Kotonoha no Niwa 5-Minute Preview

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Kotonoha no Niwa, Shinkai Makoto

Shinkai Makoto’s 「言の葉の庭」(Kotonoha no Niwa/Garden of Words, Japan, 2013) recently premiered at the Gold Coast Film Festival (Australia) and is now gearing up for its home release on May 31st. As part of the run-up to the Japanese premiere TV Tokyo aired the first five minutes of the film. While the clip is available on YouTube, it does not currently appear on the film’s official website, so the video may be removed in the near future. I am linking it below, but don’t be surprised if it does become unavailable.

Trailer Weekly #82

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Matsumoto Jun, Miki Takahiro, Miyazaki Goro, Moriyama Mirai, Shinkai Makoto, Studio Ghibli, Ueno Juri

I’m kinda starving (it’s almost 4 p.m. and I haven’t had lunch yet), so I’ll give you this week’s trailers without any further ado and shall head to the kitchen to make myself some gyoza and bibimbap.

World Premiere, Character Descriptions and Image Gallery for Shinkai’s「言の葉の庭」(Kotonoha no Niwa)

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Film Festival, Shinkai Makoto, world premiere

It’s funny sometimes how things are right before your eyes, but some how you don’t see them. Like the fact that the title of Shinkai’s forthcoming film has Kanji strokes in the form of leaves. How could I only notice it now?

Well, this isn’t what I mean to be writing about today, but the real topics of this post are a) the world premiere of the film, b) further character descriptions and c) a new image gallery for Kotonoha no Niwa.

April 2013 Events

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BFI, Dublin, Film Festival, Hosoda Mamoru, Korean Film Night, Leeds, London, Miyazaki Hayao, Prince Charles Cinema, Shinkai Makoto, Studio Ghibli, Tsumabuki Satoshi, Year of 4 Actors

April, April… this year is flying by… I would rather not think about it though. Instead, let’s just see what April has in store for us, film-wise mostly but also otherwise as there are some exciting events at the London Book Fair and elsewhere too.

Note: As always, I’ll update this post if I hear about any other events.

Last updated: 17/4/2013

More Musings on the Trailer of Shinkai’s「言の葉の庭」

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Global Shinkai Day, Shinkai Makoto

While others may be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day around this time of the year, anime fans have declared the early spring the moment to express their appreciation of animation filmmaker Shinkai Makoto. This year it’s not just Global Shinkai Day, but Shinkai Weekend.

What better occasion could there be for this post? I have had these musings on my mind for a while already, but this is perfect opportunity to assemble them into a post sooner rather than later.

「言の葉の庭」(Kotonoha no Niwa): First Trailer and Impressions

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Shinkai Makoto, trailers

Also hot off the press today is the first trailer for「言の葉の庭」(Kotonoha no Niwa), Shinkai Makoto’s forthcoming feature animation film.

Trailer Weekly #67

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Shinkai Makoto, trailers

The London air smelled like snow today – crisp and fresh. It hasn’t snowed (not yet anyhow), although some forecasts seem to say that it will. Who knows. My sister has been telling me since yesterday that Vienna’s turning white, I haven’t talked to my Mom yet whether the same is true for the hometown. My Dad is of course snow-less in Delhi, but he did send me a photo in December from Srinagar (Kashmir & Jammu), where travelling to the construction site was a bit of a fight against the elements (apparently they needed a tractor to tow them out).

December snow in Srinagar, India.

In case you can’t tell I love snow and the green Christmas this year was really a let-down (I got only snow dustings on the day I flew into Vienna and the day I flew out again. Boooohoooo.).

On to films now…. I have got five for you today:

Shinkai Makoto Announces「言の葉の庭」(Kotonoha no Niwa)

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BFI, Shinkai Makoto, Terracotta

Ohhh, look at this lovely (double) tweet from Shinkai Makoto just now:

Kickstarter to Take Princess Mononoke’s Stage Adaptation to the World

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adaptation, London, Miyazaki Hayao, Shinkai Makoto, Studio Ghibli

As you may know Studio Ghibli’s 「もののけ姫」(Mononoke Hime/Princess Mononoke, 1997) is being adapted for the stage for the first time ever. Whole Hog Theatre, a small British company specialising in adaptations, is taking on the challenge and will be staging the performance in London in April 2013, with only a handful days programmed.

