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Cheburashka Character Gets 1st Full 3D CG Anime Short

The official Japanese website for the Cheburashka character began streaming a new 3D CG anime short titled "Cheburashka -Tomodachi Mitsuketa-" (Cheburashka -I Found a Friend-) on Wednesday. The short is the franchise's first full CG anime. Rie Kugimiya plays Cheburashka in the anime, while Takahiro Sakurai plays Gena.

The short is the first part of a larger project to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 2010 Japanese theatrical film based on the character.

ZENTOY and Yayoi Nagano (2019 Fruits Basket anime's second ending animation sequence) produced the short. Yu Nagasaki (2019 Fruits Basket anime's second ending) directed and scripted the short, with Takeshi Imazu, Toshimasa Narita, and Satomi Ichiyanagi animating. Chika Hoshiyama is credited for the original scenario concept. Tetsuji Ōno and Ryūta Suzuki composed the music. Nobuyuki Abe, Shunpei Takeuchi, and Chinatsu Horiba were in charge of sound, and Junichiro Suzuki handled the sound effects. Shinsuke Nakamura and Mie Ikeda are credited for planning and marketing.

The late Russian writer Eduard Uspensky created the Cheburashka character, which inspired Roman Khachanov's four stop-motion animated films based on the character, as well as GoHands' Cheburashka Arere? 2009 television anime, and the 2010 theatrical film. Makoto Nakamura also worked on the 2014 short "Cheburashka Dōbutsuen e Iku" (Cheburashka Goes to the Zoo). Uspensky passed away on August 14, 2018.

Sources: Cheburashka's Japanese website, Comic Natalie