The longest day
Some great news for June 21st…
AS THE SUN sets on the longest day of the year, it’s nice to be able to report some cracking news on the latest work from the king of evening skies himself, Makoto Shinkai. ICv2 is confirming the report that ADV has picked up the rights to Byousoku 5 Centimeter (5cm Per Second: A Chain of Short Stories). No surprise, as the same firm is also responsible for releasing Voices of a Distant Star and Place Promised in our Early Days in both the US and UK.
The first of three parts, entitled Oukashou (A Tale of Cherry Blossoms), has been available since it was streamed as part of a Yahoo! broadcast earlier in the year (I wrote about it here), and it has been whetting appetites for a western release ever since. Even better news is that – in the US at least – the DVD (planned for December) will be preceded by run in theatres.
If you’re not aware of Makoto Shinkai’s work, well, he’s been favourably mentioned in the same sentences as the famed Hayao Miyazaki, but I think that’s a lazy comparision. Miyazaki is a the most well known of anime story tellers, but Shinkai’s use of light and colour is unsurpassed, and Byousoku 5 Centimeter looks like refining the outstanding visuals of his earlier work and if Oukashou is anything to go by then this will be a visual feast that stands head and shoulders about anything else out there. Simply georgeous.
In fact, it deserves a HD or Blue-Ray release, but this has been ruled out, at least in the short term. Not that I can play either format, but it would be nice to have the option – and I think Byousoku 5 Centimeter might just be one of those movies that could tempt people to upgrade.
The UK releases for Shinkai’s earlier two anime have followed on quite quickly from the North American DVDs – no three or four year hiatuses in these instances – so I’ll be hoping for the same in this case.
The theatrical release is a little beyond my reach (since I live on the other side of the Pacific from the US) but I’m definitely looking forward to the DVD.
“In fact, it deserves a HD or Blue-Ray release, but this has been ruled out, at least in the short term. Not that I can play either format, but it would be nice to have the option – and I think Byousoku 5 Centimeter might just be one of those movies that could tempt people to upgrade.”
I agree with you on that point – the stunning backgrounds alone are probably worth the price of a Blu-Ray player and a top-of-the-line plasma screen. Still, with neither of those an option on my limited budget I shall have to commit the sacrilege of watching the film on an old-fashioned CRT.
Diego
June 23, 2007 at 1:58 pm
I’m really hoping that the theatrical release goes well in the US. You never know, it might convince ADV to do something similar in the UK.
Having said that, we can’t even get reasonable releases of Paprika or Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo so I’m not holding my breath.
lastarial
June 23, 2007 at 3:50 pm