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Ponyo, Sky Crawlers Nominated for Japan Academy Prizes

posted on by Egan Loo
Also: Doraemon, Conan, One Piece, Paco, DMC's Matsuyama & Matsuyuki, Ponyo's Hisaishi, Ikigami's Matsuda, Ghibli

The Nippon Academy-Sho Association, a Japanese group roughly comparable to America's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Oscars fame, has announced the nominees of the 32nd Japan Academy Prizes on Thursday. The awards honor excellence in motion pictures that premiered in 2008, and will be presented in a ceremony on February 20.

Kôzô Kusuba and Shin-Ei Animation's Doraemon: Nobita to Midori no Kyojin Den, Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, Mamoru Oshii and Production I.G's The Sky Crawlers, Yasuichiro Yamamoto and TMS Entertainment's Detective Conan: Full Score of Fear, and Atsuji Shimizu and Toei Animation's One Piece: Episode of Chopper + Fuyu ni Saku, Kiseki no Sakura all earned nominations in the Animation of the Year category. The category was just created two years ago; The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Tekkonkinkreet were the previous winners. Before that, Studio Ghibli won the overall Picture of the Year Award for Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.

The surreal live-action fantasy film Paco and the Magical Book garnered nine nominations, including one for Director of the Year for Tetsuya Nakashima (Kamikaze Girls). Miyazaki and Oshii were notably left out of the running for the Director of the Year honor.

Fan favorite Ken'ichi Matsuyama received a nod for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for his quirky turn in the Detroit Metal City film. Matsuyama was nominated two years ago for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role and Rookie of the Year in Death Note and Otokotachi no Yamato, respectively. Yasuko Matsuyuki was also nominated for playing the supporting role of the Death Records label executive in the same live-action version of Kiminori Wakasugi's Detroit Metal City manga. Shota Matsuda (Hana Yori Dango's Soujiroh Nishikaido) is competing for the Rookie of the Year prize for his role in the live-action film adaptation of Motoro Mase's Ikigami manga.

Joe Hisaishi received two nods for Outstanding Achievement in Music: one for the live-action Okuribito film, and the other for Ponyo. Hisaishi has won the award five times, but never for a Studio Ghibli work. Christopher Nolan and Warner Brothers' The Dark Knight and John Woo and Lion Rock Entertainment's Red Cliff Part I are vying with three other films for the Outstanding Foreign Language Film honor. Finally, Studio Ghibli as a whole will receive a special Shigeru Okada Prize for producing high-quality films that contribute to arts and entertainment through original creativity and high production values.

Source: animeanime.jp

Images © MH/NI,BWDVYHDYCH
© Fujiko Pro, Shogakukan, TV Asahi, Shinei, ADK 2008
© 2008 Paco and the Magical Book Production Committee
© 2008 Detroit Metal City Production Committee
© 2008 Nibariki, GNDHDDT


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