New "adventure fantasy" work to center on female protagonist

Anime director Keiichi Hara ( Miss Hokusai , Summer Days with Coo , Colorful ) revealed at the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) on Friday that his new work will be a "female adventure fantasy." At a press conference to announce the lineup for the festival on September 26, Hara (pictured far right in image below) said he was wearing a shirt featuring a cat character that will appear in his next work.

This year's TIFF event featured a highlight event for Hara's works, and screened his Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi o Yobu Mōretsu! Otona Teikoku no Gyakushū film.

Hara also debuted the first visual from his new work on Friday, featuring a young woman walking with her bike surrounded by greenery. (Note: To see the visual, go to the NewsWalker website and scroll down to the fourth image.)

Hara explained that the protagonist in the story will have adventures in another world, and that this will be his "first full-blown fantasy work." Hara added that he is working on the storyboard and animation images now, and plans to complete the work sometime next year.

Hara's most recent work, Miss Hokusai , debuted in May 2015. The film won the Jury Prize at Annecy in June 2015. Hara also won the Asiagraph 2015 Tsumugi Prize in recognition of individuals who have made valuable contributions to digital art.

Hara worked for years on the Crayon Shin-chan television anime series before garnering critical attention for such films as Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi o Yobu Appare! Sengoku Daikassen ( Crayon Shin-chan ; Brilliant! The Great Battle of the Warring States) and Summer Days with Coo . He earned the Jury's Special Distinction and the Audience Award for the bittersweet film Colorful at Annecy 2011. He has since made his first live-action film, a 2013 biography about the Japanese filmmaker Keisuke Kinoshita.

Hara also won the Anime d'or prize at the Tokyo Anime Award Festival (TAAF) in March 2015.

Source: NewsWalker (TryWorks)