My favorite time in sports is rapidly approaching. Come July, you can find me glued to the Tour De France. The nearly month long bicycle race is always on my TV in the morning. I don’t have a favorite cyclist or team. Mostly I watch the race so I can sink into the sofa and take in the glorious French countryside. I imagine being able to afford one of the rustic houses along the roadways. I do enjoy the race as the riders go up and down the Alps and zip across the rural communities. There is excitement when a small group of riders decide to speed up their peddling and break away from the Peloton. Will they be able to endure their burst of energy or will they be caught and absorbed into the pack once more? Nasu: Summer In Andalusia is about such a moment in a race across the south part of Spain.
Pepe Benengeli (Yo Ōizumi) is in the middle of the Vuelta a España (a real race) on the leg that cuts through his hometown in Andalusia. His older brother Angel is also having a busy day getting married. Pepe doesn’t care that he’s missing the event since Angel’s marrying his old girlfriend. He also has bigger things on his head as he peddles in the pack of riders. The team’s sponsor is thinking of not renewing their contract without better results. The team’s manager orders Pepe to join the team leader Gilmore (Yūshi Satō) in a daring breakaway during the hottest part of the day. Making things worse, the beer company sponsor riding in the backseat of the manager’s car mentions that he wants Pepe kicked off the team. He thinks the local guy is pulling them down. That’s a lot weighing on Pepe’s shoulders as he attacks a mountain with Gilmore. Can he really hold back the other attackers and eventually the Peloton on such a busy day on a barren road?
Nasu: Summer In Andalusia is packed with sports action and emotional complications normally found in film twice as long. Director Kitarō Kōsaka is legendary for his work at Studio Ghibli as art director on Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo, From Up On Poppy Hill and The Wind Rises. Hayao Miyazaki gave Kōsaka a copy of Iō Kuroda’s manga Nasu and suggested he make it. After watching the film, Miyazaki found the right man. Kōsaka and his team really capture the intensity of the bicycle race in animation form. The sprint to the end gets right into the struggle to gain that extra burst of energy to take the slightest of leads for the line. There’s so much going on in the film and Kōsaka visually captures the intensity and chaos without making the viewer confused. There’s a bit of realism to the sporting event. He even reminds us that the race isn’t over until the riders take their urine test. Nasu: Summer In Andalusia is the perfect way to get excited about European bicycle racing season.
The American version of Nasu: Summer In Andalusia is a few minutes longer than Japanese version because the rerun the end credits in English.
The Video is 1.33:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer brings out the beauty of the animated Andalusia. The Audio is Japanese DTS HD-MA in 5.1 Surround and 2.0 Stereo. Things sound great between the music and characters. The movie is subtitled in English.
Teaser (1:37) opens with a group of eggplant demanding to have a manga made about them. The rest of the teaser is text, storyboards and a single background painting of the family restaurant. It’s a real teaser. I want the eggplant movie too.
Original Theatrical Trailer (1:36) lets us know it was the first anime to play Cannes Director’s Fortnight. They build up director Kitarō Kōsaka’s credentials. Most importantly is they promote the short running time of the film as “47 minutes of excitement.”
US Blu-ray Trailer (0:57) has the big highlights from the race and family.
TV Promos (1:19) has two commercials about the film being highly anticipated. They are also two ads promoting the beer featured in the film being available for a limited time. When is the last time you saw an animated *cartoon linked in with beer?
Interview with Director Kitarō Kōsaka (6:17) is from the original release in 2003. We see him drawing at his desk. He talks about getting into the human side of the cyclists. There is discussion about animating bicycles and how hard his team worked on making the visuals work. We see him after the movie opens when he’s in a tuxedo and thrilled to see the support for the film in theaters when he felt it would only get a video release. The impact of Cannes is covered.
Director/Voice Cast Interview (16:22) has the cast reading their lines at the studio around the microphones as part of a press event. The cast and the director talk about the characters. One actor talks about being a frog in Spirited Away.
Premiere Event Footage (10:32) has a packed theater as cast and the director hit the stage in formal dress.
Full Feature Storyboard (45:46) is the entire film done with the drawings and paintings before the film went to animation.
Retrospective Interview with Kitarō Kōsaka (26:04) has him talk about working on anime since he was in high school in the 1980s. He worked odd part-time jobs for TV shows including Future Boy Conan with Hayao Miyazaki as the director. He explains his role as Art Director on films. We learn how he stepped up to direct his own films. There is an explanation why he took Nasu to Madhouse instead of getting to make it at Studio Ghibli. It was originally developed as an OVA, but became theatrical. He was shocked since it was about half the length of a feature film. He focuses on how he had to change the original art style from the manga to fit the budget of the film. He also visited Andalusia since the region was so different from Japan. This was shot in 2023.
AnimEigo presents Nasu: Summer In Andalusia. Directed by Kitarō Kōsaka. Screenplay by Kitarō Kōsaka. Starring the voices of Yo Ōizumi, Eiko Koike, Hiroaki Hirata, Masahiko Tanaka, Minoru Hirano, Mitsumasa Daigo and Rintarou Nishi. Running Time: 51 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: March 25, 2025.
