Mamoru-Hosodas-Next-Film-Is-Bakemono-no-Ko

Mamoru Hosoda’s Next Film Is Bakemono no Ko

In a recent press conference, Japanese animation director Mamoru Hosoda has announced his next film project, Bakemono no Ko (The Boy and the Beast). The film itself will release in Japan next July and the movie’s official website has launched with the first key visual of the anime.

Bakemono-no-Ko-Visual

Hosoda will be the director and scriptwriter of his upcoming film. There are already plans for a French release of Bakemono no Ko with the French movie studio Gaumont handling the distribution of the film outside of Asia. The film’s production staff were also revealed at the conference:

  • Director and Scriptwriter: Mamoru Hosoda (Wolf Children, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time)
  • Animation Directors: Takaaki Yamashita (Digimon: The MovieWolf Children) and Tatsuzou Nishida (Summer Wars, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie – Conqueror of Shamballa)
  • Art Directors: Takashi Omori (From Up On Poppy Hill, Ponyo), Youhei Takamatsu (Hoshi wo Katta Hi), Youichi Nishikawa (Debut Role)
  • Music: Masakatsu Takagi (Wolf Children)
  • Animation Studio: Studio Chizu (Wolf Children)

At the conference, Hosoda discusses more about the premise of Bakemono no Ko:

The movie is a training story about a boy who was separated from his parents and becomes a disciple of a bakemono (supernatural creature). It’s going to be a traditional yet novel story. [I think] that there are thrilling things hidden in this town [Shibuya] of adventure. There are surprisingly few animated works set in Shibuya. Even though it’s a famous place, it’ll be novel as a movie setting.

The first trailer for Bakemono no Ko also released:

Mamoru Hosoda is a well known anime director who have directed many well known anime films. His first major work was with Toei Animation (Dragon Ball Z, One Piece) for the production of the Digimon series, where he directed the 21st episode of the original anime and the Digimon film: Our War Game. He also directed the 2005 One Piece film Omatsuri Danshaku to Himitsu no Shima. He later left the studio to work with Madhouse (Hunter x Hunter, No Game No Life) where he created and directed his first original film in 2006, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. He also directed the 2009 film Summer Wars before leaving Madhouse to form his own studio, Studio Chizu. Their first production is Hosoda’s 2012 original film Wolf Children, which won the 2013 Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year, and was followed by 2015’s Bakemono no Ko (The Boy and The Beast).

Here is a synopsis of the film:

The story is set in the human realm (Tokyo’s Shibuya ward) and the bakemono realm (“Shibutenmachi”). In these two worlds which must not intersect, there lives a lonely boy and a lonely bakemono. One day, the boy gets lost in the bakemono world, becomes the disciple of the bakemono Kumatetsu, and is renamed Kyūta.

Bakemono no Ko (The Boy and the Beast) is scheduled to release in Japanese theatres on July 11. Further information about the film will release in the upcoming months.

You can visit the anime’s website here: http://www.bakemono-no-ko.jp/

 
Source Article and Image – Bakemono no Ko Website
Source Article – Anime News Network
Source Article – MyAnimeList
Source Article – Oricon
“Bakemono no Ko”, “The Boy and the Beast”, images, video, and all associated brands and titles © 2014 Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu