Haikyuu!! Puppet Animation

"The Pine's Branches" is the latest work in Murata Tomoyasu’s series “Sei toshi ni matsuwaru kioku no tabi (Journey through memories of life and death),” which he began following the Tohoku earthquake in 2011.

A series of 16 "short stories" created by the creator's group Images Forum.

Short movie by Tomoyasu Murata.

Short animated film by Tomoyasu Murata.

The story, set in a village covered in clouds, depicts the bond between a boy, Luka, and his childhood friend, Rosa. One day, Rosa, who has the power of the sun, hears from a mysterious duo that there is a way to clear the clouds. Luka, on the other hand, is attracted to a traveling band that visits the village and decides to leave...

Short animated film by Tomoyasu Murata.

The Seven Lucky Gods (or kami, meaning both "hair" and "gods") live in the Takada’s barber shop in Tokyo—a set based on a real-life now-lost local store close to Murata’s heart—where they play charming tricks on the family of four.

Short pilot film for Riku ni Agatta Ningyo no Hanashi, a stop motion animation adaptation of Randall Jarrell's The Animal Family children's novel.

Short animated film by Tomoyasu Murata.

In the first episode in a series of films centered on The Great East Japan Earthquake, an amnesiac wolf traces his past and escapes from hunters who are after him in an eerily beautiful moonscape.

The main character finds a ticket and a small box in "a room in an apartment" on the boundary between dream and reality. I wake up after sleeping, and when I fall asleep again, I'm on the "Sannokan Railway". A ticket transports him to the city of fantasy, "Sannohako Peninsula". Products of the past and scenery seen somewhere. The main character is led to a nostalgic place where he saw someone at the Hyakushiki Ryokan "Soran no Ma", which overlooks the sea. Full of sorrow and full of hope that they might be able to get it back. Through the journey, the man faces his deep sorrow.

Short animation by Tomoyasu Murata.

Short animated film by Tomoyasu Murata.

The island repeats volcanic eruption after earthquake, smoke and glowing heat bubbling from the morphing surface—but when the tectonic activity recedes, all is sand and, finally, the miracle of water flowing, of life.

Short animated film by Tomoyasu Murata.