Oh! Edo Rocket

Oh! Edo Rocket is a Japanese-style animated ("anime" series based on the stage play written by Nazuki Nakashima for the Gekidan Shinkansen theater troupe. The series was directed by Seiji Mizushima and produced by Studio Madhouse. Oh! Edo Rocket is comedic in nature, following a firework maker living in medieval Edo (present-day Tokyo). He crosses paths with a wayward alien hoping to return to her home on the moon. The series documents his process to make a rocket to carry her back home. Seikichi, the firework maker, has to deal with the politics of his time that ask the society to remain demure and austere, prohibiting excessiveness including most luxuries, art and culture, and scientific innovation. As such he has difficulty working on his fireworks without drawing attention. The series is notable for being unusually self-aware, with its characters drawing attention to the fact that they are in an anime. The series originally aired from April 2007 to September 2006 with a total of 26 episodes. MORE