井上雄彦NY现场壁画

之前犹豫要不要买他那本water画集的，看到这个后决定还是买！！本尊长的很阳刚啊，和slam dunk里的热血男儿一个模样。

转载转载，原新闻来自Anime news network，翻译by南方动漫网。

井上雄彦献给纽约漫迷惊喜！黑板画后水墨画！














继2004年创下“连续24间高中教室黑板漫画”的空前创举之后，知名漫画家井上雄彦在16日飞抵美国纽约，受邀在全新开募的纪伊国书店花了3天时间亲笔绘制了三幅《浪人剑客 Vagabond》巨幅水墨壁画！

这是来自《Anime News Network》的新闻。日本知名连锁书店纪伊国书店为了庆祝座落于美国纽约Bryant Park的纽约市旗舰店将于19日开幕，特地邀请国际知名漫画家井上雄彦为店内2楼空间的3面墙上作画。其实，会邀请井上老师前去共同开幕还有另外两个原因：第一个，是正在北美发行的《周刊少年Jump》漫画杂志官方英文版确定将以全彩+二色印刷的方式于12月开始连载《灌篮高手》英文版，第二个原因，则是北美知名漫画代理商Viz宣布将在2008年7月正式发行《REAL》英文版漫画单行本。

这三幅水墨壁画，总计花了井上老师3天时间完成，并且顺利在19日的纪伊国书店－纽约市旗舰店开幕式典礼中正式公开。想观赏其他更多照片请参考《Anime News Network》新闻。除此之外，井上老师也愉快接受记者专访。

专访重点摘录如下：

1. 虽然《灌篮高手》表面上是个篮球漫画，但井上雄彦真正要传达的是一个人如何藉由参与某项运动而从中获得体验与成长。

2. 井上雄彦高中时期参加过篮球校队，但自嘲球技并没有很好。即使《灌篮高手》连载完结之后，他的球技还是没有多大进步(笑)

3. 提到日本首位进军NBA的职业球员田卧勇太，井上雄彦对他充满尊敬与敬佩之意。

4. 决定推出纯黑白色调的浪人剑客画集《墨》，井上雄彦认为跟今日主流的彩色画集相较之下，《浪人剑客》惯用的技法使他更能够完美诠释每张画稿。所以井上雄彦才会在推出彩色画集《WATER》之后，坚持一定要推出这本黑白画集。

5. 井上雄彦是应坂口博信之邀而对XBox360最新游戏《Lost Odyssey 失落的奥德赛》进行游戏人物设计。

在受访的最后，井上雄彦表示“当你画漫画的时候，你总是必须坐在桌前一个劲儿地作画，更何况我已经持续这样好多年了。而这里(书店的墙壁)则是给予我一个前所未有的作画环境，瞧、一个超大画布！这样的变化有助于刺激我诸多灵感，而且这些新灵感将能够在我打算进行下一部新作品时派上用场。大师的一举手一投足，满是风采。住在New York的朋友们可别忘了前往那家位于Bryant Park的旗舰店、亲眼目睹大师画作啊！

崖の上のポニョ

News from Ghibli World

You can subscribe to their news feeds here



Credit: photo from Ghibli World

Summary: Hayao Miyazaki announced the next Ghibli film '崖の上のポニョ'(Gake no ue no Ponyo, or Ponyo on a cliff) to be released in 2008. It's a story about a 5 year old boy Sosuke modelled around Hayao's son Goro and a goldfish princess named ponyo. The setting is based on 鞆の浦 (tomo no ura), a little town on the bay. Producer Suzuki said 70-80% of the story revolves around sea. They adopted watercolor and pastel like medium for the movie.

The story's interesting and the medium is also refreshing. I adore the watercolor approach in 'my neighbor the yamadas'. I have a feeling the movie's gonna be a whole new concept and Ghibli always does a brilliant job in landscapes.Remember the sea in Spirited Away or the enchanted forest in Princess Mononoke?

In previous interviews I read from Nausicaa.net, it's rumored that Miyazaki includes at least one の (no) in the title, like a spell that ensures the movie's gonna succeed. Princess moNONOke, Sen to Chihiro NO Kamikakushi(Spirited Away), Tonari NO Totoro (My neighbor Totoro), Majo NO Takkyuubin (Kiki's delivery service), Hauru NO Ugoku Shiro (Howl's moving castle), Kaze NO Tani NO Naushika (Nausicaa the valley of wind)...haha, funny old man.

