Makoto Shinkai has become quite popular over the years with his hits Weathering With You and Your Name. As we await his upcoming Suzume Locking Up the Doors, the animation director’s first three feature films are coming out on Blu-ray in June from GKIDs and Shout! Factory. Shinkai’s early work retrospective establishes the foundation of his later work. There are even two of his early short films included. It’s a celebration of Shinkai. Here’s the press release from Shout! Factory:
 Three Films from Celebrated Filmmaker Makoto Shinkai The Place Promised in Our Early Days, 5 Centimeters Per Second, and Children Who Chase Lost Voices |
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| New Blu-ray Editions of these Critically Acclaimed Masterworks Available June 7, 2022 Short Films Voices of a Distant Star and She and Her Cat Make Blu-ray Debut The visionary director of Weathering With You and Your Name., Makoto Shinkai’s ambitious, award-winning films are beloved by cinephiles the world over for his lushly animated, wistful tales of star-crossed relationships that take place in captivating, imaginative worlds. This June, GKIDS, with distribution by Shout! Factory, is proud to release new Blu-ray editions of these early masterworks, several of which are making their North American Blu-ray debuts. The three films, The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004), 5 Centimeters Per Second (2007), and Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011), and all come loaded with bonus features including audio commentaries, interviews with Shinkai, storyboards, trailers, and much more. 5 Centimeters Per Second will also mark the Blu-ray debut of Shinkai’s lauded short films Voices of a Distant Star and She and Her Cat, included on the disc as bonus features. Fans of these notable films can preorder their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com or GKIDS.com The feature film debut from Makoto Shinkai, The Place Promised in Our Early Days is a haunting and beautiful story of friendship and loss, with stunning visuals and the emotional approach to science-fiction that would become the director’s trademark. In an alternate post-war Japan, three teenagers become obsessed with a mysterious tower across the Union border, which reaches far into the sky. Hiroki and Takuya work on a makeshift airplane, which they promise their friend Sayuri they will use to visit the tower together someday, but she disappears before it is completed. Several years later, the tower suddenly activates, starting a phenomenon that threatens the world. And the young men now discover their long-lost friend Sayuri may hold the key to it all…The Place Promised in Our Early Days is the winner of Best Animated Film at Mainichi Film Award, Silver Prize at Fantasia Film Festival, and Award for Expression Technique at the Tokyo International Anime Fair. Young love, missed connections, and unrequited feelings collide in a romance from Makoto Shinkai. Told in three vignettes, 5 Centimeters Per Second: A Chain Of Short Stories About Their Distance explores the joys and heartache of falling in love set against the backdrop of the breathtaking visuals that define Shinkai’s work. Takaki yearns to spill his heart out for childhood crush Akari, but both their families move away before any feelings can fully blossom. They stay in touch, but eventually drift apart with school and new friends to distract them. As the seasons pass, Takaki navigates his relationships while haunted by all the things he left unsaid with Akari, his first love. Also included is Voices of a Distant Star, the debut film from Makoto Shinkai, available for the first time on Blu-ray in North America. 5 Centimeters Per Second was winner of Best Animated Feature Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below is an epic fantasy adventure in a world of ancient gods. Asuna is an introvert who prefers spending her time listening to a radio left by her deceased father. One day, she hears an odd song that resonates in her heart unlike anything else. It leads to a chance encounter with a mysterious boy, who transports Asuna to Agartha, a land of legend where the dead can be brought back to life. Compelled by the song and the boy, Asuna journeys through the mythical lands, but hostile warriors and ghastly creatures will stop at nothing to prevent Asuna from uncovering the secrets of their world. Children Who Chase Lost Voices was nominated for Best Feature at Annecy and winner of Best Art Direction at the Tokyo Anime Award. The Place Promised in Our Early Days Bonus Features Interviews with Japanese voice cast Interview with director Makoto Shinkai Trailer collection 5 Centimeters Per Second Bonus Features Voices of a Distant Star short film Feature-length storyboard (5 Centimeters Per Second) Interview with Shinkai (5 Centimeters Per Second) Interview with cast Music video Trailers She and Her Cat short film Interview with Makoto Shinkai (Voices of a Distant Star) Storyboards (Voices of a Distant Star) Trailer Collection Children Who Chase Lost Voices Bonus Features Audio commentary with Shinkai and staff Interviews with staff and cast Making of Children Who Chase Lost Voices Japanese promotional video Japanese trailers Works of Makoto Shinkai About GKIDS GKIDS is the producer and distributor of award-winning feature animation for both adult and family audiences. Since 2010, the company has scored an astounding 12 Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations with The Secret of Kells in 2010, A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita in 2012, Ernest & Celestine in 2014, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya and Song of the Sea in 2015, Boy and the World and When Marnie Was There in 2016, My Life as a Zucchini in 2017, The Breadwinner in 2018, Mirai in 2019, and Wolfwalkers in 2021. GKIDS handles North American distribution for the famed Studio Ghibli library of films, one of the world’s most coveted animation collections with titles Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and others; as well as the critically acclaimed television series, NEON GENESIS EVANGELION. Also, GKIDS is the founder and host of ANIMATION IS FILM, the annual LA-based film festival which embraces the highest aspirations of animation as a cinematic art form, and is a vocal advocate for filmmakers who push the boundaries of the medium to its fullest range of artistic expressions. www.gkids.com About Shout! Factory Shout! Factory, LLC is a leading multi-platform media company devoted to film and TV distribution, development, and production, as well as the preservation and revitalization of the very best in pop-culture entertainment. Founded by Richard Foos, Bob Emmer, and Garson Foos in 2003, Shout! owns and manages a large portfolio of films, contemporary and classic TV series, animation, and documentaries. The company’s creative acquisition mandate has established it as a leading independent distributor, with partners and properties including GKIDS, Sesame Street, The Carol Burnett Show, The Johnny Carson Show, IFC Films, Stephen J. Cannell Productions, ITV Studios, Major League Baseball Productions, and many others. Shout! Factory Kids focuses on live-action and animated kids and family properties, and the company releases films and television shows in other genres under the Scream Factory and Shout Select imprints. Shout! develops, acquires and distributes new films via Shout! Studios, owns and operates libraries including Mystery Science Theater 3000 (in partnership with creator Joel Hodgson) and the Roger Corman New Horizon Pictures Library, and operates the acclaimed streaming service Shout! Factory TV. Shout! Factory is based in Los Angeles, California. For more on Shout! Factory, visit shoutfactory.com. |
