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Japan's Middle/High School Anime Contest Winners Posted

The winners of Anime Kōshien 2007, the first national fair for anime created entirely by Japanese middle and high school students, were announced in late December in Tokyo. The contest is modeled after Kōshien, the annual national high school baseball tournament that is often depicted in such manga and anime as Touch, Major, and Princess Nine. Middle and high school student from all over Japan submitted story treatments, character and mecha designs, voice demos, and even full-blown animation shorts. The judges of the contest included director Hiroshi Watanabe (Video Girl Ai, Slayers, Orphen), director Shinji Takamatsu (Gintama, School Rumble), Tezuka Productions director Satoshi Kuwabara (Black Jack 21), Magic Capsule sound director Susumu Aketagawa (Barefoot Gen, Legend of the Galactic Heroes) and Aoni Productions sound producer Hiroshi Kuroda.

The top honor in the story/project-planning category went to "Chōkonshi" by Sara Ōtani of Aichi Prefectural Kyokuryo Asahi High School. "Hitotsume," by Emi Yamashita of Shizuoka Prefectural Hamamatsu Konan High School, won the character/mecha design category. Senzoku Gakuen High School's Rina Takashira won for best voice acting. Saitama Prefectural High School of the Arts' Rina Hosokawa won the top award for original animation for her "Hearts" short. "Hearts" and several of the other original animation works are available for viewing online, along with all the submitted entries in the character/mecha design category.

In addition to the contest, the students gathered last year to participate in workshops and to learn techniques from actual working professionals in the field. The event was held at the Tokyo Anime Center in Akihabara, the Tokyo district famed for its otaku-friendly shops. S's, a Japanese students' art magazine and sponsor of Anime Kōshien 2007, has announced that a second high school anime fair, Anime Kōshien 2008, has been confirmed.

Source: animeanime.jp