Maybe his son should rename 'Gedo Senki' as 'Gedo no Senki', just a thought...

秒速5センチメートル

官方网站:http://5cm.yahoo.co.jp/index.html




以下简介转自http://blog.sina.com.cn/u/4b3c615c010006ql

片名：《秒速5センチメートル》- a chain of short stories about their distance
译名：《秒速5cm》- 有关他们之间的距离的连续短篇故事
监督/编剧：新海诚 (Makoto Shinkai)
制作：CoMix Wave
音乐：天门
主题歌：山崎まさよし《One more time, One more chance》
首映：2007年初春 涩谷CinemaRise影院

知つてる
樱の花のおちるスピ--ド
秒速5セソチメ--トル
どれほどの速さで生きれば、
きみにまた会えるのか

知道么？
樱花凋落的速度是
每秒5厘米

那，我要以怎样的速度生活
才能与你重逢呢？

——《秒速5cm》预告篇

新海诚2007年春季將推出新动画：《秒速5センチメートル》（中譯：秒速5cm。代表樱花掉落的速度）。电影副标题为“a chain of short stories about their distance”意为：有关他们之间的距离的连续短篇故事，片长为60分钟左右，。故事背景是[上世纪90年代后期]与[当代]两个时段的日本现实社会，以少年远野贵树为主轴，由3部连续短篇动画交织出男女主角两人的故事，分别为《桜花抄》（贵树与明里的重逢）、《Cosmonautコスモナウト》（他人视角中的贵树）、《秒速5センチメートル》（贵树内心的彷徨）。

新海誠的新作，07年上映。虽然不是很喜欢他的人物设定，总体还是满期待的。作为导演，新海誠的审美意识和岩井俊二的还蛮像的，取材青涩的青春故事，而且擅长用唯美的自然环境（樱花，雪，阳光斑斓的放学课堂等）来烘托年轻人的梦想和自我压抑。晦涩的甜美似乎更适合作为定格的画面来享受，故事情节方面并不算特别充实。之前的那部《云的彼端，约束的场所》也是这番感觉，科幻像是辅佐作用，增添了不少浪漫和命运的成分。背景设定一直都很强，非常协调的颜色搭配，光的处理也和岩井电影中的手法类似。官方网站上有不少壁纸照片，贴几张上来。

这个是新海誠早期的作品《彼女と彼女の猫》（她和她的猫），灰白短篇，关于心灵治愈的故事，朴素平淡。

Gedo Senki wins Raspberry Award

Original News from Ghibli.world

I haven't yet seen the movie but well... not the least did I expect it to win the worst film + director ever!

21th of January, GEDO SENKI "WINNER" BUNSHUN RASPBERRY AWARD "WORST FILM 2006": Of course with all the great movies made by Studio Ghibli we’re often blessed with good Ghibli news. However, this time it’s not the case. Logboy, from the excellent film website Twitch, pointed me to a news item on Hoga Central about Japan's annual Bunshun Raspberry Awards. For those not familiar with these awards, they are given to the worst movies in the year selected by 32 movie critics in Japan. Unfortunately, Gedo Senki "won" the award for worst movie, as well as Goro Miyazaki "winning" the award for worst director.

Aleksandr Petrov exhibit in Ghibli museum

Ghibli museum will be hosting an Aleksandr Petrov exhibition, with his latest film 'My love'. Aleksandr Petrov!! I was really excited to be reminded again of his masterpiece 'The old man and the sea'. The animation consists of finger painted glass frames in oil. Can you imagine drawing tens of hundreds of oil paintings?? and the old animator did it all by himself. The pictures look fleshy and dreamy. He's a real romantic who knows how to capture the dream states.

wiki entry

Tales of Earthsea Production Complete

Nausicaa News:
May 23, 2006 Animation Complete on "Tales from Earthsea"
The May 23 Production Diary announced the completion of animation on the film.

