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Animation Runner Kuromi [DVD]

Rated:
Unrated
Format: DVD
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 10 ratings
Additional DVD options Edition Discs
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DVD
September 9, 2003 		—
1
—
— $4.99
Genre Anime & Manga
Format Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Contributor Artist Not Provided
Language English, Japanese
Runtime 40 minutes

Product Description

Product 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?

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

Product details

  • Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.33:1
  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ Unrated (Not Rated)
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.75 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches; 4 ounces
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ Color, NTSC, DVD, Subtitled, Animated
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 40 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ September 9, 2003
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Artist Not Provided
  • Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ Us Manga Corps Video
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0000ACP48
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 10 ratings

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
10 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

KNDY
5.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable parody of the anime industry, `Animation Runner Kuromi' is an enjoyable OAV featured with a lot of humor and more!
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2008
Verified Purchase
I bought this DVD immediately when it was released.

Who could pass up an an anime based and parodies the actual anime industry? I've heard about these type of parody anime and I recall reading about Mikimoto Haruhiko ("Macross", "Gunbuster", etc.) actually creating one but was only given to staff and friends back in the early 90's but really haven't seen anything for the many years I have been watching anime.

But there are always stories about the behind-the-scenes of an animation studio and how sometimes the anime that is aired, sometimes gets there within minutes or an hour after finalization. From the crazy tight deadlines and overworked staff, for those of us here in America who will never get to experience or see that kind of work environment of how anime is created and developed, fortunately "Animation Runner Kuromi" is here.

The series is directed by Daichi Akitaro known for his work with "Fruits Basket", "Now and Then, Here and There" and "Jubei-Chan the Ninja Girl" to name a few. The sreenwriter is Nagatsuki Tou and the OAV won "BEST OAV" Award at the Tokyo International Anime Fair.

The series is about a new employee named Oguro Mikiko (which the president of the company automatically names her Kuromi) who was hired to work at the famous animation studio, Studio Petit.

The studio is behind on schedule for "Time Journeys Episode 2' and with the boss falling ill, he appoints Kuromi as production desk manager and puts her immediately in charge.

Essentially just a newbie in the industry with hardly any experience, Kuromi is put in leadership position and has to motivate a staff that is too lax and literally a bunch of slackers. With the threat of the second episode of "Time Journeys" not being completed, Kuromi is learning that this staff, during deadlines, they make excuses and end their work early. The fact that many of them work at home, makes it a problem for Kuromi.

Because of their way of working, Kuromi feels dejected and has nightmares that the episode will not get to the TV station on time and feels like quitting.

But Kuromi decides to not quit and make immediate changes that will affect the studio and hopefully they will complete the next episode of "Time Journeys".

I pretty much enjoyed the insight of an anime studio. May it be the parody from the anime OAV or the actual behind-the-scenes footage on the special features.

I'm very glad to see that CPM decided to include so many special features for the DVD release and all in all, it was just a blast to watch, especially if you have interest on what goes behind-the-scenes at an anime studio.

But all in all, this is an OAV that is not meant to be taken seriously, it is not meant to spawn a TV series. It's just a parody on what goes on at an anime studio and for anime fans to just sit back and enjoy.

It accomplishes what it wants to convey to the viewer. No deep storyline, no major character development. Just an enjoyable and hilarious OAV about woman working her dream job at an anime studio and realizing that it's all hard work, stressful but is handled in a way that people can watch, understand but laugh at the same time.

I got what I want from it and that's to learn about the crazy things that go on at an anime studio and the fact that the viewer not only just gets to see a parody of it, but also included in the special features are video footage of people at work. That was great to see!

All in all, I recommend this OAV series for the anime fan who has interest on how an anime series is created.
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Sesho
2.0 out of 5 stars GETTING A JOB IN ANIME
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2006
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.
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G-man
4.0 out of 5 stars Animation Runner Kuromi
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2013
Verified Purchase
I liked this DVD as it takes you into the story how a successful anime series is made and the obstacles that have to be overcome to make it a hit. Many of the characters in the DVD are like the ones who you would run across in real life. They are all individualists, artistic types with their own eccentric lifestyles. The challenge for the manager is to get all these people who are mainly loners, to work as a team, get the work down on time and edit the final product that will help generate a good return on the investment of money that went into making it. I would recommend this DVD along with the followup one of Kuromi 2 to see how the entire anime industry works.
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heitaro
5.0 out of 5 stars Speedy story, so humorous and impressive
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2014
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This DVD was produced by Akitaroh Daichi, who is famous producer in Japan. The story goes on speedy in a humorous manner. Often you would laugh at many scenes. This is Kuromi's success story. At the end, you will be impressed so much.
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Top reviews from other countries

Ralph Caton
5.0 out of 5 stars Short and sweet and funny. No ShiroBako, but no fruits basket case either.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2016
Verified Purchase
This is an old 'un...2010 no less although I think there was a sequel in 2014...
Our heroine is thrilled skinny at landing the job of her dreams at Anime studio Petit. She turns up, all formal, on her first day... gets shown round by her new boss who promptly collapses and is carted off to hospital. Leaving HER in charge of the production desk and responsible for getting the latest production to the TV station on time for transmission. Oh yeah. Like learning to swim in a tsunami.....
This is a subject covred in 26 episodes in the recent show "ShiroBako" which I would recommend,by bthe way...
This is just a short OVA but if you liked the animation style of "Fruits Basket" you'll like this and it's certainly tolerable.
Poor girl. Her misfortune is our hilarity.
Worth viewing and I'd like to see the sequel...
Buy and watch it, its fun. See just how an anime is made and why her boss collapsed with an ulcer. Extras? there's an interesting interview that covers anime manufacture...
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