Well, well, maybe he should have been doing animation all along ...

As frustrating as Versus director Ryuhei Kitamura can be when working in live action (which is very), when you think about it most of his annoying excesses in that format are things generally considered strengths in animation. Hyperactive camera motion? Lots of posturing and over emoting? These are not issues so much in the animated world, and neither are the high levels of production design that Kitamura generally demands but frequently cannot deliver on his tight live action budgets. And so the hopes are high for Baton, Kitamura's first foray into directing animation. And it certainly doesn't hurt that he's brought All About Lily Chou Chou director Shunji Iwai along for the ride as a producer.

Produced for the 150th anniversary of Yokohama, Baton employs a mix of traditional and rotoscoped animation. And it is, of course, a scifi-action story. The first trailer has just arrived on the official website and while I'm not a huge fan of the look of the rotoscoped sections - the human faces are a touch expressionless - I really like the feel of this thing on the whole. Check it below the break!