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P.A. Works' Mai no Mahō to Katei no Hi Anime Detailed

Update: The Yomiuri Shimbun paper has posted an image and more details from Mai no Mahō to Katei no Hi (Mai's Magic and Family Day), the upcoming project from the anime studio P.A. Works (True Tears, CANAAN, Angel Beats!, Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva). The anime will run on three over-the-air stations in the central western Japanese prefecture of Toyama and nine cable television systems next February and March.

In the story, eight-year-old second-grader Mai Tatsumi uses magic to understand her family's feelings. Moeko Shimizu created the original concept with "Getsuyōbi wa 'Katei no Hi'" (Monday is "Family Day"), the winning entry in a writing contest she entered in 2005 when she was a fourth-grader.

Mai's family name is coined from two of Toyama's famous locales: Mount Tate (Tateyama) and the Sea of Japan (Nihon-Kai). Sumi Shimamoto (Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro's Clarisse, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind's title role) will play Yuki, the mother who is pregnant with her third child. Mami Koyama (Dr. Slump's Arale-chan) will play the grandmother Hotaru.

P.A. Works plans to complete the project at the end of January. In addition to the planned broadcasts, 2,000 DVDs will be distributed to nurseries, kindergartens, elementary schools, and middle schools. The anime will also be streamed on the Internet via YouTube for free. The total budget, including DVD production costs, is about 30 million yen (about US$360,000).

Update: Asahi reports that the anime will be about 30 minutes long.