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The nominees of the 38th Japan Academy Prize, an award ceremony for honoring the excellent films of 2014 and the staff who made them, were announced on Jan. 14. This year, five works were nominated for Animation of the Year. These include When Marnie Was There, Giovanni’s Island, Detective Conan: The Sniper from Another Dimension, Buddha 2: Tezuka Osamu’s Buddha - The Unending Journey, and Stand By Me Doraemon. Each nominee was a hit in 2014.
When Marnie Was There is the newest work from Studio Ghibli directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi whose film Arrietty won the 34th Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year. Of the eight awards conferred thus far for Animation of the Year, a category which began with the 30th Japan Academy Prize, four of them have gone to Studio Ghibli.
Mizuho Nishikubo’s Giovanni’s Island is a work that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Japan Association of Music Enterprises. It has already received many sparkling awards at film festivals throughout the country.
Detective Conan: The Sniper from Another Dimension is the 18th movie in the popular anime series. The series has, thus far, been nominated for a Japan Academy Prize seven times, with the last being Lupin III vs. Detective Conan the Movie.
Buddha 2: Tezuka Osamu’s Buddha - The Unending Journey is the second part in a trilogy depicting the life of Buddha. This second part follows up the first with another nomination for Animation of the Year.
Finally, there’s Stand By Me Doraemon, the biggest Japanese movie of 2014. This hit work shows the well-known character Doraemon in full CG.
Which work among these five will walk away with the title of Animation of the Year will be announced at the official award ceremony to take place on Feb. 27 at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Since last year’s winner, The Wind Rises, the Animation of the Year category continues to be a point of interest. Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki will be the presenter of the Animation of the Year award at the award ceremony. Well-known anime music composer Joe Hisaishi will be the presenter of the Music category. A simulcast of the award ceremony will be broadcast on Nippon TV and Nippon Broadcasting networks.
■ Animation of the Year Nominees
*When Marnie Was There*
*Giovanni’s Island*
*Detective Conan: The Sniper from Another Dimension*
*Buddha 2: Tezuka Osamu’s Buddha - The Unending Journey*
*Stand By Me Doraemon*
Source: animeanime
