World War II, it is said, has a shadow history. Behind the front lines, in darkened rooms and secret laboratories, occultists on all sides of the war sought to use arcane powers to tip the battle in their favor.
First Squad: The Moment of Truth uses this idea as the springboard for a production that's the first of its kind, so far: a joint co-production between the Russian film company Molot and the Japanese animation studio Studio 4°C.
Co-productions between Japanese studios and non-Japanese creators have long been rare, but they're starting to happen a little more frequently. Most of the time, this sort of arrangement has been a hired-gun affair -- e.g., farming out animation on a subcontractor basis, or simply supplying one piece of a larger picture. What's more interesting is when there's a high degree of collaboration between the two parties.
Previous extra-Japanese collabs have given us some intriguing projects: Afro Samurai, for instance, which was created specifically for an international (read: not just Japanese) market. First Squad shows how Russian entertainment companies are starting to step up their game as well, to draw on Russia's own history and culture for inspiration and create something new.
That said, First Squad -- which comes to use courtesy of Anchor Bay, who also brought us the phenomenal REDLINE -- is also quite visibly an anime project. This can be seen in both its character designs and some of its story elements, which marks it as that much more of a collaborative effort.
Find out the details in our review of First Squad: The Moment of Truth, and sound off with your own opinions below.
Image: First Squad: The Moment of Truth. Image courtesy Pricegrabber.
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