History of production:

Sep 06, 2005: animation production began
Jan 20, 2006: 149 cuts (12%)
Jan 27: 180 cuts (15%)
Feb 03: 230 cuts (19%)
Feb 17: 326 cuts (26%)
Mar 03: 422 cuts (34%)
Mar 10: 481 cuts (39%)
Mar 17: 517 cuts (42%)
Mar 30: 687 cuts (55%)
Apr 7 : 776 cuts (63%)
Apr 17: 844 cuts (68%)
Apr 25: 935 cuts (76%)
May 1 : 997 cuts (81%)
May 8 : 1,056 cuts (85%)
May 15: 1,176 cuts (95%)
May 23: 1,236 cuts (100%)

Animation production length:

Tales from Earthsea: 8 months and 17 days
Howl's Moving Castle: 17 months and 6 days (2/1/2003-7/7/2004)
Spirited Away: 16 months and 26 days (2/1/2000-6/27/2001)

《地海传奇》幕后班底大搜索

信息属南方动漫网中文专
2006-05-18 16:38　南方动漫网　作者：亚述
(编辑：唐)

背景一：动画制作班底

1．制片人：铃木敏夫（吉卜力总裁）

　　1948年出生于爱知县，1972年进入德间书店公司，然后在78年进入《月刊动画》编辑部。从1981年开始策划宫崎骏特集，次年开始大力推进《风之谷的娜乌西卡》的长篇连载；在《风之谷》拍成动画大片之后，一跃成为德间方的制作委员，十分活跃。1989年，转入今日如雷贯耳的吉卜力工作室（STUDIO GHIBLI），在此后所有的作品中都是以制片人的身份出现。同时利用此前作为编辑的经验，在出版界也开展得风生水起。在与德间书店成功合并之后， 1997年成为德间的取缔役，"吉卜力工作室"事业本部长，2000年9月开始成为常务。

2．导演&联合编剧：宮崎吾朗　(Miyazaki Gorou)

　　此人的身份当是本片最大的卖点之一：宫崎骏的儿子，38岁的宫崎吾朗。

　　1967年、东京生人。信州大学农学部森林工学科毕业后，从事建筑咨询行业，计划、设计公园绿地以及都市绿化。

　　自98年起着手设计三鹰之森Ghibli的总体造型，01年至05年6月任该美术馆馆长。

　　曾荣获2004年度艺术选奖文部科学大臣新人赏的艺术振兴部门奖

3．联合编剧：丹羽圭子

　　参与过吉卜力作品《听海》的脚本制作。

4．音乐：寺屿民哉

　　1958年4月10日出生在熊本县。

　　以独特管弦乐编曲而闻名的乐界天才，挎刀打造剧场版动画《地海传奇》音乐。

5．主题曲和插曲《特鹿之歌》演唱者：手茑葵

　　兼为歌手和声优，现住福冈，年龄--My God，1987年6月21日出生--19岁未满。有着模特身高：174cm；兴趣是芭蕾和读书。遗憾的是神秘新人的照片尚未披露……

　　新人手茑葵，在出任女主角Therru声优的同时，她悠远清澈的天籁之音打动了导演宫崎吾朗，被钦点担纲演唱影片的主题曲和插曲，被赞为"有着朴素,治愈系的歌声的她,是地海传奇中女神般的存在"。

　　相信大家都已经听到了她在预告片中的天籁之音了，那么我们一起期待这位呼之欲出的新人在今年7月份公映的《格德战记》中的美妙声线吧！

6．声优：

　　冈田准一、手茑葵、田中裕子、小林薰、夏川结衣、香川照之、内藤刚志、倍赏美津子、风吹纯、菅原文太……

背景知识二：

1．关于《格德战记》译名和内容：

　　《格德战记》的内容简介是这么说的：

　　"人与龙曾是一体

　　人选择了地与海

　　龙选择了火与风

　　这个夏天，人与龙将合为一体……

　　一名少年巫师的魔法之旅，他走的愈远，就愈深入自己的内心！

　　神秘绮丽的岛屿风情、巫术的奥妙、老术士寓意深远的智语、巨龙、创生古语真言、无所不在的黑暗势力、爱情的救赎、人性的试炼，在地海 (Earthsea) 的奇幻世界里波澜壮阔的上演……"

　　英文原著的书名是Legend of Earthsea--"地海传奇"，小说的繁体中文版以及早年改编的电影都译作《地海传说》，后来由人民文学出版社出版的简体中文版定名为《地海传奇》；在日文译著中书名改为《ゲド戦記》，原意译为中文是"格德/基德战记"；有如此多的版本，因此新片未出，片名先乱。然而既然是介绍GHIBLI的片子，本站从日版，从《格德战记》之说。

