Description
In 2019, an alien invasion has nearly exterminated humanity, with the few survivors kept as livestock. Among them are two teenagers, Yuto and Ami, who evade discovery by disguising themselves as chickens in a schoolyard, setting the stage for a bizarre and violent confrontation about the nature of predation. This is the opening story of an anthology that adapts eight short manga created by Tatsuki Fujimoto between the ages of 17 and 26, offering a roadmap of the thematic obsessions and raw creativity that would later define works like Chainsaw Man and Look Back.
The series spans a wide range of genres, from post-apocalyptic science fiction to surreal romantic comedies and psychological dramas. In Sasaki Stopped a Bullet, a love-struck student miraculously stops a gunman's bullet and, claiming to be from the future, attempts to redirect the attacker's fate while quietly preserving his devotion to his teacher. Love is Blind takes a more absurdist turn, following a high school student determined to confess his feelings on his last day of school, a goal he pursues with such single-minded intensity that he ignores escalating disasters, from car accidents to cosmic annihilation.
Other stories explore darker, more complex emotional terrain. Shikaku centers on a deeply disturbed young woman who becomes an infamous assassin; she is hired by a 3,500-year-old vampire who wants to die of boredom, only to find herself drawn to him in a twisted romance. Mermaid Rhapsody offers a more melancholic fantasy, depicting a bond between a lonely boy and a mermaid who shares his love for an underwater piano. Woke-Up-as-a-Girl Syndrome follows a boy who transforms into a girl overnight, navigating school harassment and a shifting sense of self while his relationship with his girlfriend is put to the test. Nayuta of the Prophecy presents a prototype for Fujimoto's later work, following a brother who fiercely protects his younger sister, a girl with horns who is feared as the prophesied destroyer of the world. The anthology concludes with Sisters, a more grounded drama about two artistically inclined siblings whose rivalry and jealousy mask a deep-seated admiration, forcing them to confront their fractured relationship.
The series is an anthology, with each episode produced by different combinations of seven acclaimed directors and six animation studios, including P.A.WORKS, Studio Kafka, and ZEXCS. This approach gives each story a distinct visual and tonal identity, ranging from vibrant and chaotic to quiet and somber, while collectively illustrating the evolution of Fujimoto's voice as a storyteller.
The series spans a wide range of genres, from post-apocalyptic science fiction to surreal romantic comedies and psychological dramas. In Sasaki Stopped a Bullet, a love-struck student miraculously stops a gunman's bullet and, claiming to be from the future, attempts to redirect the attacker's fate while quietly preserving his devotion to his teacher. Love is Blind takes a more absurdist turn, following a high school student determined to confess his feelings on his last day of school, a goal he pursues with such single-minded intensity that he ignores escalating disasters, from car accidents to cosmic annihilation.
Other stories explore darker, more complex emotional terrain. Shikaku centers on a deeply disturbed young woman who becomes an infamous assassin; she is hired by a 3,500-year-old vampire who wants to die of boredom, only to find herself drawn to him in a twisted romance. Mermaid Rhapsody offers a more melancholic fantasy, depicting a bond between a lonely boy and a mermaid who shares his love for an underwater piano. Woke-Up-as-a-Girl Syndrome follows a boy who transforms into a girl overnight, navigating school harassment and a shifting sense of self while his relationship with his girlfriend is put to the test. Nayuta of the Prophecy presents a prototype for Fujimoto's later work, following a brother who fiercely protects his younger sister, a girl with horns who is feared as the prophesied destroyer of the world. The anthology concludes with Sisters, a more grounded drama about two artistically inclined siblings whose rivalry and jealousy mask a deep-seated admiration, forcing them to confront their fractured relationship.
The series is an anthology, with each episode produced by different combinations of seven acclaimed directors and six animation studios, including P.A.WORKS, Studio Kafka, and ZEXCS. This approach gives each story a distinct visual and tonal identity, ranging from vibrant and chaotic to quiet and somber, while collectively illustrating the evolution of Fujimoto's voice as a storyteller.
Cast
- Sensei
- NatsuoMark Lewis
- Father
- Sasaki
- Kyōko Ehara
- Nick CarsonCynthia FearsEmanuele Suarez
- Yūto
- Olivier premel
- Insegnante
- Riccardo Suarez
- BelieverMirta Pepe
- Sasaki-kun
- Ms. Oi
- Chieko Kawaguchi
- Rie
- ChiefAshley PeldonSara Imbriani
- Shugel
- Jugel
- Yuri
- Hayasaka-sensei
- Masatoshi Endō
Comment(s)
Staff
- DirectorNobuyuki TakeuchiShū HonmaNobukage KimuraTetsuaki WatanabeSeishirō NagayaKazuaki TerasawaNaoya Ando
- StoryboardNobuyuki TakeuchiNobukage KimuraTetsuaki WatanabeSeishirō NagayaKazuaki TerasawaNaoya AndoShū Honma
- MusicKenji KawaiKeiji InaiRei IshizukaKevin PenkinMasahiro TokudaYuma Yamaguchi
- Character DesignNaho KozonoTomoko MoriKōhei TokuokaHaruka SagawaNozomi ShimazakiMoaangMYOUNHisashi Higashijima
- Animation DirectorKazuyuki IkaiNaho KozonoMasahiko SuzukiTomoko MoriKōhei TokuokaHaruka SagawaMoaangMYOUNEriko YanagimotoYing Jiang
- Sound DirectorToshiki KameyamaSatoshi MotoyamaShōji HataTakeshi TakaderaEriko KimuraNoriyoshi KonumaFumiyuki GoHaru Yamada
- ScriptTetsuaki WatanabeSeishirō NagayaTeruko UtsumiKazuaki TerasawaNaoya AndoYōko YonaiyamaTatsuo Kobayashi
- Episode DirectorShū Honma
- Original creator
- Art DirectorAtsushi MorikawaChieko NakamuraKazuki HigashijiSachi TakahashiYoshio TaniokaYūji KanekoHotaka Okamoto
- 3D DirectorYoji NagasawaMotonari IchikawaYūji Koshida
- Director of PhotographyHitoshi TamuraKatsuto OgawaHideki KawaharaTomo NamikiTeppei ItōDaisuke Chiba
Production
- Animation ProductionP.A. WorksZEXCSLapin TrackStudio Kafka100StudioGRAPH77
