Asience: Hairy Tale, the creative challenge directed by Kazuto Nakazawa for Kao Corporation, has been selected for the Official Competition in the Advertising Film Section of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2008. Asience: Hairy Tale is the only Japanese film among the 31 titles selected in the same category out of 136 works submitted. The number of entries in all categories registered by the selection committee this year totalled 1855, and only 262 films have been selected. The Annecy Film Festival, in its 21st edition, will be held from June 9 to 14, 2008.

Screening schedule (Commissioned Films in Competition):
Date: June 9, 2008 (Mon)
Time: 16:00~
Place: Décavision - Salle 1

Date: June 10, 2008 (Tue)
Time: 21:00~
Place: La Turbine

Date: June 12, 2008 (Thu)
Time: 23:00~
Place: Bonlieu - Petite salle

Date: June 14, 2008 (Sat)
Time: 14:00~
Place: MJC Novel

Screening schedule may change. Please refer to the Annecy 2008 official website:

http://www.annecy.org

© 1994-2007 KAO CORPORATION. All Rights Reserved.

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Yudai and Miki, as seen in Naoyoshi Shiotani's Tokyo Marble Chocolate.

Check the screening dates of Naoyoshi Shiotani's Tokyo Marble Chocolate at SICAF 2008 here.
Check the screening date of Kazuto Nakazawa's Asience: Hairy Tale at SICAF 2008 here.
Asience is also in competition at Annecy 2008. Check the screening schedule here.
Read the third part of our exclusive interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon director Kazuhiro Furuhashi here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood + episode 18 here.

March 2008: Week 3

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Chizuru and Yudai, as seen in Naoyoshi Shiotani's Tokyo Marble Chocolate.

Production I.G is attending Tokyo International Anime Fair 2008. Read the details here.
Naoyoshi Shiotani's directorial debut, Tokyo Marble Chocolate has been selected in competition at SICAF 2008. Read the details here.
Kazuto Nakazawa's Asience: Hairy Tale has been selected in competition at Animafest 2008. Read the details here
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood + episode 14 here.

March 2008: Week 2

This week's Top Page is dedicated to the Mini Donkey as seen in Naoyoshi Shiotani's Tokyo Marble Chocolate.

Naoyoshi Shiotani's directorial debut, Tokyo Marble Chocolate has been selected in competition at SICAF 2008. Read the details here.
Kazuto Nakazawa's Asience: Hairy Tale has been selected in competition at both SICAF and Annecy film festivals. Read the details here and here.
Read the first part of our exclusive interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon director Kazuhiro Furuhashi here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood + episode 13 here.

December 2007: Week 4

Our New Year's Top Page is an original illustration by Naoyoshi Shiotani from his directorial debut, Tokyo Marble Chocolate..

We would like to thank all the people around the world who are supporting Production I.G, and wish all of you a peaceful and and prosperous 2008!

August 2007: Week 5

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Tokyo Marble Chocolate, a new project from Production I.G.

I.G announces a new project, Tokyo Marble Chocolate, directed by Naoyoshi Shiotani. Read the details here.
Mamoru Oshii's Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters has been selected in competition at the London's 15th Raindance Film Festival. Read the details here.
Read about The Sky Crawlers, the new animation film by Mamoru Oshii here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series IGPX episode 23 here.
We added character file 9 to our Sisters of Wellber page here.

Air date: February 11, 2006

Kai is worried about Saya who fell out of the speeding train, but David insists on pressing on to find Dr. Ted A. Adams, a scientist involved in the Delta-67 research at the time of Vietnam War. Although they cannot find him, they find clues in his hous which lead them to an abandoned nuclear facility in Sverdlovsk-51...

Script: Shotaro Suga
Storyboard: Yasakichi
Director: Akiko Honda
Animation Director: Toru Okubo

Naoyoshi Shiotani's bittersweet love drama Tokyo Marble Chocolate (2007) is one of the 5 films selected for the official competition in the Feature Film Section of the 12th Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival (SICAF 2008). This year the festival received 1307 applications from 63 countries, and 137 works have been selected for the various competitive sections. The festival, in its 12th year, will be held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from May 21 to 25, 2008.

