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Encore Films to Screen 'Her Blue Sky' Anime Film in Singapore
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Singaporean film distributor Encore Films announced last Friday that it will screen Her Blue Sky (Sora no Aosa o Shiru Hito yo), the original anime film by the Super Peace Busters creative team, in Singapore. The company did not reveal a release date for the film. Encore Films is streaming an English- and Chinese-subtitled trailer for the film.
The film will open in Japan on October 11. Yaeko Ninagawa (Ghost Slayers Ayashi) also launched a manga adaptation of the film in Kadokawa's Comic Newtype web comic site on July 26.
The main cast includes (from left to right in image above, character name romanizations are not official):
- Shion Wakayama as Aoi Aioi
- Riho Yoshioka as Akane Aioi
- Ryō Yoshizawa as Shinnosuke Kanomura/Shinno
- Ken Matsudaira as Dankichi Nitobe
Other cast members include (from left to right in image above, character name romanizations are not official):
- Yō Taichi as Masatsugu Nakamura, an 11-year-old fifth grader and Masamichi's only son
- Fukushi Ochiai as Masamichi Nakamura, a former drummer in Shinnosuke's band, and high school classmate of Akane and Shinnosuke
- Atsumi Tanezaki as Chika Ōtaki, a classmate of Aoi, who has a goal of getting a boyfriend who is in a band
The film's story is set in a town nestled in the mountains. It centers on second-year high school student and aspiring musician Aoi Aioi, her older sister Akane Aioi, Akane's ex-boyfriend and struggling guitarist Shinnosuke Kanomura, and Shinno — who is actually Shinnosuke from 13 years ago after traveling from the past to the present.
Aoi and Akane's parents passed away in an accident 13 years ago, and Akane gave up her ambition of going to Tokyo with Shinnosuke to take care of Aoi. Since then, Aoi has felt indebted to her older sister. One day, she is invited to perform at a music festival as a session musician by a famous enka singer named Dankichi. At the same time, Shinnosuke returns to Aoi and Akane's town after a long time away. Then, Shinno mysteriously appears, and Aoi falls in love for the first time.
Director Tatsuyuki Nagai, writer and director Mari Okada, and artist Masayoshi Tanaka — the members of Super Peace Busters — are handling the film. Nagai is directing, Okada is penning the script, and Tanaka is drawing the original character designs and serving as chief animation director. CloverWorks is in charge of animation production. Producers Hiroyuki Shimizu (anohana, The Anthem of the Heart) and Genki Kawamura (your name., Mirai) are producing the film. Matsudaira will perform an insert song for the film.
Aimyon will also perform the film's main theme song "Sora no Aosa o Shiru Hito yo" (To Those Who Know the Blueness of the Sky), and will also perform the film's ending theme song "Aoi" (Mallow Blue).
Nagai, Okada, and Tanaka commented that the film is the third work set in Okada's hometown of Chichibu, after anohana and The Anthem of the Heart. Nagai also noted that the film will center around the relationship between four people.
The trio first collaborated on the Toradora! anime in 2008, and reunited for the anohana original anime and films in 2011 and 2013. The group's Super Peace Busters moniker originated from anohana. The trio then collaborated once more in 2015 with The Anthem of the Heart original anime film. Nagai and Okada collaborated again (without Tanaka) on the Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans series, and Nagai served as unit director for Okada's directorial debut film Maquia - When the Promised Flower Blooms in 2018.
Nagai's other directorial works include both seasons of A Certain Scientific Railgun and Waiting in the Summer.
Okada's other works include her frequent collaborations with P.A. Works, including True Tears, Hana-Saku Iroha, A Lull in the Sea, and The Lost Village. P.A. Works also produced her Maquia film. Okada's O Maidens in Your Savage Season manga inspired a television anime that premiered on July 5 and ended in September.
Tanaka's other notable works where he served as character designer and chief animation director include your name., DARLING in the FRANXX, Highschool of the Dead, Joshiraku, and Waiting in the Summer.
