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Atsushi Wada's New 'Ikimono-san' Anime Shorts to Compete at Animafest Zagreb
posted on by Alex Mateo
Atsushi Wada is directing a new series of anime shorts titled "Ikimono-san," based on his My Exercise game. The shorts will compete in the Grand Competition - Short Film category at the World Festival of Animated Film – Animafest Zagreb 2023 event in Croatia from June 5-10.
The anime will have 52 90-second episodes. Nobuaki Doi is in charge of planning and production. New Deer is animating the shorts, and Toei Animation is distributing.
The My Exercise game launched in August 2020 for iOS, Android, and PC via Steam and itch.io. The game features a boy who exercises with a dog.
Wada's "Hantō no Tori" ("Bird in the Peninsula") short screened at last year's Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The short won a special mention in the short film category at last year's Berlin International Film Festival.
Wada handled the "Autumn" segment for animation based on Antonio Vivaldi's classical concerto series The Four Seasons. A crowdfunding project funded the animation in 2017.
Wada previously won the award of The Silver Bear for the Best Short Film and the Special Prize award at the Hiroshima International Animation Festival for his "The Great Rabbit” anime short in 2012. Wada directed the seven-minute short with French backing. The film held its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2012.
Wada's "Anomalies" short film was a Jury Selection at the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival Awards in 2013. The film is described as follows: "We try to enrich ourselves through prayer, faith and devotion to someone or something else. Similarly, we believe in the existence of 'anomalies,' such as unknowable and uncontrollable monsters." Wada animated the "In a Pig's Eye" ("Wakaranai Buta") short in 2010.
Sources: Animafest Zagreb, Comic Natalie
