The Garden of Words Chosen as Best Animation on the iTunes Best of 2013 List

© Makoto Shinkai / CoMix Wave Films
© Makoto Shinkai / CoMix Wave Films

The iTunes Best of 2013 list covering music, videos, apps, and more available on the iTunes Store has been announced. This list is an introduction to the best works of 2013 as recommended by the iTunes Store staff. Director Makoto Shinkai’s animated film The Garden of Words was chosen as the Year’s Best Animation. On the iTunes Store, the film has received high acclaim and has even been called a piece of literature. There was also reference to the experiment of starting to distribute the film through iTunes at the same time it released in theaters.

Theatrical movies typically undergo step-by-step expansion to other media, called windows, on which they can be appreciated. This usually goes as follows: the movie is digitally distributed several months after it releases in theaters, then the Blu-ray and DVD are released, then paid broadcasting begins, and after this free broadcasting begins. However, things were done differently for The Garden of Words. It began being distributed on iTunes at the same time it released in theaters, and the Blu-ray and DVD were sold while the movie was still in theaters as well. For a movie, such a process is irregular. Not only did the movie become a hit, it was received favorably across each form of media it was released in. On the iTunes store in particular, the ¥2,500 digital copy of The Garden of Words ranked at No. 7 among both Western and Japanese movies, even topping the Disney animation Sugar Rush which came in at No. 8. From such a result, the popularity of director Shinkai’s work among digital users becomes evident.

Other categories on the iTunes Best of 2013 list include Music, App Store, Movies, Books, TV Shows, and Podcasts. In the Movie category, Star Trek: Into Darkness was chosen as one of the year’s best. In all, the only other work chosen for Year’s Best Animation was Monsters University.

On the other hand, Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan devoured the competition in the Books category. Not just the 12th volume of the work was chosen as the Best Manga, the 11th volume also ranked No. 1 among the top paid ebooks of the year. In fact, the series monopolized the ranking, with volumes 1-11 taking up the 11 top spots on the list. Coming in at No. 12 was Oretachi Hana no Bubble Gumi from Jun Ikeido, creator of Hanzawa Naoki.

On the free book side, Tatsuo Hori’s The Wind Has Risen, the inspiration to Hayao Miyazaki’s newest animated film, came in at No. 7. Also on this list was Shūhō Satō’s Say Hello to Black Jack 02.

The Garden of Words Official Site

iTunes Best of 2013

Source: animeanime

These are your people. Join the TOM Fan Club to meet more fun, friendly otaku: https://otakumode.com/fb/8it