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It’s been every anime fans dream at least once. To be working for
the anime industry. It also happens to be every industry’s folk
dream, to show the troubles and running around they have to go
through to produce anime, to the world. With the recent release of
Animation Runner Kuromi, we can see those dreams come true… well
sort off, anime fans might have to wait a bit longer to get into
the industry. But not for our main character of this truly
wonderful OVA.
Mikiko Oguro… or Kuromi for short has just started her dream job
after finishing learning about animation in University. She’s 20
years old, she’s cute, she got the job. And she’s got no idea what
she’s gotten her self into! Upon the first few minutes of working
for Studio Petit, she discovers just exactly why her predecessor
got rushed to the hospital right when she started working. The
staff for the studio is the best slackers you can find! It’s now
up to her to get everyone working the best they can, as fast as
they can to reach the production deadline. So that episode 2 of
Time Journeys, (the anime their working on,) can be aired on time!
The
next few days proves to be an extremely high stress moment for her
as she rushes around trying to get stuff done… just for the
opposite to happen. And like most comedies, Kuriomi’s mishaps, is
our enjoyment. From the moment the episode starts, we see nothing
but comedic genius at work. I lost track of the amount of laughs
we all had during our first viewing of this. Those laughs later
turned to moans however, once the disk came to an end. The feature
is only 40 minutes, that’s it, which proves to be a bit of a
disappointment. Especially after finding out that this is the only
thing to this. Mind you, the end does leave room open for another
episode and during one of the many interviews in the extras (Which
we’ll talk about later) Daichi mentions their hard at work on
another OVA to this… so all is not lost just yet.
The
video displayed here was truly wonderful, no glitches interfering
with the viewing at all. Never mind the fact that the overall
animation is just spectacular. Half the fun of this disk was the
visual experience. Nice looking character designs and fluid
movement… prefect example of what an anime like this should look
like!
The
audio was quite good as well; it would have sounded much better if
it had been in 5.1. Then again, 5.1 might seem a bit much for a
comedy. The sounds come out crystal clear and play from a variety
of your left and right speakers, playing the nicely preformed
voices. We took the time experience this in both Japanese and
English audio. I was quite impressed with the job done with the
English VAs. The amount of work done has got to be equal, if not
better at some parts in the Japanese work. Quite possibly CPM’s
best dub ever. The Japanese audio also plays out nice and clear,
delivering above average voice acting. What ever your taste is,
you’ll be impressed. There’s also a third audio track, the
directors commentary. I don’t believe I need to fully explain what
this is now, do I?
Where the length of the feature fails, the amount of extras packed
into this make up for that. In fact, the feature and extras
combined come up to a grand total of 80 minutes. This is one of
those DVDs that the extras will make you appreciate the feature
more and more every time you go through it. The extras featured on
this include, interviews with the Director of this, Akitaroh
Daichi. And an interview with Lisa Oritz, who does Kuromi’s voice
in the English dub. The above mentioned directors commentary.
Galleries for the design sketches and screen caps from the
feature, these are done in the usual CPM style, having them play
out as a video clip, making you pause if you see something you
like. A documentary showing just how this was created. Just think,
a behind the scenes look, of an anime that provides a behind the
scenes look of how anime is created. Finally, The Director’s dairy
and Alternate Angle Storyboards… basically it’s the OVA, just
shown as the storyboards that were used during the development
process. Once again, pounding into your head, how anime is made!
Despite its length, Animation Runner Kuromi is one spectator DVD.
Extras that you’ll care about and an anime you’ll watch over and
over. This has got to be by far, CPM’s best DVD release right next
to Alien Nine. Needless to say this is an instant classic, all
rapped up into one DVD. So now… why aren’t you running out for
this? |
Version 2.0
