Robot Carnival

ロボットカーニバル

Aired: 1987

An omnibus-format original video animation comprising nine short films in which eight of Japan's leading young animators and one manga artist each depict robots in their own distinctive style. Talents including Otomo Katsuhiro, Kitakubo Hiroyuki, Umetsu Yasuomi, Morimoto Kouji, Nakamura Takashi, Fukushima Atsuko, Omori Hidetoshi, Oota Kaoru, and Kitazume Hiroyuki served as both directors and key animators, each unleashing their full individuality in this boldly auteur-driven work. Hisaishi Joe served as music director, and many of the segments eschew dialogue entirely in a silent-film-like approach, competing purely on the expressive power of animation itself. Acclaimed both domestically and internationally for its artistic ambition, it stands as a legendary anthology representing the dawn of the Japanese OVA era.