Studio 4°C, Public Arts, Picona, Gorilla and Ekura Animal Launch Kickstarter Campaigns for New Anime

December 16 2022

JETRO (Japan's Foreign Trade Organization) announced on Thursday that it will partner with animation studios Studio 4°C, Public Arts, Picona Creative Studio, Gorilla and Ekura Animal to launch crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter to produce their new projects souls. Studio 4C has not yet revealed details of its planned film project.

Public Arts original anime project is titled The Last Diviner Hana . Hiroki Taniguchi is in charge of the project. JETRO describes the story:

Hana, the Last Diviner is an original anime project that follows the story of Hana, a young "onmyoji" who lives at the end of the Edo period (during the 1860s). This was a time of turmoil in Japan, as the feudal shogunate government was losing its authority as opponents fought for the restoration of imperial rule. In ancient Japan, the Onmyoji were a special class of diviners who worked for the Emperor and were said to possess magical powers to ward off evil spirits.

The company also says that "Taniguchi studied with a history professor at Kyoto Women's University while writing the screenplay."

Picona's "cell-look 3DCG" anime project is titled Samurai Pirates. The television series is based on an original concept by Ken Yoshida ( Chō Soku Henkei Gyrozetter , Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Dinosaur 2006 ), who is the creative producer of the project. JETRO describes the anime series aimed at children:

The story follows a girl named Enne, a popular singer from the island of Takarajima who, through a strange turn of events, receives a pirate eye patch with magical powers from a spirit called "ometsuke" and is given a mission to purify the hearts of people who have been transformed into evil beings called "oni". Enne sets off on this quest along with 4 of her friends, forming a group called "Samurai Pirates".
Instead of fighting with weapons, the Pirate Samurai use song and dance to purify the hearts of the oni they encounter on their journey. The show is entertaining and full of music, color and action but is suitable for children of all ages as there is no violence or inappropriate content of any kind.

The studio has contributed to anime such as Attack on Titan The Final Season and Tiger & Bunny 2.

Gorilla's 26-episode animated anthology project is titled The Top Loft. Company CEO Noko Yukawa is in charge of the project. The project, described as a "moving picture book," will have episodes lasting 5-7 minutes each. JETRO describes the anime series aimed at preschoolers:

The story will follow the adventures of 3 young children who accidentally wander into a mysterious universe full of friendly "kaiju" (monsters). The main characters Tatta, Tette and Totto each have a unique and realistic personality – flaws and all – so a child who watches the show will naturally be able to relate and feel an affinity with their favorite character. Although the story takes place in a fantasy world, the challenges children solve in each episode are based on real-life scenarios that will teach children watching the show important and relatable life lessons. It will be a fun and valuable work that Yukawa and her team hope will stay with the children who watch as they grow up and face the challenges in their own lives.

The animated project of Ekura Animal is titled Heike Monogatari Emaki . The studio will animate the project in an experimental art style that uses paper-cut artwork combined with music and voice acting. JETRO describes the project's narrative as “the true story of the rise and fall of the Heike clan”.