Supported by its broad and intense international network, SICAF aims at one of Asia's biggest international animated film festivals, presenting new technology and new trends of animated films. SICAF is an ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d'Animation) recognized film festival that attracts than 100,000 visitors and participants every year.

Screening schedule:
Date: May 23, 2008 (Fri)
Time: 18:30
Place: Lotte Cinema 1 Screen

Date: May 24, 2008 (Sat)
Time: 24:00~
Place: Lotte Cinema 1 Screen

Date: May 24, 2008 (Sat)
Time: 24:00~
Place: Lotte Cinema 4 Screen

Screening schedule may change. Please refer to the SICAF 2008 official website:

http://www.sicaf.org/2008/index.jsp

© 2007 Production I.G / Project Tokyo Marble Chocolate

Asience: Hairy Tale, the creative challenge directed by Kazuto Nakazawa for Kao Corporation, has been selected for the official competition in the Commissioned Film Category of the 12th Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival (SICAF 2008). This year the festival received 1307 applications from 63 countries, and 137 works have been selected for the various competitive sections. The festival, in its 12th year, will be held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from May 21 to 25, 2008.

Supported by its broad and intense international network, SICAF aims at one of Asia's biggest international animated film festivals, presenting new technology and new trends of animated films. SICAF is an ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d'Animation) recognized film festival that attracts than 100,000 visitors and participants every year.

Screening schedule (within the Commissioned Film program):
Date: May 23, 2008 (Fri)
Time: 13:00~
Place: Lotte Cinema 10 Screen

Screening schedule may change. Please refer to the SICAF 2008 official website:

http://www.sicaf.org/2008/index.jsp

© 1994-2007 KAO CORPORATION. All Rights Reserved.

Air date: February 4, 2006

Trying to rescue Riku, Saya jumps off the train and passes out in the blizzard. When she wakes up, Hagi is on her side, but everything around her is like in a dream. A dream of something that happened in the past, a long forgotten memory fallen into oblivion...

Script: Junichi Fujisaku
Storyboard: Naomichi Yamato
Director: Takeshi Ando
Animation Director: Minoru Yamasawa

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Maximilien de Robespierre, as seen in Kazuhiro Furuhashi's TV series Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read the third part of our exclusive interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon director Kazuhiro Furuhashi here.
Voice actors for the main characters in Mamoru Oshii's The Sky Crawlers added here.
Naoyoshi Shiotani's directorial debut, Tokyo Marble Chocolate has been selected in competition at SICAF 2008. Read the details here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood + episode 17 here.

April 2008: Week 1

This week's Top Page is dedicated to D'Eon/Lia de Beaumont, as seen in Kazuhiro Furuhashi's TV series Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read the second part of our exclusive interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon director Kazuhiro Furuhashi here.
Naoyoshi Shiotani's directorial debut, Tokyo Marble Chocolate has been selected in competition at SICAF 2008. Read the details here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood + episode 15 here.

March 2008: Week 1

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Louis XV, King of France, as seen in Kazuhiro Furuhashi's TV series Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read the first part of our exclusive interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon director Kazuhiro Furuhashi here.
Read our exclusive interview with Solid State Society director Kenji Kamiyama here.
We added the Japanese cast of Real Drive here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood + episode 12 here.

February 2008: Week 4

This week's Top Page is dedicated to D'Eon de Beaumont, as seen in Kazuhiro Furuhashi's TV series Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read the second part of our exclusive double interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon producer Katsuji Morishita and assistant producer George Wada here.
Read our interview with Sisters of Wellber director Takayuki Hamana here.

January 2008: Week 4

This week's Top Page is dedicated to D'Eon/Lia de Beaumont, as seen in Kazuhiro Furuhashi's TV series Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read the first part of our exclusive double interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon producer Katsuji Morishita and assistant producer George Wada here.
Read the fourth part of our exclusive interview about the making of XX with Junichi Fujisaku here.

