Fox spirits, one dying wish, and the most chaotic deal in anime history.
In a cone-shaped land named Kikyōgahara in Shin Province, there lives a girl named Hana. She is a gentle girl, who always thinks of her family, in particular her great-grandmother Chiyo, whom she affectionately calls "Granny." One day, a traveling entertainment troupe named the Natsugawa Genzaemon Troupe happens by, and the villagers welcome them warmly. Upon finishing their performance and receiving their acclaim, the troupe's leader spots Hana with some "oyaki," his favorite food, and transforms into a fox in his excitement. It turns out that the leader Genbanojō, and his companions O-Natsu and Shinzaemon, are all foxes who have taken on human forms. Genbanojō hastily negotiates with Hana, telling her that in exchange for keeping their secret, he will grant her one wish. She answers, "I want to let my Granny see the cherry blossoms."
Writing
Elegant 24-minute emotional arc that outpaces most feature films.
Director
Takumi Doyama
Katsuyuki Konishi
Genbanojou (voice)
Rina Sato
Onatsu (voice)
Natsuki Hanae
Shinzaemon (voice)
Runa Tamano
Hana (voice)
Reiko Suzuki
Chiyo (voice)
Keiichi Sonobe
Gonzo (voice)
Megumi Tano
Taro (voice)
Uko Tachibana
Jiro (voice)
Ryo Hirohashi
Saburo (voice)
Tsuyoshi Koyama
Heisuke / Engineer (voice)
Kenichi Ono
Ryokichi (voice)
Naomi Shindo
Chie (voice)
Toshinobu Iida
Assistant Engineer (voice)
Yutaka Furukawa
Villager (voice)
Toshiya Chiba
Villager (voice)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Part of the Young Animator Training Project, a government initiative to cultivate new talent—this is literally students proving they can make you weep professionally.
The oyaki obsession isn't random; in folklore, foxes (kitsune) are famously gluttonous for fried foods, making Genbanojō's pastry-induced transformation a deeply traditional joke.
JP
