The producer of the anime films In This Corner of the World and Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale Takao Asaga has passed away last June 16 at the age of 61.
According to reports by anime scriptwriter Chiaki J. Konaka and director and manga creator Hikari Hayakawa, a farewell ceremony was held for him on Friday last week.
Other works that Asaga had produced previously are Oh My Goddess!, Golden Boy, Wedding Peach, GATE, and To Heart to name a few.
In This Corner of the World won the Fujimoto Award, the Minister (Daijin) Prize from the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Kinema Jumpo magazine’s best Japanese movie of the year, Hiroshima Peace Film Award during the Horishima International Film Festival, Jury Award in the Feature Film Category at Annecy, and the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year.
It also won the Theatrical Anime Division at the Tokyo Anime Award Festival and was nominated as Best Animated Feature-Independent for the 45th Annual Annie Awards. It was also being one of the 26 film submitted for consideration for the 90th Acadamy Awards but in the end was not nominated.
The film follows a young lady named Suzu Urano, who in 1944 moves to the small town of Kure in Hiroshima to live with her husband’s family. Her life is thrown into chaos when her town is bombed during World War II. Her perseverance and courage underpin this heart-warming and inspirational tale of the everyday challenges faced by the Japanese in the midst of a violent, war-torn country. This beautiful yet poignant tale shows that even in the face of adversity and loss, people can come together and rebuild their lives.
Source: Chiaki J. Konaka (Twitter) and Hikari Hayakawa (blog), Anime News Network