Orphan presents a *very* recent short anime, *The First Line*. Directed by 29-year-old wunderkind China, it portrays a young animator, Mito, who works at an old-line animation studio under an irascible director.   Mito (and his exhausted colleagues) are trying to finish the director's film, but Mito's inexperience and self-doubt plague his attempts to bring the final scene to life, until a vision of (or nightmare about) of his director renews his determination.  The short is a showcase for the talents of its director. See [this blog entry](https://collectr.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-first-line.html) for more details. This release, and all Orphan releases, are available for direct from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.