
EVERY self-respecting fan of Japanese anime (short for 'animation' in Japanese) will have seen Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira, a classic animated movie that made its debut in 1988. When Singaporean Vong Yonghow first saw Akira in his primary school days, it triggered off a burning desire to become an animator one day. Now 28, Mr Vong is possibly the first Singaporean to be involved in a major animation project in Japan. He is one of the 40-member team at Sunrise - a leading Japanese animation company - that is behind the Freedom Project. This is a six-part video animation series about a child who stumbles upon a secret that could change the very society on which he depends. It was commissioned by Nissin Cup Noodles to mark the instant noodle's 35th anniversary last year. Three parts of this hit series, in which Otomo himself designs the main characters and the 'mecha' or mechanical objects, have been completed so far...more...
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