With the recent announcement that North American media distributor Eleven Arts is planning on releasing the anime film adaptation of Yoshitoki Ooima’s Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice) manga to the NA region on October 20, it has been confirmed that the film is eligible to be a nominee for the next Academy Awards.
2018 will host the 90th Academy Awards, known as the Oscars, on March 4th, 2018. Since the film is getting a North American release before the end of the calendar year, it is eligable for the Best Featured Animated film category. If the film does receive a nomination, it would be the first nominated anime film not produced by Studio Ghibli. A total of 6 anime films have been nominated in the past.
Last year, Makoto Shinkai’s critically acclaimed Kimi no Na wa. (your name.) was submitted as a nomination for the Best Featured Animated film at the 89th Academy Awards, however it did not make the cut.
Alongside Koe no Katachi, two other Japanese animation films are also eligible for nomination:
- Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni (In This Corner of the World)
- Meari to majo no hana (Mary and the Witch’s Flower)
Not many details about the film’s NA release were revealed just yet, including the locations (and if Canada will be included) it will be screened at and if there will be an English dub. United Kingdom anime licensor and distributor All the Anime have started production on their own English dubbing of the film; it is unknown if the NA release will feature the same dub.
The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan on May 15th, with a limited edition Blu-ray featuring a host of bonuses.
Koe no Katachi is the highest grossing film from Kyoto Animation, earning a total of ¥2.3 Billion (~ US $20 Million). The film debuted #2 at the Japanese box office in its opening weekend taking in ¥283 Million (~ US$2.8 Million). The film opened at 120 screens across Japan and has sold more than 300,000 tickets over the 3 day period. It topped ¥410 Million (~ US$4.06 Million) in its first 3 days
Here is the main cast of the anime:
- Miyu Irino (Akito Hyuuga in Code Geass: Boukoku no Akito) will star as Shouya Ishida
- Saori Hayami (Yukino Yukinoshita from Oregairu) will be voicing as Shouko Nishimiya
- Saori Hayami will also voice young Shouko Nishimiya
- Mayu Matsuoka (Debut Anime Role) voices a young Shouya Ishida
- Aoi Yuuki (Madoka Kaname in Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica) as Yuzuru Nishiya
- Kensho Ono (Slaine Troyard from Aldnoah.Zero) voicing Tomohiro Nagatsu
- Yuki Kaneko (Midori Tokiwa in Tamako Market) will voice Naoka Ueno
- Yui Ishikawa (Mikasa Ackerman in Attack on Titan) voices Miyoko Sahara
- Megumi Han (Hunter x Hunter (2011)) is going to voice Miki Kawai
- Toshiyuki Toyonaga (Mikado Ryuugamine from Durarara!!) voicing the role of Satoshi Mashibasa
The production staff of the Koe no Katachi anime includes:
- Director: Naoko Yamada (K-ON!, Tamako Market)
- Series Composer: Reiko Yoshida (Bakuman, Non Non Biyori)
- Anime Character Designer: Futoshi Nishiya (Free!, Hyouka)
- Sound Director: Yota Tsuruoka (Amagi Brilliant Park, Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica)
- Music: Kensuke Ushio (Ping Pong The Animation, Space☆Dandy)
- Animation Studio: Kyoto Animation (Hyouka, Hibike! Euphonium)
Here is the film’s main trailer:
Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice) is a manga series written and illustrated by Yoshitoki Ooima. The series began as a one-shot in the February 2011 issue of Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. A full manga series was then produced in August 2013 where it was published weekly in Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine. The series itself ended on the 12th this month for a total of 61 chapters compiled into 7 volumes, with the last volume releasing on December 17th. Since its publication, the series has sold over 700,000 copies as of May 2014.
Here is a synopsis of the series from MAL:
Ishida Shouya bullies a deaf girl, Nishimiya Shouko, to the point that she drops out of school. As a result, he is ostracized and bullied himself with no friends to speak of and no plans for the future.
This is the story of his path to redemption.
The Koe no Katachi anime film will finally see a North American release on October 20, and is eligible for the nomination of Best Animated Feature at the next Academy Awards. The Japanese Blu-ray and DVD of the film is currently available. Further details on the NA release of the movie will be revealed in the weeks leasing up to the premiere.
You can visit the anime’s website here: http://koenokatachi-movie.com/
And follow their Twitter: @koenokatachi_M
“Koe no Katachi”, “A Silent Voice”, images and all associated brands and titles © 2017 Yoshitoki Ooima, Kodansha, Kyoto Animation and the Koe no Katachi Production Committee