A jaw-dropping, magical, and whimsical chase through KyoAni’s hometown (which isn’t Kyoto) . You’d be forgiven for making the assumption that Kyoto Animation’s name comes from it being based in the city of Kyoto. Actually, though, KyoAni (as fans call it) gets its name from being located in Kyoto Prefecture , with the studio located in Kyoto City’s neighbor to the southeast, the town of Uji .
That’s going to be a little easier to remember now that Kyoto Animation has created a promotional video for Uji. And no, this isn’t a little 30-second animated sequence with some quickly drawn sketch work set to play on monitors at the tourism information desk. It’s a genuine six-and-a-half minute anime video, full of the beautifully crafted art and animation that KyoAni is known for and telling a story without having to use so much as a single spoken word .
As the video opens, we see our unnamed protagonist visiting the real-world Uji Shrine . There are several rabbit-related legends and bits of folklore connected to Uji Shrine, and as the young woman offers a coin and a prayer, a statue of a rabbit comes to life and scampers off with her wallet. And with that, the chase is on, set to a jazz soundtrack that’s as playful and energetic as the pursuit .
After scampering over a bridge to the other side of the Uji River , the rabbit leads the woman to Byodoin , a temple built close to 1,000 years ago (and also the building seen on the back of the 10-yen coin). The rabbit st.