URVAN: Toei Animation’s New Anime Short Film

Japanese animation studio TOEI Animation, who are known for producing animes like One Piece, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, and Digimon, have announced that their new IP (intellectual property rights) research and development team PEROs (based on their current logo’s cat) has produced a new short anime film called URVAN, which is around 5 minutes long. It will be released officially on their Youtube channel in late January next year, as well as being broadcasted on the cable TV station TV Sasebo with the cooperation of Kyushu Tele-Communications.

The film is set in Sasebo City in the Nagasaki Prefecture of Japan.

The “URVAN” project started its production this spring, but due to movement restrictions due to the virus, it became difficult to conduct on-site coverage and location scouting. Therefore, under the constraints, they tried to create an animation style that captured the ‘charm’ of the area without going to Sasebo City, by utilizing a new video production method.

URVAN was produced in collaboration with Hitoshi Oba Laboratory (Oba Seminar) of the Department of International Tourism and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Nagasaki International University, which are presently working on the regional promotion of Sasebo City. Because it was difficult to go on-site due to the current situation, Toei Animation created the background materials based on landscape photos taken by students of the Oba seminar and used web conferencing service Zoom and file sharing service Box as well. It is said that he worked on animation production remotely. By combining local resources, such as Sasebo City’s special products and culture, with cyberpunk and action elements, they tried to create their new intellectual property.

TOEI has produced another short movie called Jurassic! in August 2019, which can be viewed here. Other shows that are currently in production include One Piece,
Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, World Trigger, Digimon Adventure, and the two-part Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie.