Five anime films were nominated for the Animation of the Year Award for the 42nd annual Japan Academy Prize. The list was officially posted on Monday by The Japan Academy Prize Association and the nominees are the following:
Dragon Ball Super: Broly
Dragon Ball Super: Broly takes place after the Dragon Ball Super anime. The Dragon Ball Super manga will be skipping the story of the film but will have its own novel adaptation slated for release on December 14.
The film opened on December 14 in Japan sold more than 820,000 tickets in just in the first three days of screening. It immediately earned more than 1,050,000,000 yen and immediately topped the Japanese box office charts.
Its first world premiere event happened at Nippon Budokan last November 14 and will premiere in Japan on December 14 (in regular and 4DX screenings.) The English dub premiere will be at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood and will officially open in US and Canada theaters on January 16.
Penguin Highway
Penguin Highway first released on August 17, 2018 in Japan directed Hiroyasu Ishida. This fantasy adventure anime film is based from the Japanese science fiction novel of the same name written by Tomihiko Morimi. The movie centers on a fourth grade student who starts to go investigating when penguins appear in the village.
Mirai
The story of the film takes focus on spoiled four-year-old boy named Kun-chan. When his family receives an addition in the form of a little sister named Mirai, things begin to change for him. Feeling that hat his new sister stole his parents’ love from him, Kun-chan finds himself being overwhelmed by many experiences he undergoes for the first time in his life. As he undergoes all these new emotions however, another surprise drops on him the in the form of an older version of Mirai, who has come from the future.
Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer
Metantei Conan Zero no Shikkonin is directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa and is a sequel to the franchise’s 20th film Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare where the story is centered on Toku “Zero” Amuro. Hyoe Kuroda will be making his first appearance in the upcoming film as he is rumored to be Rum in the Black Organization.
The Detective Conan series centers the many detective adventures of Shinichi Kudo alias Conan Edogawa whose body got shrunk after being taken a drug by criminals.
Okko’s Inn
Okko’s Inn is based from a Japanese children’s novel series titled Waka Okami wa Shōgakusei! written by Hiroko Reijo and illustrations by Asami. It also had a manga and an anime adaptation. The novel series has over 3 million volumes in print.
The Animation of the Year category was only being added just 12 years ago. The past years, the following animated movies won in the Animation of the Year category: Night is Short, Walk On Girl, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Tekkonkinkreet, Ponyo, Summer Wars, The Secret World of Arrietty, From Up On Poppy Hill, Wolf Children, The Wind Rises, Stand By Me Doraemon, The Boy and The Beast, and In This Corner of the World.
Studio Ghibli won the overall Picture of the Year Award for their animated hits Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.
Source: Japan Academy Prize Association, , and Anime News Network