Japanese anime is a global phenomenon, racking up box-office success and loyal fans in both its home country and around the world. In recognition of its significance, Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) has established a new section devoted to the medium.
The Japanese Animation sidebar will, this year, trace how local animation and visual effects (in both anime and live-action content) have developed, through a series of screenings and talk events. Subtitled ‘The evolution of Japanese animation/VFX’, the section will screen five recent animated hits, along with three classics, and showcase VFX from 1966 TV series Ultra Q.
Reflecting the current strength of anime, four of the five recent films on offer were released this year: Ayumu Watanabe’s Children Of The Sea, Hiroyuki Imaishi’s Promare, Masaaki Yuasa’s Ride Your Wave and Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering With You. Shinkai’s follow-up to his 2016 mega-hit Your Name has grossed $118m and counting in Japan. Rounding out the list is 2018 release Okko’s Inn, directed by Kitaro Kosaka.
Ryusuke Hikawa, TIFF’s Animation Focus programming adviser, attributes the recent flood of original anime films to the success of Your Name. “Until then, the only anime films to break 10bn [$92m] at the box office were those made by Studio Ghibli,” says Hikawa, referring to the animation house co-founded by Oscar-winning director Hayao Miyazaki. “But Your Name took a chance with an original film that reflected Shinkai’s personal sensibilities, and it pulled in customers.”
Kazuki Nakashima, the screenwriter of Promare, says the 2013 retirement of Miyazaki was another factor: “When Miyazaki retired, everyone wanted to be the one to fill that gap.” Miyazaki has since rescinded his retirement — he is currently working on a new feature — but the success of the five films screening at TIFF proves the director is no longer the only mover in town.
Source: Japan’s anime renaissance in the spotlight at Tokyo Film Festival | Features | Screen