January 2008: Week 2

This week's Top Page is dedicated to D'Eon/Lia de Beaumont, as seen in episode 18 of Kazuhiro Furuhashi's TV series Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read our exclusive interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon episode director Naoyoshi Shiotani here.
Read about The Sky Crawlers, the new animation film by Mamoru Oshii here.
The screening dates of Kenji Kamiyama's Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society, in competion at Anima 2008, have been added here.
Our server will be temporarily down on January 16 for server maintenance. Read the details here.

December 2007: Week 1

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Lorenza and Cagliostro, as seen in episode 20 of Kazuhiro Furuhashi's TV series Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Guardian of the Spirit and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society, both directed by Kenji Kamiyama, are Jury Recommended Works at the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival. Read the details here.
Read our exclusive interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon episode director Hideki Ito here.
Read about The Sky Crawlers, the new animation film by Mamoru Oshii here.
Read our interview with Sisters of Wellber director Takayuki Hamana here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Guardian of the Spirit episode 8 here.

November 2007: Week 2

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Robespierre as seen in episode 22 of Kazuhiro Furuhashi's TV series Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Kazuto Nakazawa's Asience: Hairy Tale is Gold Winner at the 22nd London International Advertising Awards. Check the details here.
Read our exclusive interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon episode director Koichi Hatsumi here.
Production I.G and Shirow Masamune present a brand-new TV series, Real Drive. Check the details here.
Mamoru Oshii's Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters is going to have its Taiwanese premiere at the 44th Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. Read the details here.
And Oshii's thought-provoking mockumentary is also back to Australia (after premiering in Brisbane this summer), screening in Sydney at the 11th Japanese Film Festival. Read the details here.
Read about The Sky Crawlers, the new animation film by Mamoru Oshii here.
We added character file 5 to our Tokyo Marble Chocolate page here.

October 2007: Week 4

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Lia as seen in the ending title sequence of Kazuhiro Furuhashi's TV series Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read our interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon digital effects animator Masaya Suzuki here.
Read about The Sky Crawlers, the new animation film by Mamoru Oshii here.
We added character file 3 to our Tokyo Marble Chocolate page here.

October 2007: Week 1

This week's Top Page is dedicated to the Hall of Mirrors of Versailles, meticulously recreated in 3D animation by Le Chevalier D'Eon 3D director Makoto Endo.

Read our interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon 3D director Makoto Endo here.
Tokyo Marble Chocolate and Ghost Hound will screen at the 20th Tokyo International Film Festival. Read the details here.
Read about The Sky Crawlers, the new animation film by Mamoru Oshii here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Guardian of the Spirit episode 3 here.

September 2007: Week 2

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Teillagory, the veteran sword master in Kazuhiro Furuhashi's TV series Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read the our interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon episode director Hideyo Yamamoto here.
Mamoru Oshii's Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters has been selected in competition at the London's 15th Raindance Film Festival. Read the details here.
Check the screening dates of Asience: Hairy Tale at Ottawa 2007 here.
Read about The Sky Crawlers, the new animation film by Mamoru Oshii here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series IGPX episode 25 here.
We added character file 11 to our Sisters of Wellber page here.

August 2007: Week 2

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to D'Eon de Beaumont, as seen in episode 11 of Kazuhiro Furuhashi's TV series Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read the our interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon animation director Yasutaka Kubota here.
Read about The Sky Crawlers, the new animation film by Mamoru Oshii here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood+ episode 10 here.
We added character file 6 to our Sisters of Wellber page here.

July 2007: Week 3

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to the Count of Saint-Germain, as seen in Kazuhiro Furuhashi's TV series Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters is going to have its Australian premiere at the forthcoming 16th Brisbane International Film Festival. Read the details here.
Read the our interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon sound director Hozumi Goda here.
Read about The Sky Crawlers, the new animation film by Mamoru Oshii here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood+ episode 7 here.
We added character file 3 to our Sisters of Wellber page here.

June 2007: Week 3

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to Madame de Pompadour, as seen in Kazuhiro Furuhashi's TV series Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read about Production I.G Panel at Anime Expo 2007 here.
Read our exclusive interview with Idumi Hirose, the color fairy behind Le Chevalier D'Eon here.
We added the synopsis of the mobile manga XX episode 3 here.
We added the synopsis of TV series Sisters of Wellber episode 5 here.
We added the synopsis of TV series Reideen episode 7 here.

