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Ghost Cat Anzu, Mononoke Films Win at Fantasia Int'l Film Festival
posted on by Joanna Cayanan
The Ghost Cat Anzu film opened in Japan on July 19.
The film stars:
- Mirai Moriyama as titular Anzu
- Noa Gotō voices Karin
- Munetaka Aoki as Tetsuya, Karin's father
- Miwako Ichikawa as Yuzuki, Karin's mother
- Moonriders' member Keiichi Suzuki as Oshō, Anzu's foster parent
- Shingo Mizusawa as the god of poverty
- Skirt (Sawabe Wataru) as Tanuki, another supernatural creature
- Ikue Ōtani as Pi-Pi-chan, the forest fairies
Mutsuo Yoshioka and Shōhei Uno also contribute voices.
Cast members also acted as the characters in footage that served as a reference for animating the characters, with their spoken lines during the filming of their movements also being used in the film.
Yōko Kuno and Nobuhiro Yamashita are directing the film, and Shinji Imaoka is writing its script. The film is 90 minutes long and utilizes mixed animation techniques combining 2D digital animation with rotoscopy. Yōko Kuno is the character designer, Julien De Man is the art director and color key artist, Namiko Ishidate and Yukie Nakauchi are the animation directors, and Keiichi Suzuki is composing the music.
Chiaki Satō (A.S.A.B) performs the theme song "Matatabi."
The film screened as a work-in-progress at the Annecy Animation Festival in June 2023. The Paris-based CHARADES company will handle international sales. GKIDS has acquired the North American rights to the film.
Miyu Productions describes the film's story:
Karin, 11 years old, is abandoned by her father at her grandfather's house, the monk of a small town in the Japanese countryside. Her grandfather asks Anzu, his jovial and helpful although rather capricious ghost cat, to look after her. The meeting of their strong characters causes sparks, at least at the beginning…
Kodansha published the one-volume Bakeneko Anzu-chan manga in 2007.
The Gekijōban Mononoke: Karakasa film earlier won the Axis: Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation for best animated feature film, also at this year's Fantasia International Film Festival.
The film premiered in Japan on July 26, and ranked at #7 in its debut weekend. The film was previously slated to open last year, but was delayed. Alongside the announcement of the delay in February 2023, the film's staff also announced that Takahiro Sakurai would no longer reprise the role of the Medicine Seller as originally planned. Hiroshi Kamiya instead voices the protagonist the Medicine Seller in the film.
Kenji Nakamura returned to direct the Mononoke film, with production at Twin Engine. Kitsuneko Nagata was the character designer, and Yūichi Takahashi adapted those designs for animation and served as chief animation director. Taku Iwasaki composed the music. EOTA animated the film.
Singer Aina The End performs the theme song "Love Sick."
The Mononoke film project will have three films. The second film titled Gekijōban Mononoke Second Chapter: Hinezumi (also could be romanized as "Kaso," meaning "fire rat"), will premiere in Japan on March 14, 2025.
The Fantasia International Film Festival's Audience Awards is determined by popular vote from those who attended the film festival. Shigeyoshi Tsukahara and Twiflo's original anime project Kurayukaba full-length film won gold, The Concierge anime film won silver, and The First Slam Dunk anime film won bronze in last year's Best Animated Feature category.
The 28th Fantasia International Film Festival was held from July 18 to August 4 in Montreal.
Sources: Press release, Fantasia International Film Festival's website
