Give Peace a Chance

This week it’s been exactly 9 years since Katsuhiro Otomo was last at the helm of an animated feature film. The acclaimed director, best known for his epic works ‘Akira’ and ‘Steamboy’ finally returns in 2013 with an omnibus film ‘Short Peace’, containing four stories, and set in different periods of Japan’s past and future.

Tellingly, one of the Japanese taglines for the movie is “For the adults who have lost anime”. The dearth of cinematic, adult-orientated animation in Japan this past decade has no doubt caused many to lose faith in the medium. And while Otomo has actively worked on a live-action movie, illustrations and mecha design, his absence from the world of animation has left a noticeable vacuum.

To celebrate his new release, there is one-week ‘Short Peace’ exhibition at the pixiv Zingaro gallery, located on the second floor of Nakano Broadway. The four-storey complex is one of the best-known otaku hotspots outside of Akihabara, and also one the most difficult to navigate. Broadway hasn’t changed much in the last decade, but the addition of three new art spaces (Pixiv Zingaro, Oz Zingaro and Hidari Zingaro) give it the potential to become a crossover area between anime and the arts.

Unlike last year’s extensive ‘Genga’ exhibition ‘Short Peace’ is a much more limited affair. What visitors do get to see though is a rare look into the production of the movie, with character designs, original storyboards, schematics, and background paintings all on display.

Out of the four features, two come directly from Otomo’s back catalogue. Otomo handles director duties on ‘Combustible’ (Hi no Youjin), a story that was published in 1995, and ‘Farewell to Weapons’ (Buki yo Saraba), from 1981, is directed by Hajime Katoki.

Both of these adaptations deliver much more than initial incarnations. ‘Combustible’ adds a fully-fledged Edo-period town, with the narrative framed in a gorgeous, unravelling scroll. From this story we’re only treated to a handful of background paintings, but the key storyboards on show — hand-drawn by Otomo — show exactly how much effort he puts into each stage of the animation process.

The remaining two stories in ‘Short Peace’ were scripted by Otomo’s collaborators. ‘Gambo’ (directed by Hiroaki Ando) is a story set in the Tohoku region during the Sengoku period, following a young protagonist as she deals with a demon-like creature in her village. And ‘Tsukumo’, (written and directed by Shuhei Morita) centres on a nameless 18th century traveler who becomes lost in the woods and discovers a magical shrine. We only get a glimpse of character designs and storyboards for both at the exhibition, but its enough to pique our interest.

The release of ‘Short Peace’ will no doubt be celebrated for Otomo’s return, but its real triumph is the introduction of his collaborators’ work to a mainstream audience. ‘Short Peace’ hits cinemas this weekend in Japan and the accompanying exhibition runs for a few more days, ending on the 23rd of July.