Minetaro Hirai

Movies

The Story of the Blue-Eyed Girl
Director
The story is set in a village in the southern Japanese prefecture of Kōchi during World War II. Even in this remote mountainous area, the perception of American and British people as "brutes" has taken root, due to the deaths and injuries among the villagers' relatives. A elementary schoolgirl named Eiko transfers from the city of Yokohama to this village. Eiko happens to have blue eyes from her American father, and her classmates make no attempt to rein in their bullying. Other than Eiko's homeroom teacher Akiko, even the teachers view Eiko the same way that the children do. However, a boy named Kenta views Eiko more with curiosity than with hostility. The children's lives change as the injured father of one of Kenta's classmates returns from the battlefield and news of more casualties arrives in the village.
Kiku and the Wolf
Director
Kiku-chan to Ookami is, like most of the Sensou Douwa specials, based on a short story by Nosaka Akiyuki. It is set in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo (the Chinese province of Manchuria) during the closing days of Word War II. Life for the Japanese colonists is tranquil, with none of the hazards and shortages occurring in the Japanese homeland. Then, on August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union, fulfilling its obligations to the Western Allies, declares war and invades. The local Kwantung Army folds up like a house of cards, leaving the Japanese colonists exposed to the invading Russians and Chinese.
Crayon Shin-chan: Invoke a Storm! The Singing Buttocks Bomb
Storyboard Artist
When an alien bomb powerful enough to destroy the entire planet sticks to the buttocks of Shin-chan's pet dog Shiro, a race to save the world begins.
The Cake Tree in the Ruins
Assistant Director
War drama based on a short story by Akiyuki Nosaka.