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Khara, Dwango Launch Weekly Animator Expo Anime Shorts

Anime director Hideaki Anno announced at the Tokyo International Film Festival's The World of Hideaki Anno event on Sunday that his studio Khara and the media company Dwango are launching Animator Expo, a weekly series of anime shorts. The initiative will offer new animators more exposure to a worldwide audience.

The first short, "The Dragon Dentist" by director Ōtarō Maijō, animation director Kazuya Tsurumaki, character designer Yasuyuki Kosaka, and animation character designer Yoshimichi Kameda, is premiering at the Tokyo International Film Festival before streaming on November 7. The official website describes the story:

A girl comes there to become a dentist of dragon. She is with other new freshman applicants, but there is no announcement from a senior as a guidance. They are confused and taken along with the senior. The only way is just to walk through freshman's path, which is dark and strange. They do not know where they are. Not knowing what to do, she is approaching to the secret of dragon, but she does not realize yet. The adventure has already begun.

Voice actors Megumi Hayashibara and Kouichi Yamadera are playing characters in the short. Dan Kanemitsu translated the short, as well as the Evangelion films that screened at Sunday's event. Anno himself is serving as executive producer of the initiative with Dwango President Nobuo Kawakami, and he also designed the image character mascot "(Tor)-kun." Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki created the title logo, and fellow Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki colored it.

One new short will stream every week for a planned total of 30 shorts, ranging from original projects and spinoffs to promotional videos and music videos. Each episode will be streamed for free via a dedicated iOS/Android app and on the niconico service. There are no plans for a commercial release at this stage.

Thanks to Gwyn Campbell for the news tip