Etopirika: Omoi wo Tsumugu Tori

Part of the Young Animator Training Project. One of the shorts exhibited in Anime no Tane 2023.

The anime follows a woman named Romi and her partner as they depart from the devastated Earth and head for a new life on the planet Eden17. However, life has already been made extinct on the new world, so Romi finds herself eking out an even harsher life there. Note: The anime has a film version with an alternative ending titled "Hi no Tori: Eden no Hana" that released in Japan on November 3rd, 2023.

In the present day, the world is in turmoil due to an "unprecedented disaster". A young man living in Tokyo, Suzushiro, has a secret he cannot tell anyone. That secret is that he can stop the time around him despite his thoughts. One day, he meets a girl named Nazuna who has the same "power". When he learns that she is being used in a crime, he impulsively reaches out to help her.

As an orphan, Yukito Yanagi’s life is filled with questions, but that all changed when he meets his father’s disciple who takes him to his birthplace on Ayaka. A strange island filled with legends of dragons and mysterious beings. But there’s more to this trip than a reunion—the harmony of Ayaka is on the brink of collapsing into chaos. Can Yukito prevent this catastrophe?