May 2007: Week 4

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to Kazuhiro Furuhashi's TV series Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read our exclusive interview with Kyoji Asano, one of the animation directors for Le Chevalier D'Eon here.
Mamoru Oshii's Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters will screen on June 1st at the prestigious Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon. Read the details here.
We added the synopsis of TV series Sisters of Wellber episode 2 here.
We added the synopsis of TV series Reideen episode 4 here.

March 2007: Week 3

This Week's Top Page portrays the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris as seen in Kazuhiro Furuhashi's Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read about Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters screening at the 31st Hong Kong International Film Festival here.
Tachigui is also having its German premiere at the 6th CineAsia Film Festival, read more about it here.
Read about I.G line-up at TAF 2007 here.
Read our exclusive interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon art director Hiroshi Ono here.
Director Tsutomu Mizushima's TV series xxxHOLiC episode 1 has been selected in the official competition at Annecy 2007. Read more about this news here.
We added synopsis of TV series xxxHOLiC episode 22 here.
We added the synopsis of TV series IGPX episode 12 here.

February 2007: Week 4

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to Maria Leszczynska and Belle, as seen in Kazuhiro Furuhashi's Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read about Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters USA Premiere at Film Select Presents here.
Read the our exclusive interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon character designer Tomomi Ozaki here.
We added synopsis of TV series xxxHOLiC episode 19 here.
We added the synopsis of TV series IGPX episode 9 here.

January 2007: Week 4

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to Robin, as seen in Kazuhiro Furuhashi's Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Production I.G represents live-action rights for Ghost in the Shell. Read our official release here.
Read about Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters USA Premiere at Film Select Presents 2007 here.
Read the our exclusive interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon prop designer toi8 here.
We added synopsis of TV series xxxHOLiC episode 15 here.
And we also added synopsis of IGPX episode 5 here.

January 2007: Week 1

This Week's Top Page depicts D'Eon de Beaumont possessed by the spirit of her sister Lia, as seen in Kazuhiro Furuhashi's Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read the our exclusive interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon producer Daisuke Katagiri here.
We added synopsis of TV series xxxHOLiC episode 12 here.
And we also added synopsis of IGPX episode 2 here.

December 2006: Week 2

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to Anna Rochefort, as seen in Kazuhiro Furuhashi's Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read the our exclusive interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon ending song singer Aya here.
We added synopsis of TV series xxxHOLiC episode 7 here and episode 8 here.

November 2006: Week 4

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to D'Eon de Beaumont as seen in Kazuhiro Furuhashi's Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read our exclusive interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon literary producer Yui Shibata about here.
Go to our updated Reideen info page here.
Read about Reideen TV airing info here.

November 2006: Week 2

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to Durand as seen in Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read about the award received by Kirin Lemon Black at the 11th Holland Animation Film Festival here.
Read our exclusive interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon chief writer Yasuyuki Muto here.

October 2006: Week 4

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to D'Eon's elder sister, Lia de Beaumont, who has been misteriously murdered, as seen in Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Read our exclusive interview about Le Chevalier D'Eon with music composer Michiru Oshima here.
Read about Mitsuru Hongo's new series Reideen, coming up spring 2007 here.
Check Production I.G's multiple program at the 11th Holland Animation Film Festival here.

October 2006: Week 3

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to D'Eon de Beaumont, the loyal agent of King Louis XV in director Kazuhiro Furuhashi's Le Chevalier D'Eon, produced by Production I.G and Shochiku.

Check Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters screening dates in Montreal here.
Read our exclusive interview about Le Chevalier D'Eon with scriptwriter Shotaro Suga here.
Check Production I.G's multiple program at the 11th Holland Animation Film Festival here.

May 2006: Week 2

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to d'Eon de Beaumont, the flamboyant main character from the forthcoming TV series Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Go to the updated Le Chevalier D'Eon page here.
Go to the newly added page in our Studio Insider section dedicated to Niigata Studio here.

