Comedy (2002 film)

Comedy
喜劇 (Kigeki)
Anime
Directed by	Kazuto Nakazawa
Studio	Studio 4 °C
Released	February 5, 2002

Comedy (喜劇, Kigeki) is a short anime film produced in 2002 by Studio 4 °C animation studio. The film was directed by Kōichi Mashimo and featured the music of Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria". The film is noted for drawing its inspiration from Shubert's piece titled "Lucifer"

Plot

During the Irish War of Independence, a five-year old girl goes out in search of the mysterious Demon’s Castle. She hopes to recruit the services of the infamous Black Swordsman, who is portrayed as a dark, young, skilled swordsman. She wants the swordsman to protect her village from an imminent attack by English soldiers; however, the Black Swordsman will only accept a particular genre of books as payment for his services. Upon receiving the book, the swordsman engulfs himself in reading the novel. While the girl anxiously awaiting the Black Swordsman to finish the novel, the English approach the Irish village. As an attack was imminent, the Black Swordsman finishes the novel and rushes to the skirmish where he quickly finishes off the English soldiers. The bodies disappear; the girl knows where to, but the sworsman tells her not to not tell anybody about it, or he'll kill her.

Production

This short film was produced and bundled on the Studio 4 °C Region 2 release of Deep Imagination which is a DVD of 5 short OVA films. This DVD is a collection of films under the Sweat Punch series label by Studio 4 °C.

The film uses two pieces of music, both originally composed by Franz Peter Schubert: "Ave Maria" and "Erlkönig".