First Squad

First Squad: The Moment of Truth
Japanese	ファースト・スクワッド
Directed by	Yoshiharu Ashino[1]
Produced by	Eiko Tanaka Aljosha Klimov Misha Shprits
Written by	Aljosha Klimov Misha Shprits
Starring	Elena Chebaturkina Michael Tikhonov Ludmila Shuvalova Damir Eldarov Irina Savina Aleksandr Gruzdev Sergei Aisman
Music by	DJ Krush The 3ug3reeder
Cinematography	João da Costa Pinto Sergey Akimov Kumiko Sakamoto
Production company	Studio 4°C Molot Entertainment Film Company
Distributed by	Molot Entertainment Film Company
Release dates	May 13, 2009 (Cannes) October 15, 2009 (Russia)
Running time	73 minutes
Country	Russia Japan
Language	Russian

First Squad (Japanese: ファーストスクワッド Fāsuto sukuwaddo, Russian: Пе́рвый отря́д, Perviy otryad) is a joint animation project of Japan's Studio 4°C and Russia's Molot Entertainment. It won the Kommersant newspaper's prize.^[2]

Plot

Set during the opening days of World War II on the Eastern Front (autumn and winter of 1941/1942). Its main cast are a group of Soviet teenagers with extraordinary abilities; the teenagers have been drafted to form a special unit to fight the invading German army. They are opposed by a Schutzstaffel (SS) officer who is attempting to raise from the dead a supernatural army of crusaders from the 12th-century Order of the Sacred Cross (i.e. the Teutonic Knights) and enlist them in the Nazi cause. Most of the teenage crew die, except for the protagonist Nadya. She is taken to a secret Soviet lab that studies supernatural phenomena, especially contacts with the dead. Nadya's task is to dive into the world of the dead for reconnaissance. There, in the Gloomy Valley, she meets her dead friends and persuades them to continue fighting.

Characters and voice cast

Character	Russian voice actor	English voice actor
Nadya	Elena Chebaturkina	Cassandra Lee
Leo	Michael Tikhonov	Joey Morris
Zena	Ludmila Shuvalova	Carrie Keranen
Marat	Damir Eldarov	Tony Oliver
Valya	Irina Savina	Bryce Papenbrook
General Below	Aleksandr Gruzdev	Michael McConnohie
Baron Von Wolff	Sergei Aisman	Phineas

Ligalize's video clip

On the eve of May 9, 2005, a video clip was released, based on the track "Наша с тобой победа" ("Our victory") by Russian rap artist Ligalize. The clip was directed by Daisuke Nakayama, produced by Aljosha Klimov and Misha Shprits and depicted an epic fight between Soviet Pioneers and Nazi soldiers, with the German side in possession of mecha and various supernatural soldiers. Among the featured locations are the Palace of Soviets and Mayakovskaya metro station, Moscow.

Motion picture

In 2007, it was announced that a motion picture titled First Squad: The Moment of Truth^[3] was in the works. Film is produced by Studio 4°C and recently created for this purpose studio Molot Entertainment, distributed by Amedia. Directed by Studio 4 °C director and animator Yoshiharu Ashino, cowritten and produced by Aljosha Klimov, Misha Shprits, with Eiko Tanaka, featuring character development by Hirofumi Nakata, and music by Japanese musician DJ Krush. The film has been shown at Cannes Film Festival,^[4] Locarno Film Festival,^[5] Fantasporto^[6] and Fantasia film festival.^[7] On June 8, 2010, Anchor Bay Entertainment announced that they will distribute the film in the United States through Manga Entertainment and L.A. based XYZ Films.^[8]

References

1. First Squad info (Japanese)
2. "4°C's First Squad Wins Award at Moscow Int'l Fim Fest". Anime News Network. 2009-06-30. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
3. First Squad — official site
4. "Studio 4C Goes To War In Russia! Brand New Trailer For Russian Anime FIRST SQUAD!". Twitch. 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
5. "FIRST SQUAD". Locarno. 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
6. "Lista de filmes - Fantasporto 2010". Jornal de Notícias. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
7. "First Squad: The Moment of Truth, MONTREAL PREMIERE". Fantasia Festival. 2010-07-10. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
8. "First Squad Moment Truth Acquired By Anchor Bay". Mania.com. 2010-06-08.

External links

• Official website
• First Squad at the Internet Movie Database
• First Squad (OVA) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia