First Squad

First Squad: The Moment of Truth
Kanaファースト・スクワッド
Directed byYoshiharu Ashino[1]
Written byAljosha Klimov
Misha Shprits
Produced byEiko Tanaka
Aljosha Klimov
Misha Shprits
StarringElena Chebaturkina
Michael Tikhonov
Ludmila Shuvalova
Damir Eldarov
Irina Savina
Aleksandr Gruzdev
Sergei Aisman
CinematographyJoão da Costa Pinto
Sergey Akimov
Kumiko Sakamoto
Music byDJ Krush
The 3ug3reeder
Production
companies
Studio 4°C
Molot Entertainment Film Company
Distributed byMolot Entertainment Film Company
Release dates
  • May 13, 2009 (2009-05-13) (Cannes)
  • October 15, 2009 (2009-10-15) (Russia)
Running time
73 minutes
CountriesRussia
Japan
LanguageRussian
Box office$ 292 377[2]

First Squad: The Moment of Truth (Japanese: ファーストスクワッド Fāsuto sukuwaddo, Russian: Пе́рвый отря́д, romanized: Perviy otryad) is a Russian-Japanese animated film directed by Yoshiharu Ashino. The film is a joint animation project of Japan's Studio 4°C and Russia's Molot Entertainment. It won the Kommersant newspaper's prize.[3]

Plot

Set during the opening days of World War II on the Eastern Front (autumn and winter of 1941/1942). Its main cast are a group of Soviet teenagers with extraordinary abilities; the teenagers have been drafted to form a special unit to fight the invading German army. They are opposed by a Schutzstaffel (SS) officer who is attempting to raise from the dead a supernatural army of crusaders from the 12th-century Order of the Sacred Cross (i.e. the Teutonic Knights) and enlist them in the Nazi cause.

Most of the teenage crew die, except for the protagonist Nadya. She is taken to a secret Soviet lab that studies supernatural phenomena, especially contacts with the dead. Nadya's task is to dive into the world of the dead for reconnaissance. There, in the Gloomy Valley, she meets her dead friends and persuades them to continue fighting.

Voice Cast

Character Russian voice actor English voice actor
Nadya Elena Chebaturkina Cassandra Lee Morris
Leo Michael Tikhonov Joey Morris
Zena Ludmila Shuvalova Carrie Keranen
Marat Damir Eldarov Tony Oliver
Valya Irina Savina Bryce Papenbrook
General Below Aleksandr Gruzdev Michael McConnohie
Baron Von Wolff Sergei Aisman Phineas

History

The film is an adaptation of a music video for the song "Наша с тобой победа" ("Our victory") by Russian rap artist Ligalize, which was released on May 9, 2005. The video, which depicted a battle between the Soviet Pioneers and Nazi armies, was directed by Daisuke Nakayama, and produced by Aljosha Klimov and Misha Shprits. The Nazis are shown to be in possession of mecha and various supernatural powers. Among the featured locations are the Palace of the Soviets and Mayakovskaya metro station, Moscow. In 2006, the video won an award at the MTV Russian Music Awards for best hip-hop video[4].

When it was released at feature-length in 2009, the film (whose expanded title is “First Squad: the Moment of Truth”) was the winner of the Kommerstandt Weekend Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival, as well as the Asteroide Award at the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival in Italy[5].

The film was also adapted as a graphic novel of the same name, by creators Aljosha Klimov and Misha Shprits, alongside the acclaimed manga artist Enka Sugihara[6]. It was published in October 2020 by eigoMANGA.

Production

In 2007, it was announced that a motion picture titled First Squad: The Moment of Truth[7] was in the works. Film is produced by Studio 4°C and recently created for this purpose studio Molot Entertainment, distributed by Amedia. Directed by Studio 4 °C director and animator Yoshiharu Ashino, cowritten and produced by Aljosha Klimov, Misha Shprits, with Eiko Tanaka, featuring character development by Hirofumi Nakata, and music by Japanese musician DJ Krush.

Release

The film has been shown at Cannes Film Festival,[8] Locarno Film Festival,[9] Fantasporto[10] and Fantasia film festival.[11]

The film was released in North America on Blu-Ray and DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment on January 17, 2012.[12]

References

  1. ^ First Squad info (in Japanese)
  2. ^ "First Squad: The Moment of Truth (2009)". Box Office Mojo.
  3. ^ "4°C's First Squad Wins Award at Moscow Int'l Fim Fest". Anime News Network. 2009-06-30. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
  4. ^ megafat (2019-01-31). "First Squad: The Moment of Truth (2009) – Anime Review". Cult Classic Corner - Anime. Retrieved 2026-01-03.
  5. ^ First Squad: The Moment of Truth (2009) - Awards - IMDb. Retrieved 2026-01-03 – via m.imdb.com.
  6. ^ Shprits, Misha (Oct 2020). First Squad: the Moment of Truth. eigoMANGA. ISBN 978-0-578-59923-6.
  7. ^ First Squad Archived 2018-08-19 at the Wayback Machine — official site
  8. ^ "Studio 4C Goes To War In Russia! Brand New Trailer For Russian Anime FIRST SQUAD!". Twitch. 2009-04-29. Archived from the original on 2009-10-01. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  9. ^ "FIRST SQUAD". Locarno. 2009-04-29. Archived from the original on 2009-08-28. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  10. ^ "Lista de filmes - Fantasporto 2010". Jornal de Notícias. Archived from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  11. ^ "First Squad: The Moment of Truth, MONTREAL PREMIERE". Fantasia Festival. 2010-07-10. Archived from the original on 2017-08-24. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
  12. ^ "Manga & Anchor Bay to release Redline and First Squad – EclipseMagazine". Retrieved 2026-01-13.

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