August 17, 2007

Production I.G has started working on a second season of xxxHOLiC, based on CLAMP's bestseller comic book published in Japan by Kodansha.

I.G already produced the theatrical feature xxxHOLiC - A Midsummer Night's Dream (2005), nominated for the Feature Films category at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2006, and a 24-episode TV series, aired in Japan in 2006 and equally nominated at Annecy 2007 in the TV Series category.

The main staff from the first series has been confirmed: Michiko Yokote supervises the series plot with CLAMP's leader Ageha Okawa; Tsutomu Mizushima directs; and Kazuchika Kise is in charge of the character designs.

© CLAMP·KODANSHA/Ayakashi Workshop

June 20, 2007

Somewhere, in a country similar to ours
There are children who do not became adult
They are very similar to us

Mamoru Oshii, the world-famous Japanese filmmaker, whose works include Ghost in the Shell (1995) and Innocence (2004), will direct a new feature animation film, The Sky Crawlers, to be released in Japan in 2008.

The film is based on a popular five-part novel by a best-seller writer, MORI Hiroshi, who enjoys enthusiastic support from younger generations and has sold over 8 million copies of his works in total. The story unfolds in another 'possible' modern age. The main characters are youngsters called "Kildren", who are destined to live eternally in their adolescence. The Kildren are conscious that every day could be the last, because they fight a "war as entertainment" organized and operated by adults. But as they embrace the reality they are faced with, they live their day-to-day lives to the full.

After reading the novel, Director Oshii praised it as "a work that should be made into a movie for young people now." Clothing, food and housing are in abundance in our modern society, and yet we carry an unfulfilled vacuum in our hearts. "It is time to face this new perception to our existence through the Kildren, who live indefinitely in eternal adolescence, and this theme should be dealt with now," claims Oshii earnestly. The author MORI regards his novel, The Sky Crawlers "as the most difficult among all of my works for film adaptation." However, MORI declared himself "surprised and relieved at the same time to know the director was going to be Mamoru Oshii," and gave his immediate consent.

Mamoru Oshii is best known worldwide for the epoch-making Ghost in the Shell, that topped the Billboard video chart in the US, and its sequel Innocence, the first Japanese animation film to compete for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival. His philosophical speculations and revolutionary visual approach that run throughout his oeuvre had a definitive impact on many film directors, including Luc Besson of The Fifth Element (1997) and the Wachowski brothers of The Matrix (1999).

However, Oshii declares that he is sealing off his method of direction so far. While distancing himself from the original novel "to create a more entertaining work," he has promoted an up-and-coming scriptwriter, Chihiro Ito, who depicted youngsters' sensitive feelings beautifully in two acclaimed movies, Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World (Sekai no Chushin de Ai wo Sakebu, 2004) and Spring Snow (Haru no Yuki, 2005).

The animation production is by the top animation studio in Japan, Production I.G, which has been underpinning the quality of Oshii films. The music score will be written by Oshii's most trusted composer, Kenji Kawai.

The Sky Crawlers is going to be a completely new Oshii film.

The Sky Crawlers is a collaborative project by Nippon Television Network Corporation and Production I.G, Inc., distributed in Japan by Warner Entertainment Japan Inc., to be released in theaters nationwide in 2008.

MAIN STAFF
Based on the novel by MORI Hiroshi (published in Japan by Chuokoron-Shinsha)
Screenplay: Chihiro Ito
Music: Kenji Kawai
Executive Producers: Seiji Okuda, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa
Producer: Tomohiko Ishii
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Sequence Director: Toshihiko Nishikubo
Character Designer/Key Animation Director: Tetsuya Nishio
Mechanical Designer: Atsushi Takeuchi
Art Director: Kazuo Nagai
Art Settings: Takashi Watabe
Color Designer: Kumiko Yusa
Visual Effects: Hisashi Ezura
CGI Supervisor: Hiroyuki Hayashi
Line Producer: Toru Kawaguchi
Animation Production: Production I.G
Distribution in Japan: Warner Entertainment Japan

Official website (Japanese only)
http://sky.crawlers.jp/

© MH/NI,BWDVYHDYCH

March 23, 2007

Celebrating the 20th anniversary from its foundation, Production I.G announces at TAF 2007 a new project, Ghost Hound (original title: Shinreigari / Ghost Hound), written by Production I.G and Ghost in the Shell-famed Shirow Masamune. The main staff includes director Ryutaro Nakamura (Serial Experiments Lain, Kino's Travels), scriptwriter Chiaki J. Konaka (Serial Experiments Lain, The Big O) and character designer Mariko Oka (Jigoku Shojo, Jing: King of Bandits). The story will be co-developed by Crossroad. Ghost Hound will premiere in Japan fall 2007 on WOWOW.
The comic version of Ghost Hound, drawn by Kanata Asahi, will start serializing in Japan on Monthly Comic Blade (published by Mag Garden) from March 30, 2007.

