• Asataro, The Onion Samurai & My Three Daughters Chosen As
• Official Selection in Best Preschool Series Category

Toei Animation’s Hakaba Kitaro has been nominated for awards at this year’s Cartoons on the Bay, which will take place in Rapallo and Portofino, Italy from April 2-5. Hakaba Kitaro has been selected in the category of “TV series for Young Adults”.

In addition, Asataro, The Onion Samurai and My Three Daughters will be featured as the official selection in the category of “TV series for Preschool”.

Hakaba Kitaro – Based on Shigeru Mizuki’s early work, Hakaba Kitaro is a horror series with a touch of dark humour. Japan in the 1950’s. The war has ended and the economy is growing at an accelerating pace. Ghosts and spirits are driven deeper into the backwoods as urbanisation expands. In this transforming society, Kitaro, the last member of the Ghost Tribe, observes the consequences of the insatiable human greed.

Asataro, The Onion Samurai!
In the Samurai period, an Onion boy called Asataro sets out on a journey from his homeland, onion field, to prevent village from getting entangled in the revenge of the evil Hoopoe Gombeh. During his journey, he discovers and experiences human compassion as well as he meets his friends. He has a good sense of justice so that he never passes over the bad things happened around him. With his special and secret attack, “onion juice”, he fights against the bad guys to save the people. Asataro, he is “Onion Samurai”, a new type of “Super Hero”.

My Three Daughters
The goofy eldest daughter Foo-chan is a starry-eyed dreamer who drives her mother nuts all the time. The second daughter, Soo-chan’s pet phrase is “Why not?” and everything she hears goes in one ear and out the other – she’s the perpetual free spirit! Then there’s the guzzler with a bottomless appetite -- the third daughter, Chi-chan. She keeps begging for more no matter how much she eats! Finally, the opening of a triple feature about the delightful and exciting life of the Matsumoto family and their three daughters! They’ll make you happy too!

RAI Trade annually organises Cartoons on the Bay, a International Television and Multimedia Animation Festival that supports authors and producers around the world. The 13th edition of Cartoons on the Bay is promoted by Rai, Italian Radio and Television Broadcasting Company, and developed and organised by Rai Trade, with the support of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), of the Italian Animated Film Association (Asifa Italia), of the Italian Association of Animation Producers (Cartoon Italia), and of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Italian Committee for Unicef).