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Macross Creator Kawamori to Work on Mugen Dai Shōnen

The NHK public broadcasting station in the western Japanese prefecture of Toyama is marking its 50th anniversary with Mugen Dai Shōnen, an anime documentary with Toyama native and anime creator Shōji Kawamori (Macross, Escaflowne, Aquarion). From now until October 25, NHK is holding a contest in which Toyama elementary and middle school children submit artwork that depict their visions of a "Future Toyama."

Kawamori and NHK will select three submissions and meet with the winners to walk through the process of animation. The winners will then travel to Tokyo where they will participate in the actual animation process. After a preview screening in Toyama in January, NHK plans to broadcast the documentary later that same month.

Earlier this year, Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii and composer Kenji Kawai created the opening and ending animation sequence for another NHK documentary, Futtō Toshi (Cities in Tumultuous Change). Studio Ghibli (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Grave of the Fireflies, Spirited Away) and NHK are producing the West Ghibli documentary about Ghibli's new training studio in western Japan. Oshii and Kawamori were two of 15 anime creators who directed NHK's Ani-Kuri 15 collection of animated shorts. NHK is also famously the home of the furry brown mascot Domo-kun. 12 years ago, Kawamori directed Kenji's Spring, a loosely biographical anime televison special about acclaimed poet and writer Kenji Miyazawa.

Source: Saishin Anime Jōhō