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On Jan. 18, the Japan Academy Prize Association announced the works nominated for the 39th Japan Academy Prize Animation of the Year. The Japan Academy Prize is given out every year and honors outstanding achievements in the film industry. The award began in 1978 and welcomes its 39th holding this year.
Because of the increase in the number of animated films and their presence in film culture, the Animation of the Year category was added in 2006 for the event’s 30th holding. This year marks the 10th year since the category was added, and the nominees for the category have been announced.
Five films have been nominated for Animation of the Year: The Anthem of the Heart, Miss Hokusai, Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’, The Boy and the Beast, and Love Live! The School Idol Movie. Each was a blockbuster of 2015 and the wide variety of films nominated shows the abundance of Japan’s current animation culture.
The Anthem of the Heart reunited the same staff behind Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day led by director Tatsuyuki Nagai. It’s filled with emotion and tells the story of a girl who lost the ability to speak in a certain incident and her struggle to regain it. Miss Hokusai is the newest film by director Keiichi Hara which has won countless awards to date. It captures in film form the emotions of the Edo period and focusses on O-Ei, the daughter of Katsushika Hokusai. The film already has a bevy of animation awards from countries all over the world.
Three more big films are lined up as nominees. Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ is the newest story in the series that’s hugely popular worldwide and brought in a box office revenue of 7.7 billion yen worldwide. The Boy and the Beast had domestic box office earnings of 5.85 billion yen, showing how highly popular director Mamoru Hosoda’s films are. Another nominee is the smash hit Love Live! The School Idol Movie which broke through 2.8 billion yen to become the highest grossing film that began as a late-night anime. The series has created a colossal movement that included the idol girls performing on NHK’s Kohaku Uta Gassen. Now the waves of its movement have reached the Japan Academy Prize.
The winning film will be announced at the award ceremony to be held on March 4, 2016 at the
Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa Parmir International Hall in Minato, Tokyo. One film from the five nominated will be crowned Animation of the Year. In addition to nominees, award winners and presenters from previous ceremonies will be invited as guests to the ceremony. Among these is Ryuichi Yagi, director of Stand By Me: Doraemon. The ceremony will be hosted by Toshiyuki Nishida and Rie Miyazawa. It will be an extravagant day that gathers together the top faces of Japan’s film industry.
39th Japan Academy Prize
Animation of the Year Nominees:
- The Anthem of the Heart
- Miss Hokusai
- Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’
- The Boy and the Beast
- Love Live! The School Idol Movie
Source: animeanime
