Kenji Iwaisawa is an anime director and the head of ROCK'N ROLL MOUNTAIN studio. His most recent project is the theatrical film adaptation of Uoto's manga "Hyakuemu" ("100 Meters"), released in September 2025, and his studio is producing a short anime film adaptation of Akiko Okuda's manga "Rusuban" directed by Ayumi Yanagisawa, set for an August 2026 screening.
Kenji Iwaisawa, the director behind the feature film "On-Gaku," has been active with two projects in 2025 and 2026. His most prominent recent work is the theatrical adaptation of Uoto's debut manga "Hyakuemu" (also known as "100 Meters"), released in September 2025 to coincide with the Tokyo World Athletics Championships. The film follows 100-meter sprinters and their obsessive dedication to the sport. Iwaisawa was a fan of Uoto's work before producer Yusuke Terada approached him in July 2021 to adapt the five-volume manga into a 100-minute film.
For "Hyakuemu," Iwaisawa turned his personal company Rock'n Roll Mountain into a full animation studio after failing to find a traditional pipeline that fit his methods. The production used an unorthodox blend of rotoscoping, 3D models, and freehand animation. A celebrated 3-minute 40-second uninterrupted tracking shot of pre-race preparations took a year to animate. Character designer Keisuke Kojima played a central role in the production.
In 2026, Iwaisawa's studio ROCK'N ROLL MOUNTAIN is producing a short anime adaptation of Akiko Okuda's short manga "Rusuban" (House-Sitting). The film marks the directorial debut of Ayumi Yanagisawa and a deliberate shift away from the rotoscoping technique used in the studio's previous feature "100 Meters." The animation is hand-drawn by younger staff. The short will screen for one week at K's Cinema in Shinjuku, Tokyo starting August 1, paired with Iwaisawa's 2010 short "Yama."
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Kenji Iwaisawa's ROCK'N ROLL MOUNTAIN studio is producing a short anime adaptation of Akiko Okuda's short manga "Rusuban" (House-Sitting). The film will screen for one week at K's Cinema in Shinjuku, Tokyo starting August 1, paired with Iwaisawa's 2010 short "Yama." Ayumi Yanagisawa makes her directorial debut, and the animation is hand-drawn by younger staff.
Manga artist Uoto, known for "Chi: On the Movements of the Earth," and director Kenji Iwaisawa, acclaimed for "On-Gaku," have teamed up for a theatrical adaptation of Uoto's debut manga "Hyakuemu" (also known as "100 Meters"). The film, released in September 2025 to coincide with the Tokyo World Athletics Championships, follows the stories of 100-meter sprinters, exploring their obsessive dedication to a sport where years of preparation can be undone in fractions of a second. Iwaisawa, who had been a fan of Uoto's work before being approached by producer Yusuke Terada in July 2021, adapted the five-volume manga into a 100-minute film. The production was notable for its unconventional approach: Iwaisawa turned his personal company Rock'n Roll Mountain into a full animation studio after failing to find a traditional pipeline that fit his methods. The film blends rotoscoping, 3D models, and freehand animation, and features a celebrated 3-minute 40-second uninterrupted tracking shot of pre-race preparations that took a year to animate. Character designer Keisuke Kojima played a central role in the production.