2．关于原著《地海传奇》：

　　《格德战记》根据美国女作家厄休拉·K·勒·古因《地海传说（Legend of Earthsea）》系列小说改编，这套小说常常被与托尔金的《指环王》三部曲和刘易斯的《纳尼亚王国》三部曲相提并论，在所有年龄段中都有这套小说的 Fans，曾经获得过五个雨果奖、五个星云奖和国家图书奖，《地海》系列小说已经被翻译成16种语言，总发行量数以百万计……有如此辉煌的原著支撑故事的骨架，想差都差不了了……

3．作画参考：シュナの旅（《秀纳之旅》暂译）

　　作者:宫崎骏
　　出版社/制作商:德间书店
　　发售日: 1983/06
　　媒体形式：文库

　　此书乃是宫崎骏大师以西藏的民间传说为原型创作的全彩图绘本。但没有拍成电影。在绘本的结束语里，宫崎爷爷深情地写道："将这个民间故事动画化是我的一个梦想……。"

4．原著作者：厄休拉·K·勒·古因（Ursula K. Le Guin）

　　勒·古因以从1968年到2001年横跨三十余载的《地海传奇》(Earthsea Cycle) 六部曲系列，奠定了她在奇幻文学界的崇高地位。六部曲被翻译成19国语言出版；其作品意涵颇富中国老子道家思想；并非强调善恶对立的二元价值观，而是传达 "平衡"、阴阳同源的理念；以阴阳相生的概念为核心，迥异于西方基督教的善恶二元对立观。

　　事实上宫崎骏作品中，从1984年的《风之谷》到2004年的《哈尔的移动城堡》）等，风格上都很受《地海传奇》的影响。但阴差阳错，大师最终还是没有将古因的作品搬上银屏，而这个历史性的工作则在这个夏天由他的长子完成了……

5．小说日文版译者：清水真砂子（しみず?まさこ）

　　1941年出生于北朝鲜。儿童文学翻译家?评论家。

　　毕业于静冈大学，现为青山女子短期大学教授。著作有《儿童读物的现在》、《学生发光的时候》（以上两本为岩波书店出版）、《幸福的写法》《儿童读物的视线》（以上为洋泉社）等。译著有《到天亮之时》《醒来、魔女！》《谈话?谈话E.L.克尼斯堡讲演集》（以上为岩波书店）等。因翻译厄休拉·K· 勒·古因的《格德战记》（岩波书店）的全6卷获得平成16年的日本翻译文化奖。

Toei targets Shanghai, China

Toei Animation will open offices in Shanghai next month. The company hopes their ties with local stations and manufacturers will allow for "large-scale business dealings." Toei's Digimon Adventure was broadcast in China in February, and Dragonball will air in June. Source: Animaxis

Toei Animation: a Japanese studio under which Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata used to work with. Famous TV series under their belts: Saint Seiya, Digimon, One Piece, Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon etc.

News - 2006 中国国际动漫影视作品“美猴奖”大赛

2006 中国国际动漫影视作品“美猴奖”大赛参赛事宜
2006-2-23 12:14:27 中国动画网


2006中国国际动漫影视作品“美猴奖”大赛

参赛事宜

一、大赛背景及宗旨：

经中国动画学会授权，第二届中国国际动漫节组委会将举办2006中国国际动漫影视作品“美猴奖”大赛。本次大赛在中国动画学会的大力支持和资源配合下，将邀请世界知名动漫节以及国内外各知名动画机构、企业的顶尖专家担任评委，努力打造国家级动漫赛事的优质品牌。

在“美猴奖”大赛期间，将开展优秀动漫作品展映活动，通过这种交流来促进中国原创动画的繁荣和发展。在中国动画学会的支持和世界动画协会（ASIFA）的合作下，“美猴奖”大赛中脱颖而出的优秀作品，将获得直接被选送参加世界动画学会的著名国际大赛的机会，其中包括：萨格勒布世界动画节，昂西动画节，广岛动画节，东京动画节，首尔动画节，ASIFA好莱坞安妮奖，渥太华动画节。

