Fireball is a 3-D animation airing in Japan, produced in part by Disney.

Yes, that Disney.

Each episode is less than two minutes long, and it seems to be a concerted effort by Disney to make newer in-roads into Japan’s animation-watching audience. I say newer because Japan IS actually fond of Mickey Mouse and friends, not to mention the fact that Tezuka idolized Walt Disney.

The use of 3D Animation is interesting, as it’s something that Japanese animation hasn’t really been great at, so in a sense it’s using Disney’s power to its advantage, though I don’t actually know to what degree they actually help.

The main character, Drossel, appears to be at least partially designed to appeal to otaku, with her long twintails and slender robotic figure and large “eyes,” so I also get the feeling that they are trying to tap into this audience as well.

I suspect this has something to do with seeing the success of Powerpuff Girls Z in Japan.