Part XXIV (03)
Kazuhiro Furuhashi's In principio erat Verbum: "Realism (reprise)"

Kazuhiro Furuhashi Born on June 9, 1960. Director. He's known among anime fans worldwide for his TV series, Getbackers, Rurouni Kenshin, Hunter x Hunter, and Zipang. These works illuminated his realistic story structures and meticulously detailed rendering of the characters, which are also profoundly evident in Le Chevalier D'Eon. Furuhashi is currently working on his new series, Real Drive based on an original story by Shirow Masamune.

PART 03: Making animation based on actual history

What was challenging for you in making an animation such as Le Chevalier D'Eon based on actual history?
I wanted to take it to the point where people would say, "this might have been what actually happened." Of course we needed to expand a little and add a few more episodes to get there. Because it would be difficult without a sound understanding of the world it portrays. You see it is quite unusual in the first place to have political upheavals in Russia, France and England, one after another. If we had emphasized this too much, the risk was in limiting the scope of the world the series is covering.

That means you have to portray everything realistically.
Exactly. But I felt we couldn't set up a realistic political drama within the framework of Le Chevalier D'Eon. If we did that, then we could end up using a narrative that's rigid and generalizing, which is not very attractive. That's not entertainment.
I think the audience is looking for life-size "persons." So by illustrating the mentality of Vorontsov and other characters that surround the protagonist, we made the story credible.

There are a lot of occult-like scenes in Le Chevalier D'Eon, for example, where D'Eon bears the soul of Lia and her memories flashback in D'Eon's mind. So, although we are talking about "realistic rendering," this is in fact a mixture of reality and occultism.
In animation, there is no much difference between hallucinations or psychic phenomena. I mean, they look the same because we use drawings in order to render them. For this reason, you must really render well to show the difference between, let's say, something that is actually happening and D'Eon's hallucination. We must always question ourselves on how we can accomplish the difference between hallucination and the reality as we produce an animation.

Let me give you an example. There is a scene where King Louis XV touches D'Eon's lips. I tried to incorporate that sort of bodily touch to make the scene look more real. By the way, that part was drawn by Saburo Mochizuki who did the storyboards. He really did a great job.

A realistic feel that could only be achieved by animation...
The "realistic feel" has been my theme for the past ten years.

And therefore, you obviously challenged this theme in Le Chevalier D'Eon, too.
Don't you think it's the most far-fetched idea to render a realistic presence to drawn parts? They do not smell or have the texture you can touch and feel. And I am trying to make them feel real in one way or another. This means the script has to be good and on top of that, we need to do a good rendering. I want to render the "weight of an object" or the "texture." For example, instead of showing the blood of Caron's foot tendon, we poked it briefly.

Yes, that looked really painful.
In films, especially in anime, with an exaggerated portrayal, you actually loose that "painfulness." I was in the staff of Urusei Yatsura as key animator, but the lightening strikes generated by Lum didn't look painful at all. This is because we'd never experienced an electrical shock. So even if a character gets his or her arm or leg severed, it would not have an impact on the audience who had not experienced it.

But if this person pinches a little hang nail and says, "When I did it before, I peeled a couple of centimeters of skin." At this smaller scale, people are forced to imagine the situation even though they don't have that exact experience and somehow they wish they could cry out, "stop it!" Put very simply, rendering of painful stories is more effective.

So you focused on visual images that the audience could easily identify with.
I think it is important how you convey the senses of smell, taste and texture, besides the more "obvious" senses of sight and hearing. I don't think you should give up because it's just a picture. I tried to render the uncomfortable horse carriage ride by showing the swinging feet and the line, "my butt hurts" as well as a hand rubbing it. This is a triple layered rendering to demonstrate the realistic sensation.

This imparts such a subtle impression compared to a live-action film. Same with the texture, we should do a steady step-by-step process by encouraging imagination, a small layer at a time without exaggerating. This is also true with designing characters. Although you can only do this for the serial works. Anyway I adapted "a slightly realistic" characters and renderings to reset the audience's sensation that's been paralyzed by an excess of flashy renderings.

