuted its "Miharu no Arumiigo" online series and its "Omoi no Kakera" (Fragments of Feelings) animated short to promote Fukushima last year. Fukushima Gainax also revealed its Kumo no Kanata (Beyond the Clouds) anime short last month.

Source: Kahoku Shinpō