First Squad

First Squad: The Moment of Truth
Japanese	ファースト・スクワッド
Directed by	Yoshiharu Ashino[1]
Produced by	Eiko Tanaka Aljosha Klimov Misha Shprits
Written by	Aljosha Klimov Misha Shprits
Starring	Elena Chebaturkina Michael Tikhonov Ludmila Shuvalova Damir Eldarov Irina Savina Aleksandr Gruzdev Sergei Aisman
Music by	DJ Krush The 3ug3reeder
Cinematography	João da Costa Pinto Sergey Akimov Kumiko Sakamoto
Production company	Studio 4°C Molot Entertainment Film Company
Distributed by	Molot Entertainment Film Company
Release dates	May 13, 2009 (2009-05-13) (Cannes) October 15, 2009 (2009-10-15) (Russia)
Running time	73 minutes
Country	Russia Japan
Language	Russian

First Squad (Japanese: ファーストスクワッド Fāsuto sukuwaddo, Russian: Пе́рвый отря́д, Perviy otryad) is a joint animation project of Japan's Studio 4°C and Russia's Molot Entertainment. It won the Kommersant newspaper's prize.^[2]

Plot

Set during the opening days of World War II on the Eastern Front (autumn and winter of 1941/1942). Its main cast are a group of Soviet teenagers with extraordinary abilities; the teenagers have been drafted to form a special unit to fight the invading German army. They are opposed by a Schutzstaffel (SS) officer who is attempting to raise from the dead a supernatural army of crusaders from the 12th-century Order of the Sacred Cross (i.e. the Teutonic Knights) and enlist them in the Nazi cause. Most of the teenage crew die, except for the protagonist Nadya. She is taken to a secret Soviet lab that studies supernatural phenomena, especially contacts with the dead. Nadya's task is to dive into the world of the dead for reconnaissance. There, in the Gloomy Valley, she meets her dead friends and persuades them to continue fighting.

Characters and voice cast

Ligalize's video clip

On the eve of May 9, 2005, a video clip was released, based on the track "Наша с тобой победа" ("Our victory") by Russian rap artist Ligalize. The clip was directed by Daisuke Nakayama, produced by Aljosha Klimov and Misha Shprits and depicted an epic fight between Soviet Pioneers and Nazi soldiers, with the German side in possession of mecha and various supernatural soldiers. Among the featured locations are the Palace of Soviets and Mayakovskaya metro station, Moscow.

Motion picture

In 2007, it was announced that a motion picture titled First Squad: The Moment of Truth^[3] was in the works. Film is produced by Studio 4°C and recently created for this purpose studio Molot Entertainment, distributed by Amedia. Directed by Studio 4 °C director and animator Yoshiharu Ashino, cowritten and produced by Aljosha Klimov, Misha Shprits, with Eiko Tanaka, featuring character development by Hirofumi Nakata, and music by Japanese musician DJ Krush. The film has been shown at Cannes Film Festival,^[4] Locarno Film Festival,^[5] Fantasporto^[6] and Fantasia film festival.^[7] On June 8, 2010, Anchor Bay Entertainment announced that they will distribute the film in the United States through Manga Entertainment and L.A. based XYZ Films.^[8]

References

External links

• Official website
• First Squad at the Internet Movie Database
• First Squad (OVA) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

Works by Studio 4°C
Films	Berserk: The Golden Age Arc trilogy First Squad: The Moment of Truth Genius Party Beyond Harmony My Last Day Princess Arete Memories Mind Game Spriggan Tekkonkinkreet
Television series	Ani*Kuri15 Kimagure Robot ThunderCats Transformers: Animated Tweeny Witches
Original video animations	Debutante Detective Corps Detroit Metal City Digital Juice Eternal Family Noiseman Sound Insect Sweat Punch (Comedy)
Animated segments	The Animatrix Batman: Gotham Knight Halo Legends
Video games	Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed Asura's Wrath Catherine .hack//Link Hard Corps: Uprising Jeanne d'Arc Lunar Knights Metal Max 4: Gekkō no Diva Rogue Galaxy Summon Night 3 Street Fighter IV Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE Toukiden: The Age of Demons
People	Kōji Morimoto Eiko Tanaka Michael Arias
Category