(3 - to be continued)

© Tow Ubukata · Production I.G/Project Chevalier 2006

Based on the novel by
Mori Hiroshi (published in Japan by Chuokoron-Shinsha)

Screenplay:
Chihiro Ito

Director:
Mamoru Oshii

Music:
Kenji Kawai

Sequence Director:
Toshihiko Nishikubo

Character Designer/Key Animation Supervisor:
Tetsuya Nishio

Mechanic Designer:
Atsushi Takeuchi

Art Director:
Kazuo Nagai

Supervising Layout Artist:
Takashi Watabe

Color Designer:
Kumiko Yusa

Visual Effects:
Hisashi Ezura

CGI Supervisor:
Hiroyuki Hayashi

Sound Design:
Randy Thom and Tom Myers

Sound Director:
Kazuhiro Wakabayashi

Line Producer:
Toru Kawaguchi

Producer:
Tomohiko Ishii

Executive Producers:
Seiji Okuda, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa

Animation Production:
Production I.G

CAST

Yuichi Kannami:
Ryo Kase

Suito Kusanagi:
Rinko Kikuchi

Midori Mitsuya:
Chiaki Kuriyama

Naofumi Tokino:
Shosuke Tanihara

When the freedom of libraries is violated
We will unite and resolutely protect our freedom!

Introduction
This 12-episode TV series is based on the immensely popular action and romantic comedy novel series, Library War by Hiro Arikawa, which 5 volumes sold a record breaking 700,000 copies. The animation series premieres on April 10 on Fuji Television's noitaminA block.
Production I.G's Studio 9, known for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series and Guardian of the Spirit, will challenge this unusual romantic comedy. The series is directed by Takayuki Hamana, of The Prince of Tennis and Sisters of Wellber fame.

Worldview
When the Media Betterment Act was enacted in 1989, it had the official purpose of protecting human rights as well as young people from the negative influence of the media through the regulation of expressions that offend public order and morals. However, the establishment of the new Act gave birth to the repression of the freedom of expression by the militarized Betterment Secret Agency.

The Committee for the Media Betterment conducted the censor. The interpretation of the power and authority of the Committee was extended arbitrarily to the point that the use of force became permitted against those who resisted.

And somebody did resist. The libraries, that were under the jurisdiction of local governments, rose against the national government by enacting the Freedom of the Libraries Law. On the legal basis of this law, libraries could counteract the censor legitimized by the Media Betterment Act, and soon started to create armed self-defense militia.

Story
The story of Library War is set in a dystopian Japan in 2019 - thirty years after the enactment of the infamous Media Betterment Act. The militarized Betterment Secret Agency now controls the entire media, but extralegal censorship is tenaciously opposed by libraries all around the country.

Iku Kasahara has realized her dream of becoming a member of the Library Militia. Now she has volunteered to the self-defense unit and is undergoing tough military training. When she was still at high school, a member of the Library Militia rescued her when a Media Betterment Squad member tried to seize her book. Iku was swept away by the profound love for justice demonstrated by his saviour, and she started to adore him as her prince even though she couldn't even remember his face. Thus she decided to join the Library Militia and protect books. Gradually, her passion and exceeding athletic capability leads her to become a member of the elite unit, the Library Task Force but...

official website (Japanese only)
http://www.toshokan-sensou.com

© Hiro Arikawa·Mediaworks/Library War Production Committee

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Takayuki Hamana's new TV series, Library War.

Check our info page about Takayuki Hamana new TV series, Library War here.
Naoyoshi Shiotani's directorial debut, Tokyo Marble Chocolate has been selected in competition at SICAF 2008. Read the details here.
Read the second part of our exclusive interview with Le Chevalier D'Eon director Kazuhiro Furuhashi here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood+ episode 16 here.

official website (Japanese only)
http://www.toshokan-sensou.com

© Hiro Arikawa·Mediaworks/Library War Production Committee

Based on the original novels Library War, Library Civil Strife and Library Crisis by Hiro Arikawa, published in Japan by Mediaworks

