Animation Runner Kuromi

Starring:Animation Runner Kuromi
Studio: Us Manga Corps Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Because she grew up watching Louis Monde III, Mikiko "Kuromi" Oguro decided to pursue a career in animation: to her brief delight, she lands a job as "animation runner" (assistant production manager) at Petit Studios. Then the fun begins. With just a week left to go on episode #2 of Time Journeys, only five of the 312 cuts (scenes) in the program have been completed! Kuromi spends the week on fast forward, nagging animators, chasing down artwork, juggling schedules, etc. Director/storyboard artist Akitaroh Diachi punches up the humor by including bits of the show in various stages of completion. This brief (40 minutes) OVA offers a very funny spoof of how studio animation is done, both in Japan and the United States. The more the viewer knows about the process, the more they'll appreciate the jokes. (Unrated: Suitable for ages 10 and up: tobacco use, minor cartoon violence) --Charles Solomon

Description

Kuromi just landed her dream job at a famous animation studio, and boy is she in for a rude awakening! It's up to her to finish a hot new cartoon, or fans everywhere will be let down. Will Kuromi's love of cartoons clean up this horrible mess...or make an even bigger one?

Customer Reviews:

GETTING A JOB IN ANIME.......2006-07-28

Mikiko Oguro, or "Kuromi" as she is later to be known, has graduated from an animation school and is ready to start her professional career in the anime field at Studio Petit. Imagine her surprise when she arrives to an empty studio, well, empty except for her predecessor, who was just waiting for her to arrive so he could quit! It's 10am and the guy tells her that the staff will be in later in the day! Kuromi has the job of assistant production manager (animation runner) which basically means she has to keep the office up and running and on schedule and collect all the artwork that is being done outside of the studio. She finds this to be harder to do than she thought when she finds that 95% of the artists don't have much of a work ethic. So Kuromi has 5 of the 312 scenes that she needs for episode 2 of the series Time Journeys and has no idea how those scenes will be completed before the deadline. Will Kuromi have enough spunk, drive, and determination not only to motivate herself but the staff of the show to ramp up their efforts to meet the due date?

The director of Kuromi, Akitaroh Daichi, is known for his bipolar proclivities with the over the top shojo humor of Fruits Basket, and the depressing sadness of Now and Then, Here and There. Here, Daichi goes to the humor end of that spectrum, and as usual suffers from one dimensionality. The humor in Kuromi is so over the top (Think Kodacha and Excel Saga), that your brain begins to hurt from the hyperactive writing. While that style of energy is annoying, what really puts a capper on this show is that it's not really funny. The comic acting is too caricatured and full of sound and fury meaning nothing. This show was short but I was thankful for that. If it had gone on for an hour I don't know if I would have finished watching it.

Great Show!.......2005-08-09

Kuromi is out of college and her new job is as a directer at an animation studio! She gets a rude awakening when she realizes that "Time Jouneys Episode 2" is running behind. Out of the original 5 weeks to work on it, 4 weeks went by with only 5 cuts done! Time is running short when Kuromi must get these artists to work before the week is done!
This is a fantastic anime. You can feel the stress of Kuromi, the coolness of Shihonmatsu, and feel the determination of the entire staff. "Animation Runner Kuromi" is something not to be missed, and is full of fun. So what are you waiting for? Check it out!

one of the best OVA's ever made.......2004-04-23

as i said it is one of the best OVA's i ever watched it describes how real animes are made. and has comedy, sadness and tons of heart warming events. it is truly one of the best

A Great New Anime.......2003-11-04

Animation Runner Kuromi is a delightful story about a girl who thinks she is going to work at an anime producing company, but is tricked into becoming manager on her first day. With only a week left, Kuromi has to get her employees to complete five weeks of cuts in time for the TV airing deadline. With the talented Lisa Ortiz as the voice of the overworked Kuromi, this new show is a great, gut-busting comedy. Check Out more reviews at my website. Geocities.com/animeamyka

It's fun, it's funny, it's not long enough. We want MORE!.......2003-09-07

If there is one unfortunate drawback about ANIMATION RUNNER KUROMI, it may be that it's much too short. Too short, clocking in at only 38 minutes. This is a definite shame, because, at best, this lucky winner of the "Best OVA Feature Award" at the Tokyo International Anime Fair, is hilarious, wacky, laugh-out-loud fun.

Directed by Akitaroh Daichi (NOW AND THEN, THEN AND THERE and FRUITS BASKET), this is a mockumentary about life at an animation studio in (where else?) Japan. At the center of it all is the title character, Makiko Okuro (nicknamed Kuromi), a young, peppy college graduate whose first day of work at this animation studio, Studio Petit, turns out to be a nightmarish experience. The current production manager falls mysteriously sick on giving her a tour of the residence, time is a-running out for the studio to produce Episode 2 of TIME JOURNEYS, and the animation staff -- all with the most eccentric of personalities and problems: there's this guy who produces a lot of key animation sheets but does them horribly out of order, a slacker who only churns out few, if any work, due to being surrounded by toys, a pessimistic woman who really needs to be complimented and look on the bright side, and a newly-wed animator who has a lot to complain about her husband andreducesherselftotalkingamileaminutewhenshementionsherdilemmas -- is falling behind schedule. What's a new assistant manager like Kuromi to do? Of course, everything works out, but not before we survive an onslaught of outrageously funny scenes, gags, in-joke references, and eyepoppingly colorful animation techniques similar to those of HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES (badly drawn Cartoon exaggerations from our characters one moment, and the next, super-deformed!).

All of this might seem like a hodgepodge of nonsense, but it works because it's so consistent and obvious. It's also an interesting look at how life at an animation studio can sometimes be turbulent (and introduce people to the inside stories of what REALLY goes in the production stages of putting together an animated show). It does all of this so entertainingly that it becomes a shame when it just ends so soon. A show like this really could have been expanded. Not that I'm upset, though: the director and his team are reported to have begun work on the sequel.

I was at the BIG APPLE ANIME FEST in New York when I purchased this title. I had come to attend the Voice Acting Panel and have three DVDs of mine autographed by voice actress Lisa Ortiz for her wonderful performances as Deedlit the High Elf from RECORD OF LODOSS WAR, and Tsubasa Shibahime from HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES. However, upon listening to the dub, I am pleased to announce that Ortiz once again shines in her over-the-top, enthusiastic portrayal of Kuromi, using her Shibahime voice for the most part. (She says in an interview included on this DVD that she has been known to be crazy sometimes!) Even better, it's got Eric Stuart and Angora Deb in two show-stealing roles (Stuart gets the guy who churns out a lot of unorganized animation sheets while Deb gets the part of the fast-talking complainer). Central Park Media's dubs often get a bad rap from some dub fans and sub purists, but I'll admit to having enjoyed the LODOSS dubs from them, and strongly suggest that people give this dub a try. It's hilariously entertaining, although sometimes a little TOO close to the subtitled script (a flaw in most CPM dubs). However, there isn't much lost in the translation and the performers do a lively job with their roles.

Add to this package a gorgeous transfer (which sometimes suffers from a little too much line and edge enhancement), storyboards, an interview (and commentary track!) from the director, and some other nice bonuses, and what more can you ask for? Only the fact that it only clocks in at 40 minutes.

Those who are curious about how Anime is produced, enjoy.

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