This year has seen the release of some mammoth animated hits, including features in the “Detective Conan,” “Haikyu!” and “Mobile Suit Gundam” franchises. But two under-the-radar anime films released in recent weeks show an inventive spirit and provide hints for the future of indie animation in Japan.
First, there’s “A Few Moments of Cheers,” which hit theaters June 14. In many ways, the film shares a lot with “Look Back,” another animated film released two weeks later. Both are about young people pursuing their creative passions with all the hiccups that come along the way, and both share truncated runtimes (68 minutes for “Cheers,” 58 for “Look Back”). But while “Look Back” was animated in traditional hand-drawn fashion, “A Few Moments of Cheers” was made using 3D software. That in itself isn’t so rare these days, but this film was made in Blender, a free open-source tool, by a team of just three core creative members (with, it should be noted, some help from a larger CG studio). It’s the first full-length film from Hurray!, a three-person team that normally specializes in music videos and commercials.