HIDIVE Streams 3 Short Anime Films by Director Pierre Itō

HIDIVE announced on Wednesday that it will stream three of director Pierre Itō's anime films in North America, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, the Netherlands, Scandinavian and Nordic Countries, Spain, Portugal, Central America, and South America. The service will premiere the anime on the following dates at 1:00 p.m. EST:

• Period of the Mouseman - February 2
• Kenda Master Ken - February 9
• World, Before You End - February 16

Sentai Filmworks will release the films on home video.

Sentai Filmworks describes Period of the Mouseman:

“In Period of the Mouseman, a young man grapples with his transformation into a cyborg modeled after a mouse. Ito previously produced over 70 Mouseman anime shorts, acting as director, storyboarder and character designer. The original version of the film starred Yoshimasa Hosoya (Attack on Titan) as the Mouseman.”

Pierre Itō produced a series of over 70 Mouseman anime shorts from 2016 to 2018. Mouseman: Dark Child (pictured left) is an anime film based on his independent anime series Mouseman. The story centers on the titular protagonist who was rebuilt into a blue mouse-type cyborg by a government agency. Itō also produced the Mouseman: Ai no Katamari (The Bundle of Love) anime film in 2020, which ran in theaters from September to October that year.

Sentai Filmworks describes Kenda Master Ken:

“Kenda Master Ken chronicles the exploits of Ken Tamaki as he battles rivals using kendama, a traditional Japanese skill toy. The original version of the film starred Takeshi Maeda (Hunter x Hunter) as Ken Tamaki, Maya Okamoto (Burn Up Excess) as Saori and Misato (Date A Live) as Tamako.”

Itō debuted the first Kenda Master Ken anime at the online Indies Anime Carnival event in May 2020. The Kenda Master Ken Shingekijōban: Wara (Kendamaster Ken New Movie Edition: LOL) is a "remake" that adds scenes to the earlier anime. The film centers on Ken Tamaki, a boy whose parents were killed through kendama. Ken battles other rivals in kendama.

Sentai Filmworks describes World, Before You End:

“In apocalyptic World, Before You End, two people separated by time and space must unravel their tangled history before the world comes to an end. The original version of the film starred Shūta Morishima (WATAMOTE: No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Unpopular!) as Rui and Akiko Nakagawa (Inuyasha) as Michiru.”

World, Before You End centers on two people who are separated by time and space and must unravel their history before the end of the world.

Source: HIDIVE