Stop what you're doing and watch this pilot film for a stop motion animated project out of Japan, a samurai sandalpunk project called Hidari.
Hidari popped up on our radars yesterday and we're so smitten with the piece alone that we had to share. Not only is this short amazing on its own we found out that it was just part of the pitch for a feature length stop animated samurai flick. Take our money!
The short is done in an animation style the lead director Masashi Kawamura says is called Japanimation. Kawamura cites influences like "Ray Harryhausen, Kihachiro Kawamoto, and Phil Tippett" as well. That's not a bad place to build off of.
“Japanimation”– is an animation style born in Japan, that's still highly recognized across the world. Its unique visual language, narrative, and dynamic expressions have evolved very differently compared to other types of animations, which gives it the distinct flare. We wanted to create an entertainment piece that no one has seen before, by merging this world of Japanimation and the technique of stop-motion animation.We took this visual concept to tell the story set as a “Jidaigeki (= samurai film)," to create a visual experience full of Japanese aesthetics.
The great news is that after only a couple days others around the World share our enthusiasm for this project and it is already completely funded. Regardless, we're still going to chip in when the next pay day comes around, push this project through some stretch goals.
Watch the pilot film and making of videos, then hit that link and support Hidari.
After being betrayed by his peers and lost both his father and his right arm, legendary craftsman "Jingoro Hidari" is on a journey of revenge with his partner "Sleeping Cat" and his mechanical prosthetic arm. Finally, Jingoro faces one of his adversaries "Inumaru" in a fight to the death...This is a pilot version of the stop-motion samurai film that tells the story of "Jingoro Hidari," a legendary Edo-era craftsman. All the characters are made by wood and animated frame by frame, just like how Jingoro's wooden sculptures came to life in his many anecdotes. We hope you enjoy this film, which mixes dynamic actions as seen in Japanimation, and the rich analog expressions of stop-motion animation.Our intention is to use this pilot film as a starting point to create a full length feature film. We're currently running a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to gain support for our activities to find the necessary partners to go into production of the feature-length version. If you liked this video and would want to see more of it, we would be very grateful if you can support us on Kickstarter!