© 2007 Production I.G · Shirow Masamune / GHOST HOUND Production Committee

March 23, 2007

Production I.G has created the animation for Kao Corporation's new image video dedicated to the Asience shampoo line. The 1-minute long fully animated film, entitled Asience: Hairy Tale, is directed by Kazuto Nakazawa, who gained international fame by directing the animation part in Quentin Tarantino's world hit Kill Bill: Vol. 1. Nakazawa also designed the characters and directed the animation. Art direction has been entrusted to Shuichi Hirata, the texture wizard behind the stunning artwork of Cannes-nominated Innocence and Annecy-selected xxxHOLiC - A Midsummer Night's Dream. The genuine Japanese style music has been composed by Yoshihiro Ike, who already collaborated with I.G in Blood: The Last Vampire and Reideen.

The graphic style of Asience: Hairy Tale is visually inspired by the Japanese woodblock prints, and personalized by Nakazawa's nervous and expressive brush touch used for the characters outlines. The story concept, focusing on woman's hair as metaphor of feminine life, is portrayed as a tragic love story in a samurai drama fashion.

The image video is receiving a sneak preview at Production I.G booth (B-02) at Tokyo Anime Fair 2007, held in Tokyo March 22 to 25, 2007.

© 1994-2007 KAO CORPORATION. All Rights Reserved.

March 9, 2007

Production I.G and Victor Entertainment have teamed up to produce a fully animated music clip for the song Universe, performed by popular Japanese singer Maaya Sakamoto and included in the artist's forthcoming album, 30minutes night flight, to be released in Japan on March 21, 2007. The video clip will be made available on DVD format in the limited double-disc edition of the album.

The beautiful and bittersweet animation of Universe, that unfolds like a watercolor-painted picture book, is the creative result of a promising duo called Gekidan INU Curry, who designed the characters and directed the film produced at Production I.G's Studio 4 under the supervision of line producer Hidekazu Terakawa (Jin-Roh, IGPX).

About Maaya Sakamoto
Born on March 31, 1980, Maaya Sakamoto started her professional career as a singer at 15, when her talent was discovered by world-famous composer and music producer Yoko Kanno. At that time, she performed the opening song Yakusoku wa Iranai (I Don't Need Promises) for the animated TV series The Vision of Escaflowne (1996) while giving her voice to the main character in the same series, Hitomi Kanzaki. Her career as voice actor and singer continued in both animation and live action productions, her credits including Nathalie Portman / Queen Amidala in the Star Wars saga, Jessica Alba / Max in Dark Angel, and Reika Mishima in RahXephone. She has also been playing the role of Eponine for 5 years in the Japanese version of the musical Les Miserables. So far she released 9 albums (the second one, Dive, was voted Best Japanese Pop Album by Music Magazine) and 13 singles.

Her 10th and latest album, 30minutes night flight is a concept work that the artist herself describes as "a 30-minute night flight dedicated to all the people who experienced at least one sleepless night."

Maaya Sakamoto official website (Japanese only):
http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/maaya/

© Gekidan INU Curry · Production I.G / Victor Entertainment

January 26, 2007

Production I.G, Inc. has finalized with Kodansha Ltd. an agent agreement to represent the live-action rights for the property Ghost in the Shell, of which Kodansha Ltd. owns the exploitation rights to the original work.

The comic book Ghost in the Shell, originally created by Shirow Masamune in 1989, was transposed into an animated feature film in 1995, instantly earning worldwide success and topping N. 1 of Billboard Magazine video sales chart in 1996, marking an unprecedented achievement for a Japanese animated production. The movie Ghost in the Shell, directed by Mamoru Oshii, further proved to have great influence on Hollywood creators, starting from the Wachowski brothers' The Matrix.

In 2004, Mamoru Oshii directed Innocence, the ideal sequel to the 1995 Ghost in the Shell movie, that thanks to its introspective plot and visionary style received the honor to be the first Japanese animated feature film to be nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Festival de Cannes.

Starting from 2002, the Ghost in the Shell franchise was expanded into a TV series, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, directed by Kenji Kamiyama. The show was certainly action-packed with high quality animation, but also featured political and social issues, and soon gained a huge following. Immediately after the first 26-episode series, a second season, entitled Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd Gig, was aired in Japan and then in several countries in the world, for a total of 52 half-hour episodes that turned into a million seller in the home video market. In 2006, a new chapter was added to the Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. project, with a theatrical-quality direct-to-video feature film entitled Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society, again directed by Kenji Kamiyama.

Pursuant to the agreement with Kodansha Ltd., Production I.G. Inc. will represent the author of the original work and the publisher in negotiations with major film companies for the production and distribution of the live-action Ghost in the Shell.

© 1995 Shirow Masamune/KODANSHA · BANDAI VISUAL · MANGA ENTERTAINMENT
© Shirow Masamune/KODANSHA · IG, ITNDDTD
© 2002-2006 Shirow Masamune - Production I.G/KODANSHA