The film which opened in Japan on November 8 wins the award for best animation
The 29th Japan Movie Critics Award announced the award winners on Monday. Eiga Sumikko Gurashi: Tobidasu Ehon to Himitsu no Ko (Sumikko Gurashi The Movie – The Unexpected Picture Book and the Secret Child), the animated film by San-XThe characters of “Sumikko Gurashi” (Living nearby) won the award for best animation of the year. An awards ceremony did not take place this year due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The animated film opened in Japan on November 8 in 114 theaters and ranked No.3 on its opening weekend. The film sold 104,000 tickets and earned 121 million yen (about $ 1.11 million) over the weekend, but sold 114,280 tickets and earned 132,873,500 yen (about $ 1.22 million) US) from Friday to Sunday of this week. The film had sold a total of 1.2 million tickets and grossed 1.4 billion yen (about $ 12.8 million) at the Japanese box office as of February 4.
MankyÅ« ([email protected] Cinderella’s Girls Theater, Jaku-San-Sei Million Arthur) directed the film at Fanworks. Takashi sumita (Europe Kikaku) wrote the screenplay. Kaori hino (Nap princess, In this corner of the world) was the artistic director.
The story of the film begins when the characters of Sumikko Gurashi find a mysterious picture book in the basement of a cafe where they still go. The film introduces new places, objects and people.
Sumikko Gurashi debuted in 2012 as slightly negative characters who like to stay in the corner of a room. Characters include “Shirokuma,†a cold-sensitive polar bear; “Penguin?” (with a question mark in its name), a penguin who doesn’t know if it’s a penguin; “Tonkatsu”, a piece of pork chop that has not been eaten; “Neko”, a shy cat; and “Tokage”, which hides its nature as one of the last dinosaurs.
The franchise has inspired toys, books, stationery materials, and video games.
Sources: Film Critics Award in Japan, Animation business journal (Tadashi Sudo)
