What is XP?Get rewarded for being a good fan.Every review, rating, list and vote earns XP. Stack it up to climb 100 levels across Lifehaki.Start earning
Fresh out of technical school with grand dreams of creating moving art, Mikiko Kuromi Ogawa lands a job as a production assistant at Studio Petit. Her idyllic expectations are instantly crushed on her first day when the chief production manager collapses from exhaustion, leaving Kuromi in charge of episode two of Time Journey. Facing uncooperative veteran animators, missing keyframe packets, artistic tantrums, and an immovable television broadcast deadline only days away, Kuromi dashes across Tokyo. Through sheer stubborn willpower, sincere encouragement, and frantic problem-solving, she fights to get the episode finished on time.
⚠ Background — may contain spoilers
Directed by renowned animation veteran Akitaro Daichi and produced by Yumeta Company, *Animation Runner Kuromi* was released as an original video animation in 2001. Developed in cooperation with the Japan Animation Creators Association, the project serves as an affectionate yet painfully honest insider satire of the stressful realities governing Japanese commercial animation production. With its rapid slapstick timing, caricature art direction, and authentic industry terminology, the OVA won significant admiration among animation enthusiasts for illuminating the behind-the-scenes labor of production assistants.
I am happy to report that Animation Runner Kuromi 2 breaks that stereotype and winds up being one of the best discs I've received from Central Park Media in a long time.
A short but extremely fun comedic romp through the world of low-budget anime production. If you absolutely /must/ have some deep meaningful plot you might want to subtract a star.
This is the kind of title you'll watch with a perpetual smile on your face. It's uncommonly good at presenting all-out fun while still providing insight into the process and mentality behind the prodution of anime. Familiarity with the original is not required.
Established in 2002 and launched as an independent event in 2014, the Tokyo Anime Award Festival (TAAF) is an annual international animation festival hosted in Tokyo, Japan. Operating under the slogan "TOKYO is the HUB of contemporary ANIMATION," its goal is to discover new talent, promote animation culture, and celebrate outstanding works worldwide.
