Agricultural Machine Company Yanmar Produces 'Miru' Original Anime Project

Agriculture machine manufacturer Yanmar Holdings announced on Tuesday that it is producing an original anime project titled Miru (To Envision), which will feature robots by designers from the company, and story scripts by Shigeru Morita (Lagrange - The Flower of Rin-ne, A Dark Rabbit Has Seven Lives, The Island of Giant Insects) from Studio Nue. Design company btrax is credited for assistance with the project.

© Yanmar

Artist YKBX drew the above visual. Yanmar credits Yanmar Holdings Inc. Brand Department Design Office for the robot's design, with Yū Iguchi as concept artist.

The anime will have a booth at Anime Expo this July 1-4, which will feature a statue of a robot from the anime, the anime's key visual, and a concept movie for the anime (YKBX is credited as director for the concept movie, with cubesato credited for sound design). It will also have a panel at Anime Expo, with Yanmar chief business officer Akihiro Nagaya, design company btrax's CEO Brandon K. Hill, and artist YKBX in attendance.

The anime will have themes of "conflict and coexiistence between man and nature," and will center on a girl who must change the future as she grows with the help of friends and robots.

Yanmar was founded in 1912, and manufactures heavy machinery, diesel engines, industrial agricultural machinery, recreational watercraft, and boat engines for both recreational and commercial use.

Sources: Yanmar, Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web