For a limited time, anime viewers can catch Bandai Visual’s Noiseman Sound Insect in HD for the first time ever. The short film, originally released in 1997, was directed by Koji Morimoto who worked on Akira, among several other iconic anime films.
Over the decades, Bandai Visual produced so many hit anime series and films that everyone has seen its logo on memorabilia from at least one of their favorite series. Anime fans are likely to have seen some of Bandai Visual’s top series like Cowboy Bebop or One Punch Man, but they may not be as familiar with Studio 4°C and its offerings.
Studio 4°C began streaming the short film Noiseman Sound Insect on Tuesday, October 25th and the film will remain available for viewing on Studio 4°C’s YouTube channel until November 18th. The film revolves around a battle between a group of biker kid rebels and Noiseman, a synthetic monster that erases music from airwaves. The film is only 16 minutes, so it makes for a very quick watch. In addition to directing the film, Koji Morimoto has also supervised animation and designed characters for DEVILMAN crybaby.
The film also has music composed by Yoko Kanno, the music composer for Cowboy Bebop, and Takashi Mogi, the producer for Ghost in the Shell. As obscure of a studio as it may be, Studio 4°C has created some anime must-sees like Tekkon Kinkreet and Memories. After watching Noiseman Sound Insect, viewers could benefit from taking a look at the rest of the studio’s roster and watching a few of those as well.
As expansive of an industry as anime is, it can still take some searching to find unique art or animation styles, but this studio has been able to build a treasure trove of imaginative visuals. It’s a shame it hasn’t received much more attention over the years, but it’s easy to see that many of its anthologies or short films were inventive enough to generate lots of buzz upon release. Furthermore, some of those must-see pieces have been recognized as fundamental examples of what the animation medium can do, like The Animatrix.
Still, there are some films and series the studio hasn’t been able to find much of a following for and Studio 4°C isn’t a household name like Madhouse. The YouTube upload’s HD quality gives Noiseman Sound Insect a fresh, polished look as if it came out in the 2010s, but that aesthetic may still be a little too antiquated for some.
Source: Anime News Network