News

Edge of Time Animated Anthology Releases New Trailer

The Edge of Time Chinese animated anthology began streaming a new trailer on Sunday. The anthology includes Shinichirō Watanabe's (Cowboy Bebop) "A Girl Meets a Boy and a Robot," and Shuhei Morita's (Freedom, Tokyo Ghoul) "Roots" (Tsuru no Mai) animated short films.

The anthology is screening at the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), which is running from October 27 to November 5.

Edge of Time is a 97-minute, four-part anthology film previously known as the TAISU Project. It features shorts by Japanese directors Shinichirō Watanabe and Shuhei Morita and Chinese directors Li Wei and Weng Ming with the motif of "Taisu," an energy that transcends time and space. The festival describes the anthology: 

The underwater girl, who was given life by the cosmic energy "Taisu", travels through time and space in order to find her only friend who disappeared because of the war, witnessing one story after another, witnessing the cruelty of war and the tragedy it brought, and searching for the true meaning of love and emotion.

The Niigata International Animation Film Festival hosted the Asian premieres of both Watanabe and Morita's films in March 2023. The festival describes the short films:

• "A Girl Meets a Boy and a Robot"
  A girl who has lost her memory meets a robot who has also lost its memory, and a young boy who is searching for the ‘Crystal of Time’, as they explore the truth of the world together.
  
  
• "Roots"
  The lonely princess Tashen, by chance, establishes a connection with a foreign girl named Aila through a pair of twin flowers, and gradually opens up her heart while chatting with her. However, at this time, the shadow of war looms over them…

Watanabe's short film screened at the 26th Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, Canada in July 2022. Watanabe directed such notable anime productions as Cowboy Bebop, Macross Plus, Samurai Champloo, Space Dandy, Carole & Tuesday, Terror in Resonance, and Lazarus. He also directed the "Blade Runner: Black Out 2022" anime short.

Morita directed anime productions such as Tokyo Ghoul, Freedom, and the anime film Kakurenbo - Hide & Seek. Morita and Sunrise's "Possessions" ("Tsukumo") anime short received an Oscar nomination in 2014 in the Animated Short Film category. "Possessions" is a part of Katsuhiro Ōtomo's Short Peace omnibus project film, which premiered in Japan in July 2013.

Source: Rooting's YouTube channel, Comic Natalie