is a 1933

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

short film by Kenzō Masaoka and the first Japanese anime of any type to feature voiceovers. The film was released in black and white. There are no known prints of this film available, and it is considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

. ''Chikara'' was listed as one of the "Best of Best" by the 12th Japan Media Arts Festival.

Plot

The protagonist is a father of four children. His wife is tall, and weighs due to her incredibly large physique. Because he is constantly being

henpecked ''Henpecked'' is a 1930 animated short produced by Walter Lantz that features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Plot Oswald is playing piano in his apartment room, singing a swing song. Just then, a disturbed bear from another room comes in and confro ...

at home, he becomes involved in an affair with a typist at his company and accidentally tells his wife about it while talking in his sleep. After obtaining additional evidence of the affair, she goes to confront both her husband and the typist at her husband's office.

Production

In 1927, ''

The Jazz Singer ''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music score as well as lip-synchronous singing and speech (in several isolate ...

'' was released in the United States as the first

talkie A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

film, and Japanese film companies began working on creating them as well.

Shochiku () is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not ...

released in 1931, the first Japanese talkie. Due to the success of this film, the president of Shochiku, Shirō Kido, commissioned Masaoka to make the first anime talkie, and he began working on it immediately. Masaoka worked on the film for a little over a year and finally completed it in October 1932. The film was released in theaters the following year on 13 April 1933. At this time, the job of

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

did not exist, so Shochiku used regular actors for the voice parts. Casting well-known

stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...

, such as Roppa Furukawa and Ranko Sawa (of the

Takarazuka Revue The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals and stories adapted from films, novels, manga, and Japa ...

), helped make the film a success.

Staff

*Original Creator, Script: Tadao Ikeda *Original Planning, Director: Kenzō Masaoka *Animation:

Mitsuyo Seo was a Japanese animator, screenwriter, and director of animated films who played a central role in the development of Japanese anime. He was born in Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture. Career Initially working as a sign painter, Seo began dabbling in ...

, Seiichi Harada, Saburō Yamamoto *Photography: Kakuzan Kimura *Producer: Shirō Kido *Voiceover Director: Hiromasa Nomura *Audio: Haruo Tsuchihashi *Music Director: Masanori Imasawa Sources:

Cast

*Main character: Roppa Furukawa *Wife: Ranko Sawa *Typist: Yōko Murashima *Tarō: Akio Isono *Jirō: Hideo Mitsui *Hanako: Fusako Fujita *Toshiko: Yōko Fujita Sources:

References

External links