7th Animax Grand Prix Winning Anime Scheduled

The Shoka (Calligrapher) anime TV special will air on the Animax anime channel on March 27. The special is an adaptation of writer Kenji Saido’s story concept, which won last year’s 7th annual Animax Grand Prize competition for aspiring anime screenwriters. Each of the previous 6 winning entries has been animated as a TV special. Shoka is animated by Production I.G under the direction of Makoto Yamada (You’re Under Arrest OAV series).

Shoka is a supernatural action story set in feudal Japan revolving around a school of sumi artists whose secret drawing techniques cause them to become pulled into political power struggles in Edo, the pre-Tokyo capitol of Japan.

The previous Animax Grand Prize winning anime TV specials have been:

2003: Super Kuma-san, created by Hiromasa Tani & animated by Toei
2004: Azusa, Otetsudai Shimasu!, created by Yuuko Kawabe & animated by TMS
2005: Hotori ~Tada Saiwai wo Koinegau~, created by Maya Miyazaki & animated by Sunrise
2006: Lily to Kaeru to, created by Ikuko Yoshinari & animated by Toei
2007: Yumedamaya Kidan, created by Tsukino Akari & animated by Production I.G
2008: Takane no Jitensha, created by Hayato Takamaga & animated by A-1 Pictures

Source: Anime News Network