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Long 'Giant God Warrior' Teaser by Evangelion's Anno & Ghibli Aired

Japanese broadcaster NTV has aired a longer 76-second teaser for "Kyōshinhei Tokyo ni Arawaru" (Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo), the live-action tokusatsu (special-effects) short developed by Evangelion director Hideaki Anno and produced by Studio Ghibli. The short draws inspiration from the Giant God Warriors in Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind manga and anime film.

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo is presenting the full short as part of its "Kanchō Anno Hideaki Tokusatsu Hakubutsukan" (Curator Hideaki Anno's Special Effects Museum) exhibition. The exhibition "spotlight[s] the special craftsmanship such as seen in 'miniatures,' and will present on an unprecedented scale its entrancing world that is distinct from VFX or CG." The "deputy curator," Shinji Higuchi, is also the director of the new short and the storyboard artist for the Evangelion television series and films.

According to Anno, the short does not use use computer graphics, but relies on traditional filmmaking techniques like miniatures to make the "final tokusatsu work." Higuchi added that the short would be between 5 and 10 minutes long. Anno was a key animator on the Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind film, and he later drew inspiration from the film's Giant God Warriors (and childhood memories of the tokusatsu franchise Ultraman) to create Evangelion.

The exhibition is running from July 10 to October 8. Good Smile Company is selling a figma figure and a 50-centimeter-tall (20-inch-tall) polystone replica of the Giant God Warrior at the exhibition in July, and it will then offer them online after the exhibition ends on October 8.

[Via tsk06]