Place Promised in Our Early Days: Dublin

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Shinkai Makoto

I flew into Dublin earlier today (I’m here for an academic conference). While the guy at the reception of place where I am staying was giving me directions for downtown, he grumbled that I would have to pass by Dublin’s ugly “needle” – which very obviously he didn’t like.

But when I did walk past, I could not help but smile:「雲のむこう、約束の場所」 (Kumo no Mukō, Yakusoku no Basho/The Place Promised in Our Early Days, 2004) instantly came to mind.

Scotland Loves Anime… and We Love Scotland (and Anime)

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Edinburgh, Film Festival, Hoshi o Ou Kodomo, Hosoda Mamoru, Shinkai Makoto

… well, I do in any case.

So here’s my promised full line-up post for Scotland Loves Anime, which enters its third year and is only getting bigger and better (so they say – I haven’t actually attended the event myself before). The festival will take place in Glasgow (October 12-14) and Edinburgh (October 19-21), with a slightly different programme for each location.

I’m starting with the Edinburgh line-up, just because I’m so excited about… I bet you can guess which film.

Trailer Weekly #37 (Make-Up TW #2)

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BFI Film Festival, Hosoda Mamoru, Okada Masaki, Shinkai Makoto, Studio Ghibli, trailers, Tsumabuki Satoshi

I promised a make-up Trailer Weekly today for one of the skipped ones in May, so here it is. If I am honest, I am way more excited about the Bonus Bits (scroll down) than the trailers today – which is not to say that the films listed are not interesting. It’s just that some of the Bonus Bits are news that make me happy! Filmwise, I’m still in Cine-Japan-mode, with a few more entries from the Nippon Connection Festival, a couple of oh-this-actor-is-in-it! and some random finds.

Trailer Weekly #36

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adaptation, Hosoda Mamoru, Miyazaki Hayao, Oguri Shun, Okada Masaki, Oshii Mamoru, Shinkai Makoto, Studio Ghibli, trailers

Feeling lazy today. Just one of those days! Lack of sleep due to marathoning 「花ざかりの君たちへ イケメン♂パラダイス」 (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e: Ikemen ♂ paradaisu/For You in Full Blossom better known as Hana Kimi, 2007) until, umm, daylight hours, is not helping the matter. Hana Kimi is a fun dorama, but, be warned, totally of the whacky, way-out-there, manga-kind – it is in fact based on a manga. Just the final couple episodes feel a little deflated. Still, for the most part it is – once you suspend all and any expectations of normality – crackingly funny and all the familiar faces (Oguri, Okada, Mizushiro, etc.) also warmed my heart.

The trailers this week? An almost exclusively Japanese affair.

First Day of the Year…

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adapations, multilingual, Shinkai Makoto, Studio Ghibli

Drawing for Studio Ghibli’s となりのトトロ (Tonari no Totoro/My Neighbour Totoro)

First of all: 今年もよろしく。새해 복 많이 받으세요! Happy New Year! Gutes neues Jahr! Gelukkig nieuwjaar! Feliz año nuevo! Felix ano novo! (and so forth)

I thought for the first day of the new year, I would let you know some of the plans I have for Otherwhere in 2012.

Trailer Weekly #9

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Hoshi o Ou Kodomo, Shinkai Makoto, trailers

Review: 星を追う子ども (Hoshi o Ou Kodomo/Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below)

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Shinkai Makoto, Studio Ghibli

Year: 2011
Director: Shinkai Makoto
Screenplay/Story: Shinkai Makoto
Animation and Character Design: Nishimura Takayo
Art Director: Tanji Takumi
Music: Tenmon
Runtime: 116 min
Trailer: on YouTube (not subtitled) and Teaser Trailer, followed by snippets of other Shinkai films (not subtitled) – watch the latter if you want to get a first sense of Shinkai’s visual feel.
Film’s official website: 星を追う子ども (in Japanese)

Seen at a screening at Vue West as part of the BFI Film Festival.

Hoshi o Ou Kodomo (literally Children Who Chase Stars) is Shinkai Makoto’s most Studio Ghibli-like work. This isn’t exactly praise, because Shinkai’s talent lies in something quite different than what enchants us with Miyazaki and other Studio Ghibli directors.