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2nd Niigata Int'l Animation Film Festival Reveals Event Poster, Opening Film
posted on by Joanna Cayanan
The Niigata International Animation Film Festival announced on Tuesday that Shigeyoshi Tsukahara and Twiflo's brand-new spinoff full-length anime film Kuramerukagari will premiere as the festival's opening film on March 15 at the Nippo Hall in Niigata. A talk by director Tsukahara will then follow after the screening. The festival also revealed this year's poster with the theme of Senju Kannon (Thousand-Armed Goddess of Mercy) with "creator hands."
Tsukahara and Twiflo's original full-length anime film project Kurayukaba and the Kuramerukagari film will open in Japanese theaters on April 12. Kurayukaba is also screening in competition at this year's festival.
The staff describes Kuramerukagari:
This is a story that weaves together people and a town. A coal mining town crowded with small-scale excavators, commonly known as the "Hakoniwa." In this town that changes daily like a labyrinth, there's a girl named Kagari who runs a mapmaking business and a boy named Yuya who dreams of breaking free from the "Hakoniwa." Eventually, the two, along with the unique residents of the town, find themselves confronting a conspiracy that shakes the entire town. The fate of the” Hakoniwa" depends on Kagari's drawings on the map.
Tsukahara is credited for the original work, screenplay, and director of the film. Ryohgo Narita (Baccano!, Durarara!!) is credited with the original concept. Team OneOne is producing the animation. The film stars Ayane Sakura as Kagari.
The anime will premiere and stream exclusively in Japan on the DMM TV streaming service on Friday at 24:00 JST (effectively, Saturday at 12 midnight JST). The anime screened in cinemas in North America on January 9 and 10. Crunchyroll streams the anime in over 200 countries outside of China, and Manga Productions holds the master license for the anime in 16 countries in the Middle East. The anime is planned for release in the Middle East and South Africa the same time as in Japan.
The sequel anime centers on Dorothy, a gifted swindler, who is supposedly dead after losing a game with a Shanghai organization. She finds herself in a small town in Taipei, without any memory of her past. Chased by Taipei's black society, Dorothy heads to Kyoto, but there, something awaits her too.
The anime's first series premiered in July 2020 on Fuji TV's +UItra programming block. The anime ran for two cours (quarters of a year) for a total of 23 episodes.
Sources: Niigata International Animation Film Festival's website (link 2), Comic Natalie
