THE LAST HIMEYURI, ひめゆり, 学徒隊 [the whole island will be a grave]
Of the several story arcs I have been working on over the last couple of years The Himeyuri (ひめゆり学徒隊) sometimes called The Lily Corps in English, has been kept my attention for a very long time. The Himeyuri were a group of female high school students formed into a nursing unit for the Imperial Japanese Army during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. 222 students and 18 teachers were mobilized by the Japanese on March 23, 1945.
About a year ago I made an animated film called THE LAST HIMEYURI, ひめゆり, 学徒隊 — RED LAMB, dealing with the fate of these young girls. It was shot completely in black and white and while while I was happy about the story, the animation itself lacked something. I am trying to reshoot the film using color and different animation styles.