Editing Windy Tales (section)

=Synopsis=
[[Image:windy-Nao.jpg|thumbnail|right|320px|Nao photographing the sky on the school roof whilst Miki looks on, in episode one.]]
Windy Tales is a slice-of-life anime which uses stories about the wind as a metaphor for growing up and acquiring adult powers and responsibilities. The central character [[Nao Ueshima|Nao]] discovers that there are people (and cats) who can manipulate the wind for various purposes such as floating in the air. During the course of the series she first investigates and then acquires this power, as do some of her friends. She also encounters a range of people who love the wind for various reasons. These encounters give the series an episodic style, with the initial focus on wind manipulation quickly taking back seat.

Windy Tales is notable for its unusual stylised appearance. The characters are drawn in a simple angular way and look Japanese, with their small almond-shape eyes, and little detail to distinguish one girl from another. Although a major focus of attention, the sky is almost abstract, being composed of simple ragged slabs of white on blue. The backdrops are done as simple watercolour drawings. However a lot of attention has gone into animating the characters' hair and clothing as it blows around in the wind, giving them a very fluid appearence.

The concept for Windy Tales came from [[Minami Ootori]], who won 1st Prize at the first ''Anime Planning Contest'' for it in 2002.<ref>See [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2004-03-09/windy-tales-first-look Windy Tales First Look] at Anime News Network, 2004-03-09. It is also mentioned in the opening credits.</ref>