Renowned director Mamoru Oshii has put together a new project. He has gathered 15 anime creators, including "Tekkon Kinkreet" director Michael Arias, to work on a series of animated works, each lasting one minute.

The project is titled Ani Kuri 15, with the creators divided into three groups of five. Each group's works will be broadcast on NHK over a four-month period, with the entire project running for a whole year. NHK will begin broadcasting on May 7.

With no sponsors other than NHK, the group has been granted almost complete freedom over the content of the project. Oshii mentioned that the work is the story of "the momentary existence of a mermaid princess, born from the sea of information."

Since last year, NHK has been airing a similar one-minute drama series titled "El Poporazzi ga Yuku!!" which has been popular among youngsters. "Ani Kuri 15" will be the network's second experiment with the format. The creators also hope that if the project goes well, the resulting work can be entered into international anime competitions.