is a series of novels about Junkers (pronounced Yoon-kers), a

miniature schnauzer The Miniature Schnauzer is a breed of small dog of the Schnauzer type that originated in Germany in the mid-to-late 19th century. Miniature Schnauzers may have been developed from the smallest specimens of the Standard Schnauzer, or crosses be ...

, language-speaking dog, written by Japanese musician Naoto Kine as a member of

TM Network TM Network is a Japanese rock/new wave/pop musical band, made up by Tetsuya Komuro (keyboardist), Takashi Utsunomiya (vocalist) and Naoto Kine (guitarist). They became popular in Japan as the "futuristic pop songs with synthesizer" after the r ...

since 1990.

Media

Anime

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 ...

movie about a girl, Hiromi Nozawa, directed by

Junichi Sato is a Japanese anime director, best known for working on '' shōjo''-based anime and in the magical girl genre. He was formerly associated with TYO Animations (formerly Hal Film Maker). Born in Ama, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, his first major ...

of '' Sailor Moon'' fame and shown in small chunks on Japanese TV before being released theatrically. The original author, kine also performed the film's opening song and acted in the film as Shintaro, Hiromi's father. The late

Kazuo Komatsubara was a Japanese animator, animation director and character designer born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. He worked as an independently contracted character designer for Toei Animation in the 1970s and 1980s. He was a member of the board o ...

also worked on the film as a character designer and animation director. It won Best Animation Film at the 1995

Mainichi Film Awards The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan, since 1946. It is the first film festival in Japan. History The origins of the contest date back to 193 ...

. Hiromi appears on the outside to be a mature, resilient girl, but on the inside she feels like she's falling apart. She hardly sees her parents at all, as they are always busy with work. Then she learns that her parents are considering a divorce and she may have to make the heartrending choice of deciding which parent to live with. On top of that, Hiromi's tutor, Keisuke (on whom Hiromi has a crush), is getting married, and Hiromi fears that she soon will be completely alone. She finds herself comforted by Junkers, an unusual dog with the ability to speak and grant her three wishes.

Cast

Japanese voice actor *Mei Oshitani as Hiromi Nozawa *

Shinnosuke Furumoto is a Japanese actor and voice actor from Fuchu, Tokyo. He also performed the opening for the anime ''Sorcerer Hunters'' with Megumi Hayashibara in which he voiced the main character. He also performed an insert song for the anime '' H2'' as he ...

as Junkers *Daisuke Sugata as Atsushi * Hiroko Takahashi as School Crossing Warden * Kappei Yamaguchi as Passenger *Katsunari Mineno as Keisuke Kimura *Keiko Nakajima as Fumie Morita *

Mayumi Iizuka is a Japanese actress, voice actress, singer and disc jockey who was born in Tokyo. She is currently affiliated with Across Entertainment and her label is Lantis. She is an instructor at the Stay Luck training school Follow-Up. For her singing ac ...

as Kazuko *

Misako Konno Misako Konno (紺野美沙子 ''Konno Misako''), born Misako Shinoda (篠田美佐子 ''Shinoda Misako'', born September 8, 1960) is a Japanese actress and essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own a ...

as Suzuko Nozawa *

Mitsuaki Madono is a Japanese voice actor who was born in Osaka, Japan. He's known for voicing characters who are jokers, but sometimes hide a more insidious nature such as Emishi Haruki in ''GetBackers'', Loki in ''Valkyrie Profile'', Joker in ''Flame of Recca' ...

as Waiter *Momoko Ishi as Chie Harada *Naoto Kine as Shintaro Nozawa *

Sakiko Tamagawa is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer from Tokyo. She is affiliated with Sigma Seven. She voices Rei Kuki in '' Genji Tsuushin Agedama'', Natsumi Tsujimoto in '' You're Under Arrest'', Kazama's mother in '' Crayon Shin-chan'', and Toy ...

as Yoko Inoue *

Toshihiko Nakajima was a Japanese actor and voice actor from Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture who was affiliated with Gekidan 21 Seiki Fox at the time of his death. He was previously affiliated with Ken Production. Filmography Anime *Carlos in '' Cowboy Bebop'' *Lemint ...

as Photographer * Yuki Sato as Baby *Yuta Yamazaki as Hiroshi *Yuya Tejima as Takashi

English dubbing actor *Brittney Wilson as Hiromi Nozawa *Sanders Whiting as Junkers *

Brad Swaile Bradley Swaile is a Canadian voice actor. His major roles include Light Yagami in ''Death Note'', Rock in '' Black Lagoon'', and Nightcrawler in '' X-Men: Evolution''. In the 1990s, he voiced Mousse in ''Ranma ½'' and Teen Gohan in the Oce ...

as Keisuke Kimura * Chantal Strand as Kazuko *Danny McKinnon as Takashi *Ellen Kennedy as Fumie Morita *Farell Spence as School Crossing Warden *Jordan Kilik as Atsushi *

Lisa Ann Beley Lisa Ann Beley is a Canadian voice actress who often voices over roles which have either regal, motherly, or older sisterly love and authority within them. Early life Beley grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, before moving to Vancouver, where she stu ...

as Suzuko Nozawa *

Moneca Stori Moneca Stori (born January 17, 1970) is a Canadian former voice actress known mostly for her role as the original voice of Kagome Higurashi in the English version of ''Inuyasha'', as well as her lead role of Laura Haruna from the long running ...

as Yoko Inoue *

Reece Thompson Reece Daniel Thompson (born 22 November 1988) is a Canadian actor. Thompson started his acting career as a child actor by voice acting in several animated television series and minor roles on television shows before transitioning to films. His ...

as Hiroshi *Sean Campbell as Shintaro Nozawa * Sylvia Zaradic as Chie Hirada *

Trevor Devall Trevor Devall (born November 10, 1972) is a Canadian-American voice actor and podcaster. He worked for various other studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for years, before he relocated to Los Angeles, California, US in 2013. Early life ...

as Photographer

Music

;Opening Theme:''Real You, Another You'', by Naoto Kine ;Ending Theme:''Winter Comes Around'', by Akiko Hioki

References

External links

* 1994 anime films Anime with original screenplays Bandai Entertainment anime titles Drama anime and manga Fictional dogs 1990s Japanese-language films Japanese animated films {{Anime-film-stub