Picking up where I left off a month ago…

Chances are, you’ve never heard of Kurogane Communication. Each 15 minute episode aired alongside Risky Safety as part of WOWOW’s Anime Complex program back in 1998, and the show was later licensed for North American release by Media Blasters. It’s a forgotten oldie. Still, the show is notable for providing Horie Yui her first leading role. For all basic purposes, it launched her career.

The premise of Kurogane Communication is simple enough. Following a global nuclear war, a young girl, Haruka, awakens from suspended animation to find she is (presumably) the last remaining human on Earth. Meanwhile, the machines of war - some in the form of intelligent robots - continue to operate as programmed, eternally searching for an enemy that no longer exists.

Except in the form of Haruka, that is.

Thankfully, a small band of domestic robots rescue Haruka from her long sleep and take on the responsibility of protecting and caring for her. For the most part, the show focuses on Haruka’s life with her robot “family” and her search to confirm if she is indeed the last of the human race. As far as post-apocalyptic stories go, Kurogane Communication is surprisingly optimistic. However, it can still be a real downer at times given the fact Haruka is very much alone and very much haunted by the memory of her dead parents.

It’s for that reason Haruka makes for an interesting character study…

Haruka’s Song (30 MB XviD AVI)

Despite its short length, this video took several months to complete. At one point, I almost shelved it for good; I didn’t know how to wrap up the narrative (what narrative there is, at least), and was having horrible luck finding the scenes necessary to support any and every idea that came along. It was important that Haruka be the only character present in any given scene, and given the fact she was the last human on Earth and all, you’d think that would’ve been a piece of cake. Yeah, right. Unfortunately, those damn robots were always around when I least needed them to be.

Still, after letting the video sit untouched for what seemed like ages, I eventually decided, “Enough is enough… I’m gonna finish this thing, no matter what!” And that’s what I did. Somehow, I managed to conclude the video in a satisfying manner - although it took several months more before I realized it. The more I watch it, the more I adore it. Out of all of the videos I’ve done, Haruka’s Song is my personal favorite. At the same time, out of all of the videos I’ve done, it’s the least well-known.

Funny how that works.