A special dual screening of CENCOROLL (2009) and CENCOROLL CONNECT (2019), both directed by Uki Atsuya, is coming to Singapore! This guerilla screening event only lasts six days — from 26th September to 2nd October, exclusively at Cathay Cineplexes! Get your tickets via: https://www.cathaycineplexes.com.sg/movies/cencoroll-connect-pg/

Featuring a massive creature that suddenly appears in the middle of town, some boys who can control the creature, and a curious and energetic girl with short hair, CENCOROLL pops from the screen with its wildly imaginative style and blows away audiences in its brief runtime. Creator Uki Atsuya, known for his character designs in Tsuritama and Digimon Adventure tri., created CENCOROLL almost entirely on his own, releasing it in 2009 and receiving passionate support from fans.

Now, the project appears again, breaking a 10-year silence in the form of CENCOROLL CONNECT, the legendary short combined with its direct sequel to form a single film. With carefully constructed visual style, unrestrained animation that is both delicate and brutal, and a larger world that invites you in and keeps you asking questions, CENCOROLL CONNECT loses none of the freshness that gave the original its impact, helping us rediscover Uki Atsuya’s artistic genius.

CENCOROLL CONNECT: Synopsis

A boy named Tetsu watches lazily as a mysterious white creature appears atop a tall building. He names another one of the creatures “Cenco” and lives his life as a high school student secretly with it, using its ability to change its shape at will to remain hidden. However, one day a girl who goes to his school learns his secret and a mysterious boy named Shu appears and attacks Cenco, leading to an eruption of unexpected events…
It seems as though the disturbance is over when another girl named Kaname shows up looking for Shu. Her appearance signals the beginning of a new turn of events for Tetsu, Yuki, and Cenco.

About Director Uki Atsuya

Uki Atsuya is the director, screenwriter, character designer, and animator of CENCOROLL and CENCOROLL CONNECT.

CENCOROLL CONNECT: Our Impressions

The first thing that you’ll notice is how consistently smooth the animation quality is — something that will send sakuga fans (or fans of well-made hand-drawn animation) into raptures. It’s to be expected since the film was directed, written, and animated but just one person — which means quality control is extremely high.

Another thing we liked about the dual-release was that it took time to introduce new viewers to CENCOROLL lore. By tying the two films together, older fans are reintroduced to CENCOROLL, while new fans will not have any issues catching up. The fastpaced and engaging storyline will also delight fans looking for anime beyond the recent isekai (otherworld) trend.

The brief runtime, however, was a bit of a bummer — as we wanted to see more of Director Uki Atsuya’s work. But since it took him so much time and effort already to produce the film singlehandedly, it’s something we understand completely, and leaving us hungry for more of his future works.

CENCOROLL CONNECT

Rating: PG13 (With Some Violence)
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Release Date: 26 September 2019
Cinema: Cathay Cineplexes
Running Time: 74min
Directed by: Uki Atsuya
Written by: Uki Atsuya
Animated by: Uki Atsuya
Music by: ryo (supercell)
Voice Actors: Kana Hanazawa, Hiro Shimono, Ryohei Kimura

Tickets: https://www.cathaycineplexes.com.sg/movies/cencoroll-connect-pg/