Set to be included with the home video release of Hanayamata, Avex has added an animated short movie that gives some life to the CD drama material for the show that’s being included as a first press bonus item. The piece, not subtitled of course, clocks in at three and a half minutes and puts two of the characters together to tell a little more fun with the property using very simple stills that do a lot of turning and bouncing to have a fun story unfold.
The project brings in Atsuko Ishizuka to direct it based on the scripts by Reiko Yoshida and character designs by Atsuko Watanabe. The series is based on the manga of the same name by Sou Hamayumiba that runs in Manga Time Kirara Forward. The manga kicked off back in 2011 and is set to have its fourth compiled volume released in early January 2014. It stars Reina Ueda as Naru Sekiya, Minami Tanaka as Hannah N. Fontanstand, Kaya Okuno as Yaya Sasame, Yuka Otsubo as Tami Nishigomon and Manami Numakura as Machi Tokiwaza.
Plot concept: Normal appearance, normal intelligence, normal in arts and sports… just normal. This is the entirely normal 14-year-old, Naru Sekiya. While she admires “Heroines” she continues to live a normal life until one moonlit night she meets a fairy. This foreign girl then guides her into the extraordinary world of the yosakoi dance.
