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Our Early Days Designer Ushio Tazawa Helms Ichirin-sha

The Anime Innovation Tokyo (AIT) production company has announced at Tokyo International Anime Fair on Friday that it is planning a new 75-minute theatrical film called Ichirin-sha with director and story creator Ushio Tazawa. Tazawa was the character designer and animation director on Makoto Shinkai's The Place Promised in Our Early Days, and he also was a key animator on Shinkai's 5 Centimeters Per Second, Masaaki Yuasa's Mind Game, and Gonzo's Afro Samurai. The anime studio Nomad produced the Rozen Maiden anime series before tackling this new project.

AIT is THINK Corporation and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's joint venture that sponsored last year's Cencoroll. THINK executive producer Hiroaki Takeuchi (Kakurenbo, The Animatrix) showed a short two-minute trailer at TAF, and AIT plans to complete a longer four-minute trailer in April. AIT describes the story of Ichirin-sha as the following:

On a planet very similar to the earth… Here, the missile mechanoids started to have its own will and control, and were driving the human beings into serious danger.

Shaleen was the last "ICHIRIN-SHA (unicyclist)" in the world, traveling the world on his beat up motor unicycle. One day, when Shaleen was running from the attacks of the missile mechanoids, he stops by a ghost town and meets a mysterious girl who was constantly targeted by the mechanoids. She was a girl who had chosen to live alone in this ghost town, trying to avoid any others from getting involved. The girl unwelcomed [sic] his company too, but Shaleen's pushing character gradually makes her give in little by little.

However, this change of the girl's emotion takes effect on the missile mechanoids, and enlarges them at an enormous size.

What is the mystery of the girl's power?

What will become of the battle against the gigantic missile mechanoids?

This is a thrilling action-fantasy depicting the soul interaction between Shaleen and the mysterious girl, inside a unique and majestic world.

Image © Ushio Tazawa/Tazawa Partners LLP

Update: More background information added.