Original Character Design:
Sukumo Adabana

Director:
Takayuki Hamana

Series Composition:
Kenji Konuta

Character Design:
Satoru Nakamura

Art Director:
Shigemi Ikeda

Art Setting:
Naoki Arakawa

Color Design:
Yumiko Katayama

Director of Photography:
Koji Tanaka

3D Director:
Makoto Endo

Sound Director:
Takuya Hiramitsu

Music:
Yugo Kanno

Animation Production:
Production I.G

Production:
Library War Production Committee

CAST

Iku Kasahara:
Marina Inoue

Atsushi Dojo:
Tomoaki Maeno

Mikihisa Komaki:
Akira Ishida

Hikaru Tezuka:
Tatsuhisa Suzuki

Asako Shibasaki:
Miyuki Sawashiro

Ryusuke Genda:
Kanji Suzumori

Kazuichi Inamine:
Haruo Sato

Air date: January 28, 2006

Saya and the others arrive in Vladivostok, and take the Trans-Siberian Railroad with Elizaveta, a Russian Red Shield agent. But the Chiroptera are lurking in the most unexpected places...

Script: Kurasumi Sunayama
Storyboard: Hitomu Kumoi
Director: Naomichi Yamato
Animation Director: Minoru Ueta

Part XXIV (02)
Kazuhiro Furuhashi's In principio erat Verbum: "Realism"

Kazuhiro Furuhashi Born on June 9, 1960. Director. He's known among anime fans worldwide for his TV series, Getbackers, Rurouni Kenshin, Hunter x Hunter, and Zipang. These works illuminated his realistic story structures and meticulously detailed rendering of the characters, which are also profoundly evident in Le Chevalier D'Eon. Furuhashi is currently working on his new series, Real Drive based on an original story by Shirow Masamune.

PART 02: Encounter with a cross-dressing chevalier

What was your first impression of the historical figure of D'Eon de Beaumont?
To be honest, I had never heard of his name. So my initial reaction was, "Cross-dressing? Really? Eccentric." But when I read his biography, I was impressed. He was an all-rounder. Very knowledgeable and a good swordsman as well.

In reality, he was a knight dressed as a woman. But in the anime adaptation, he appears to actually transform into a woman when he is possessed by his elder sister's soul. What was your initial plan for this transformation of D'Eon and Lia?
When we met at WOWOW the first time, Ubukata-san said, "I'd like to see you put together something that would captivate the audience in a way that's not possible in writing." He also mentioned if we could have "animetic renderings" such as having his hair burst out while the clothes transform and so on.

My answer to his requests was, "those kinds of renderings are not uncommon and nothing new in anime. I'd rather avoid the typical animetic renderings for a historic figure." I could see that he was at a loss. It was like facing the biggest crisis at the very beginning.

So you had no intention of making a story of transformations.
If you overemphasize unrealistic aspects when you are rendering occult elements, you lose the freakiness. It might work with books, but when you are working with pictures, going too straightforwardly would leave no room for imagination. It would be easy to use it as a format, but at the end of the day it's not very effective. So I thought we had to take a minimalist approach. Just show a little of what would hint at his transformation from a man to a woman, like untying the hair and changing the color of the lips.

Le Chevalier D'Eon stands out in the panorama of Japanese animation for his very realistic style. What were your requests to the character designer?
Basically, this is a story of the people of France, taking place in France, therefore I wanted the characters to appear convincingly Caucasians. In a good deal of Japanese animation, characters are deformed to the extent they don't even look like humans, never mind the lack of any distinctive ethnicity they could be related to. And this style has become so prevalent and standardized these days, that you can't tell one anime from another by the characters only. So if you are aiming for a drama-focused story on historical figures, following that trend in character design is the last thing you want to do.

On the other hand, if I go for 100% realism, people might find it difficult to relate to the characters. And of course it would be difficult to find enough animators that could do it. So I asked for the middle ground. And needless to say, even if they had come up with ultra-realistic character designs, I still wouldn't be able to tell the difference between French, English and Russians. (lol) Anyway, when I saw the first episode, I was delighted. They didn't look like Asians!

The swordfight fencing sequences are a must-see, too.
Sabers and rapiers in those days were never swung like Japanese swords. They are pointed weapons, designed to strike into an opening in the armor. So we had to make sure we did accurate renderings, but as a result, we couldn't get that vigorous spark of swordfights. You know, they didn't look like they were fighting for their lives. So from Episode 3 on, we decided to adapt whatever came to our mind. We settled with the idea that the story was more important.

(2 - to be continued)

© Tow Ubukata · Production I.G/Project Chevalier 2006