另外，通过多渠道宣传“美猴奖”的优秀作品，扩大其在国内外的知名度和影响力，并争取把中国动漫影视作品“美猴奖”大赛列入主要国际动画大赛名册。

主办：第二届中国国际动漫节组委会

承办：中国动画学会

杭州市文化广播电视新闻出版局

特别协办：杭州高新技术产业开发区管委会·杭州市滨江区人民政府

协办：中央电视台

中国动画网

新浪网动画频道

CG杂志

漫友

搜狐网动漫频道

千龙新闻网动漫频道

支持：世界动画学会（ASIFA）

韩国动画学会

JETRO日本贸易振兴机构

萨格勒布动画节

二、奖项设置及奖金：

1、影院动画片奖项

——最佳影院动画片大奖 一名： 奖金 30000元

——影院动画片特别奖 一名： 奖金 20000元

2、动画短片奖项

——最佳短片大奖 一名： 奖金 20000元

——评委团特别奖 一名： 奖金 10000元

——短片荣誉奖 二名： 奖金 5000元

3、系列动画片奖

——系列动画片大奖 一名： 奖金 30000元

——系列动画片特别奖 一名： 奖金 20000元

——荣誉奖 二名： 奖金 10000元

4、商业/教育动画——（包括广告片，教育、科学电影）

——广告片大奖 一名： 奖金 10000元

——特别奖 二名： 奖金 5000元

5、网络动画——使用网络技术创作的动画作品，Flash或Macromedia Shockwave。

——特别奖 一名： 奖金 5000元

6、剧本奖

——最佳剧本创意奖 一名： 奖金 30000元

——最佳潜力编剧奖 一名： 奖金 20000元

——创意荣誉奖 二名： 奖金 10000元

7、外语片奖

——最佳影院片奖 一名： 奖金 20000元

——最佳短片奖 一名： 奖金 10000元

——最佳系列动画片奖 一名： 奖金 20000元

Death Note to be made into live action movies?!

From Animenewsnetwork
Death Note Movies (2006-01-17 11:45:45)
Manganews.net reports that Weekly Shonen Jump issue 8 (January 23 issue) will announced two live-action Death Note movies. The first is to be released in June, the second in October.

Hayao and Goro Miyazaki, Tension!

Latest News from Nausicaa

January 12, 2006 Miyazaki Interview about Museum Shorts and "Tales from Earthsea"
The Daily Yomiuri Online has coverage (in English) of a recent roundtable interview with Miyazaki. He talks about the three newest Studio Ghibli Museum films and has the following comments about his role in the production of Tales of Earthsea:

I won't say anything [about the movie], lend a hand or even look it over. I'm not involved in any way. I'm keeping myself to myself in my studio as whenever we see each other we quickly start to feel tension.

The relationship between a parent and a child isn't easy or simple. And I myself have my own standards to evaluate other people as professionals--whoever they may be.

But I'd never say, "Give up!" even if I didn't like something he was doing. I've never said anything like that to him.

------------------------------
Personal Thoughts

I don't understand why Hayaoi Miyazaki doesn't support his son on the new project or is it because it is his son and he thinks their father-son relationship will bring extra attention and gossips from the public that might tarnish the studio's image? Or another major reason could be Goro Miyazaki has no previous experience in directing, or 'drawing' for that matter that he's deemed an unsuitable heir? The latter concern is reasonable but if that was the case, why wouldn't a father give his child his fullest mental support even though it is Goro's virgin project? Don't let public expectations butt in the way...

Experienced or not, I think Goro's going to give his 100% best just to prove what he's capable of! GO GO!

asahi.com：J-pop, anime to buff image - ENGLISH

original article

Although I'm an anime fan myself, I'm disturbed by this article. Although anime and Jpop is insanely popular in China, just don't confuse it with politics and 'polishing up postwar image'. This's another strategy to divert attention and the most worrying thing is, it's aimed at the young generation. The nature of 'bridging international friendship' is in itself good to start with but through entertainment and popular culture? And I bet their priority isn't to 'polish their tarnished image' or else they could've spent more money on correcting their textbooks. This's another money-grossing business that opens up the market under a flowery title.

Another thing about (some) anime is the hidden propoganda of their particular cultural element - bushido, samurai spirit, whatever you call it. It's not totally negative but they're sometimes portrayed in such extremes you start worrying about the mentality of the characters and the effects they have on the kids. I don't have any evidence to support this but just like any other culture, big Mac, R&B hiphop, this's part of the external influences that subtly or massively cause a cultural desert phenomenon eventually. Their new plan's not the cause but the catalyst. Anime is already popular and the new money just speeds up the process.

Bottom line is, they do whatever they want with anime. Just don't relate the whole money-grossing business with political issues.

And what about home grown animation business... probably another 50 years but there's still hope.

Howl nominated for 3 Annie Awards

Howl's Moving Castle has been nominated in three award categories for the annual "Annie Awards" given out by ASIFA-Hollywood this coming February 4th. The three nominations are 1) Best Animated Feature (other nominees: Chicken Little, Corpse Bride, Madagascar, and Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit); 2) Best Directing in an Animated Feature: Miyazaki (other nominees: Mike Johnson and Tim Burton for Corpse Bride and Nick Park and Steve Box for Wallace and Gromit); and 3) Best Writing in an Animated Feature Production: Miyazaki, Don and Cindy Hewitt (other nominees: Steve Box, Nick Park, Bob Baker, and Mark Burton for Wallace and Gromit, Tony Leondis, Michael LaBash, and Tom Rogers for Kronk’s New Groove). A full list of the categories and nominees can be found here. In 2003 Spirited Away won all four Annie Awards it was nominated for: Best Feature, Best Director, Best Writing, and Best Music in an Animated Feature (Joe Hisaishi).

source from animenewsnetwork

paradise kiss TV

Unbelievable! They're making Ai Yazawa's manga 'Paradise Kiss' into TV series!! Not sure whether I'm happy or not, just feeling plain weird. Ai Yazawa,for those unfamiliar with her work, she created the famous series 'NANA'. 'Paradise Kiss' was an early work which ran in 4 books and it was about a high school student Yukari who got herself invovled in the fashion business and also a relationship with an ambitious and talented designer named George. I even joined the fanlisting for PK... Why did I do that?? Never mind.

It's all about Fashion, twisted personality and the importance of 'muse' to a growing artist. Suddenly an image popped up: one of my friends would give a thumb-up when she hears the word 'twisted' ^^b Yes, the main character George sure is a twisted guy inside out. Nothing matters under the grand title 'fashion designer'.Give it a few twisted nerves and you're all head over heels for it.I just wish they wouldn't make it into a candy sweet shoujo anime which's rather sickening honesty... And I wonder if the person responsible for clothes design lives up to this job.

Madhouse takes over the production. They did a good job for 'Paranoia Agent' etc. (but that's Satoshi kon up there, duh). Director is this Kobayashi guy whom I'm totally unfamiliar with.

Links:
PK TV Official Web
Animenewsnetwork Info

angel heart

Angel Heart
They're going to make Hojo Tsukasa's Angel Heart into a TV series. And it's the same seiyu (Ryo) from City Hunter. I didn't watch City Hunter anime but the manga itself is a masterpiece. I wonder how it'll turn out this time and not sure which studio is doing it. Wonder why they wouldn't make Family Compo into anime. It's much more interesting than Angel Heart in my personal opinion. Maybe the popularity carried forward from City Hunter auges well for Angel Heart while Family Compo on the other hand is much less well-known and its transvestite & ambiguous sexuality contents may easily offend the audience. Whatever, GO!! HOJO!

Here's the news link to the official Hojo Tsukasa webpage


But I seriously think Tsukasa Sensei is getting older. The age ridden sentimentality typical of someone going through mid-age crisis(he isn't married?)is clearly manifested in Angel Heart. Action no longer takes central stage. Various roles lamenting about the pasts and their desires to build families, have kids and settle down are just so atypical in his previous works. It's a 'mature' manga no doubt, a manga that started off with a female assasin, who was later tamed and turned into a docile daughter. Well, Tsukasa-sensei, you should start a family soon. It's not late at all.

A Review on 'Angel Heart' @EX

Hojo Tsukasa Official Website

I visited the BBS on the official website and amazingly(or maybe not so amazingly) there're posts in English and Francais. Thanks to my 3-week French crash course. I can actually understand what they wrote! ^^ Je adore Hojo Tsukasa.

howl's moving castle news

News Updates
A press release from Disney confirms that director Hayao Miyazaki and producer Toshio Suzuki will attend the June 6 screening in New York. Other expected to attend include Lauren Bacall, Blythe Danner, Jean Simmons, Emily Mortimer, and Gloria Steinem.
source: Nausicaa

haha, guess Miyazaki will take the usual Japanese airline to the States this time. Wondering about the reasons behind his insistence with Japanese airlines.

The official Disney Website for Howl's Moving Castle is up & running. The English voice cast seem to be doing a pretty good job. I like Howl's English voice better than Kitamura's. It's deepr & more mature. In the trailer, they pronounced ghibli as jee-bli while it should be gib-li, a secret code used by the Italian airforce in WWII, meaning 'hot wind over the desert'. And there seems to be a change in original script. When Sophie shouts to Howl from the trapped cave, she says 'Find me in the future!'. But I remember the original script doesn't mention anything about the future O_o maybe I'm wrong.

