From the director of the award winning anime “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” Hosoda Mamoru and Evangelion character designer Sadamoto Yoshiyuki comes “Summer Wars”, a new feature animation produced by Madhouse Studio (Paprika, Denno Coil).
While the story behind the film is still a little murky ( The synopsis link on the film’s official page is grayed out ), the plot will revolve around a modern-day family that embarks on a midsummer adventure together at the behest of a 90-year-old woman. ( source Animation News Network )
Check out the official trailer below :
Is it just me or do the alternate reality sequences in the above trailer resemble Murakami Haruki’s Takashi’s KaiKai and KiKi, both in visual style and character design ?
I managed to get my paws on several copies of the film’s promotional flyer (image above) before catching Star Trek at a cinema in Shinjuku, and I’ll be giving out these free to those who purchase any artbook from my ebay store or from this blog. *While stocks last, remember to mention “Summer Wars” promotional flyer giveaway.*
Summer Wars will be released in Japan on the 1st of August. check out the official website. Anyone here a fan of Tokikake ( Girl Who Leapt Through Time ) ? I’m still waiting for a US blu-ray version to be released.
*Update April 2010 : Check out the official Summer Wars artbook review here !
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The Art of Hosoda Mamoru’s Summer Wars
The Wolf Children – Mamoru Hosoda’s Upcoming Anime
The Boy And The Beast – Mamoru Hosoda Anime Trailer
Evangelion : 3.0 New Poster And Trailer
The Art of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Part I
June 4th, 2009 at 6:41 am
There are 3 famous Murakamis from Japan… Ryu (writer), Haruki (writer) and Takeshi (arti$t)… I think You talking about Haruki Murakami.
June 4th, 2009 at 8:01 am
Yeah, I think you meant Takashi Murakami. I agree that the alternate sequences remind of Takashi Murakami’s Superflat style and the abundance of bright colors. It also reminds me of the sequence in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time where she is falling through the alternate time reality.
And yes, I enjoyed The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. I even found time to watch it a second time a little while after I watched it for the first time.
June 4th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Hey folks, I was referring to Murakami Takashi alright. Thanks for pointing out the mistake, I’ve already corrected that. :]
June 4th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Hosoda directed a short promotion video (Superflat Monogram) in 2003, which has (character) designs by Murakami. Maybe he became fond of Murakami’s style and decided to use it also in other works.
And I really look forward to Summer Wars, Hosoda is definitely one of the best active anime directors.
June 5th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
I’m a fan of Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Since we are on topics of movies, Storm Raiders II trailer is out. Have you seen it?
June 6th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
raito-kun – Thanks for the heads up ! Gotta hunt down that PV !
gordon – Yes I have ! It looks so much better than the blatant 300 rip off trailer a while back. Still, its going to take forever to reach Japan I think.
June 6th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
oh… im really interested in the look of this one…really look forwards to being able to see it!
June 8th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Yeah, you really must check out that Louis Vuitton Takashi Murakami PV that Hosoda directed – it has all his trademarks like the white space with the colours in it! Features a star-studded list of animators, too. The music is by Fantastic Plastic Machine (“different colors”)
I think a strong theme of Hosoda’s is to use that line of design and mostly flat colours, with little shading – I personally love it.
And I loved TokiKake, so I have to watch this even if it’s starting to seem a bit derivative. Have you watched Hosoda’s Digimon movie Bokura no War Game? I was intensely reminded of that when watching the SW trailer. 🙂
June 10th, 2009 at 2:34 am
tragic comedy – Me too, can’t wait ! :]
w – Great, another anime to check out. Thanks for the heads up on that too !
June 11th, 2009 at 3:51 am
I watched TokiKake before post here, love it!, the animation, the backgrounds art and the story are awesome!!
Waiting for Summer Wars, and like W mentioned, when i saw the SW trailers, i resembled Murakami´s Luis Vuitton add inmediatly, that white limbo and the chacarters are so his style.
Also i like the Sadamoto Yoshiyuki´s style so much, evangelion art was one of my favorite when i was younger next to Yuuki Nobuteru.
thanks younghow for the recommendations!! 🙂
June 11th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Wow! I like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and the character design of Sadamoto Yoshiyuki. Seems interesting in some part of the trailer. Will watch if I have the chance.
June 14th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Looks promising. When does it come out?
August 4th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
I like the scene when Kenji discovers his “summer job” is to pretend to be Natsuki’s fiance and dance with her at the birthday celebration. As Kenji attempts to keep up with Natsuki’s act around her family.