RAFU STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Animated features from Japan were among the nominees for the 47th annual Annie Awards, which were announced by the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA-Hollywood) on Dec. 2.
In the Best Indie Feature category, three of the five nominees were from Japan: Makoto Shinkai’s “Weathering with You,” Kitaro Kosaka’s “Okko’s Inn,” and Hiroyuki Imaishi’s “Promare.” Also nominated were “I Lost My Body” from France and “Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles” from Spain.
“Weathering with You” (Japanese title: Tenki no Ko”), a boy-meets-girl tale with supernatural elements, was also nominated in the following categories:
Best Direction-Feature — Shinkai is nominated along with Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck for “Frozen 2,” Jeremy Clapin for “I Lost My Body,” Sergio Pablos for “Klaus,” and Chris Butler for “Missing Link.”
Best Writing-Feature — Shinkai is nominated along with Jennifer Lee for “Frozen 2,” Dean DeBlois for “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” Jeremy Clapin and Guillaume Laurant for “I Lost My Body,” and Andrew Stanton and Stephany Folsom for “Toy Story 4.”
Best FX for Feature — “Weathering with You” (nominees: Hidetsugu Ito, Yuko Nakajima, Jumi Lee, Ryosuke Tsuda) is competing with “Abominable,” “Frozen 2,” “Missing Link” and “Toy Story 4” (nominees include Matthew Kiyoshi Wong).
Should Shinkai’s anime clinch the title of best animated independent feature, it would be the second year in a row that a Japanese film has won that category at the Annie Awards after Mamoru Hosoda’s “Mirai.”
Shinkai’s blockbuster hit “Your Name” was nominated in 2017 but failed to win.
“Weathering With You” has also been submitted to the 92nd Academy Awards as Japan’s entry in the Best International Feature Film category.
Nominees in other categories include:
Best Production Design-Feature — Kristen Kawamura, Pierre-Olivier Vincent, Woonyoung Jung, Iuri Lioi and Philippe Brochu for “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.” Also nominated: “Abominable,” “Klaus,” “Missing Link,” “The Addams
Best Direction-TV/Media — Masahito Kobayashi for “Rilakkuma & Kaoru,” Kenji Kamiyama and Shinji Aramaki for “Ultraman.” Also nominated: “Ask the Storybots,” “DC Super Hero Girls,” “Disney Mickey Mouse.”
Best Character Design-TV/Media — Keiko Murayama for “Carmen Sandiego.” Also nominated: “DC Super Hero Girls,” “T.O.T.S.,” “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle,” “Victor and Valentino.”
Best Storyboarding-TV/Media — Shinichiro Watanabe for “Carole & Tuesday.” Also nominated: “Carmen Sandiego,” “Love, Death & Robots,” “Snoopy in Space,” “Zog.”
Best FX for TV/Media — Naoki Araiza Tokumasu for “Star Wars: Galaxy of Adventures,” Koya Masubuchi, Manuel Reyes Halaby, Cristiana Covone, Jean Claude Nouchy and Dustin Henning for “How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming.” Also nominated: “Love, Death & Robots,” “My Moon,” “Tales of Arcadia: 3Below.”
Best Character Animation-Video Game — Munemori Shinagawa, Kayoko Yajima, Koji Hamada and Koji Inoue for “Kingdom Hearts III.” Also nominated: “Gears 5-Cinematic Animation,” “Sinclair Snake: Museum Mischief,” “Unruly Heroes.”
The Annie Award winners will be named on Jan. 25 in Los Angeles. For a complete list of nominees, visit: https://annieawards.org/