Now I think about it, there IS one scene in howl's moving castle I find particularly moving. It's the picture of Sophie walking into a 'dream' of howl's chilhood. The young wizard is standing beneath a briliant star-lit night sky. The background music is by Joe Hisaishi, a track titled 'star boy'. The fallen stars slash through the velvet sky, glide on the shimmering lake and quickly die off as the last golden sparks sither & disappear. The boy who pities the beautiful stars, stretch out his hands to catch them before they plunge to their death. I feel the tiny little hope slowly gathering heat & starting to burn, on something as fragile as a boy's fingertip, stretched out far into darkness & slowly, light.

champloo on adult swim

First screening of properly voice-dubbed samuri champloo will be on Adult Swim on May 14th. And I followed the link to Behind the Scenes of the english voice acting job. And... you know, it's just too hard for someone from another cultural background to get the essence of it all. The voice actor for Jin went over the line 'I don't wanna kill you' several times but even the finalised version sounds funny to me. The original voice for Jin is icy cool and dead composed. A expressionless voice that reminds you of a frozen sea. Of course sea won't freeze but the immensity of space hidden behind the unquivering quality of that voice is totally unique to Jin. And it's deadly if you ever raise the pitch half note too high!!
'I don't wanna kill you. You're not worth killing. You're just gonna dirty my sword.'
'I(flat) don't(down) wanna kill you(up). You(flat)'re(down) not worth killing(up)...'
Geeze, how can he say that line so lyrically. It spoils the character. Thankfully they did something with the pace so the final version was slowed down a great deal and sounded more serious, more like Jin, not some fool-around pinhead who brandishes his sword for fun.

And look at this deadly hilarious cosplay of samurai champloo!!! What happened to that boisterous Fuu? They made a yin yang guy out of her!

I'm quite certain they didnt mean to be truthful to original characters in the first place, purely for fun.

Origiinal character design for comparison:


And another much more professional cosplay group

oscar05

Check it out!
AWN holds a special animation oscar 05 showcase site
http://www.awn.com/oscars05/

possible contenders for 2005 best animation feature film

Possible Contenders for 2004 Oscar best animation
[news quoted from animenetwork]
11 animated features eligible for Academy Award

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that 11 animated films are eligible for the Best Animated Feature Oscar at the 2004 Academy Award.

Among the 11 films is Production I.G's Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. Innocence is the only Japanese animation to be deemed eligible, but two well known asian animations were also given the nod; The Legend of Buddha from India, and the Korean anime feature, Sky Blue (aka Wonderful Days).

The Legend of Buddha is Inidia's first full length 2D animated feature, and is reported to have been entirely hand animated.

Wonderful Days is a combined 2D foreground, 3D background animated feature and was produced by the same studio (Tinhouse) that did the 3D animation for Macross Zero. The films budget was US$10 million, making its 7-year production Korea's most expensive animated production ever.

The other eligible titles are, The Incredibles (Pixar),Shrek 2 (DreamWorks), Shark Tale (DreamWorks), Home on the Range (Disney), Teacher's Pet (Disney), The Polar Express (Warner Bros.) and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (Paramount) and Clifford's Really Big Movie (Scolastic).

DreamWorks, which distributes Innocence in North America, and Disney, which distributes The Incredibles, are both tied for the most eligible titles.

None of these titles have yet been nominated for the Oscar, they are merely eligible. A maximum of 3 films can be nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar. Nominations will be announced on January 25th, and the awards will be announced on February 27th.

Past Winners of the Best Animated Feature Oscar:
2003: Finding Nemo (no anime was nominated)
2002: Spirited Away
2001: Shrek (First year this Oscar was awarded, no anime was nominated)

Final nomination list[3 max.] will be released on Jan 25th[on the day of my biochem test =_=|||| ]

I wish Innocence: Ghost in the Shell will win, althou chances r sorta slim. Pixar's gonna get it again this year my hunch tells me.

Introducing 2004-2005 animation feature film biggies

The Incredibles


Links:
Pixar
Official Website

Personal Comments:
As said, this's absolutely PERSONAL!
They're the top animators, fabulous team, high-grossing production.
Finding Nemo is absolutely great.
Nothing to pick about.
Except my nostalgic mind directs me to love 2D animation more than anything else. The leathery texture of 3D animation gets o