Animation Nation 2007, a film festival in Singapore for animations and shorts, says they will have screening of Byousoku 5cm in November 28.

Animation Nation 2007 Official Site (English):
http://www.sfs.org.sg/animation/an2007/index.html
http://www.sfs.org.sg/animation/an2007/film_5cm.html

(Thanks for your info, icie!)

Asia Pacific Screen Awards announced that Byousoku 5cm won Best Animated Feature Film.

APSA Official Site:
http://www.asiapacificscreenawards.com/
http://www.asiapacificscreenawards.com/news_room/media_releases/asia_pacific_screen_awards_winners_announced

Asia Pacific Screen Awards is established in 1954 and is organized by International Federation of Film Producers Associations, UNESCO and CNN International. APSA chooses winners among 70 countries/area.ilm.

The ceremony was held at Gold Coast in Australia on November 13, 2007. Mr Kawaguchi (Producer) accepted the Award.

Mr Shinkai updated his recent history on his website. I translated that roughly below.

Source (Japanese):
http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/colum.html

-------------------

The morning and evening are chilly recently. It makes me feel very nice, so I feel like walking around for a long time. Different from the summer, I don't feel "I'm losing something" while I'm desk-working. And, coffee and alcoholic drinks taste much better. It's a nice season.

The video for NHK Ani-Kuri 15 (http://www.nhk.or.jp/ani-kuri/) is under the making still now. It is a one-minute short work, so my staffs come to my studio only a day in a week. Every staffs are working parallel to other projects. I a bit changed the taste of the video from my past works. It has become a refreshing work for me. I'll report about it another time.

As I have announced on the top page, "Shousetsu (The novel): Byousoku 5 Centimeters" is going to be released on November 16th. Before that, interview article is carried on Da Vinci December issue (November 6 release). I'm happy if you read it when you find it at bookstore or convenience store.

It was not easy to novelize own work after completed, but I have got many things from doing it. The character I got especially deep emotional attachment through the writing was Mizuno, who appears only a few times in the film. Personally, she is my type (laugh). She appears more times in the novel. If you are a fan of her (do such a person really exist? haha.), you should read it even if you had never read it on magazine, please.

TV series of "ef -a tale of memories" has started. I was interested in OP most because I made the opening video clip for the original game. So, I watched it the other day. It made me quiver.
"ef" is a school life anime based on daily life. Different from Sci-Fi or fantasy, it does not have dynamic "gimmicks" in visual. So I have thought "how to increase strength" (how to make it attractive) is the key for it. The opening of the TV series have perfectly done it by a different approach from mine. They have provided the strength by "psychological�@descriptions." Th OP of TV series doesn't have any background arts. The great OP charms us by showing a natural thing in stylish way (and with a little lonely feelings) without using backgrounds; they show every person can have dramatic inwards even they are living in common background. The song and vocal are both wonderful! I'm making OP for the last half of the game. The OP gave me a big inspiration for the making.

By the way. I have decided to stay in abroad for a while from January 2008. I'll announce about the detail in a next time. I'm going to be busy to ready for the move and other stuffs from now to the end of this year. Sadly, I have to live far away from my cat Sayuri.

http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/images/sayuri071016.jpg

-Makoto Shinkai

On October 20th, Mr Shinkai appeared at a talk session in school festival of Yokohama College of Art and Design. In the talk session, he mentioned his foreign activity plan in the immediate future.

He said he will visit Jordan for work. The purpose of his visit has not been mentioned.

And, he said he will go to Europe in December, and will stay in there at least for a year. (A part of this news has been already mentioned in his recent report. The article is under the translating now.) The country he will stay is not decided yet, but informed sources say he will stay at multiple countries.

Amazon.co.jp says they have started to accept pre-order of Byousoku 5cm novel edition. The author is Mr Shinkai himself, and it had been serialized on magazine Da Vinci.

Release Date: November 14, 2007
Author: Makoto Shinkai
Publishing Company: Media Factory
Format: Hardcover/200Pages
Price: 1365 Yen
ISBN-10: 4840120722
ISBN-13: 978-4840120722

(Thanks for the info, Xcomp!)

Mr Shinkai updated his recent history on his website. I translated that roughly below.

Source (Japanese):
http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/colum.html

-------------------

You know, summer holiday has been passed. The climate has suddenly become cooler from September, as if it is cuddling up what calender says. The feeling "Ah, autumn has been coming" comes over to me again this year.

Different from the last summer I had been in the middle of making Byousoku-, I spent leisurely days in this summer. I went to swimming pool more times than I can count. (as a matter of course I went there on my lone. *laugh*) The events related with Byousoku- DVD has been finished until the middle August, and I'm making videos for NHK Ani-kuri15 (http://www.nhk.or.jp/ani-kuri/). Its broadcasting may be around the end of this year. Please wait till the broadcasting.

"A short animated video clip" I mentioned on my recent history in July was commercial films for Shinano Mainichi Shimbun.
http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/works/shinmai/index.html
Those are broadcast by TV only in Nagano Prefecture, but I found the video clips have been already uploaded on some sites. Search and watch them if you are interested in them.

http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/images/koumi2007.jpg

The above picture is my elementary school; I took this picture on a side trip in the location hunting for the commercial films. The school was a wooden building when I was a student of there. When I see that landscape, I am realized again that there are surprisingly nothing around there. However, it reminds me nostalgically that I had countless playgrounds in those days even in such a landscape.

-Makoto Shinkai

Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, a newspaper publisher in Nagano Prefecture, released Mr Shinkai's two video clips for TV commercial.

Video Clips:
http://www.shinmai.co.jp/hanbai/cm_7.html
http://www.shinmai.co.jp/hanbai/cm_8.html

The two video clips are 15 seconds in length. Those have same video but song is arranged differently. The commercials are broadcasted from September only in Nagano Prefecture, Mr Shinkai's birthplace.

Shinano Mainichi Shimbun Official Site (Japanese):
http://www.shinmai.co.jp/

The song is by Ms Takako Tate, a singer living in Nagano Pref.
http://tate.navelfactory.jp/

According to the fans' discussions on the web, the train is Kiha-E200 diesel/electric hybrid train on JR Koumi Line. Mr Shinkai had often used the line in his school days.

I have updated Pictures of Actual Places page.

http://daike.hp.infoseek.co.jp/03_filmography/5cm/5cm_actualplace_3.html

It is for the final episode 5 Centimeters per Second.

Thanks a lot, Kawasaki-san!

Mr Shinkai updated his recent history on his website. I translated that roughly below.

Source (Japanese):
http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/colum.html

-------------------

2 years has passed since the project has begun, and now, Byousoku 5cm DVD has been on sale. I'm receiving a lot of review e-mails from a day before the release. It reminds me the feeling of tension which I felt at theatrical premiere in 4 months ago. I would like to say thank you for all audiences and purchasers sincerely.

We have some plans of DVD release events from July to August. I sorta feel I have already spoken all topics about Byousoku at dozens of stage greetings I have done (laugh). Anyway, please visit the events if you are interested. The events related with Byousoku are almost ending. I myself am looking forward to join them.

By the way, I had been alone at my studio recently, but, after a long interval, a few staffs are coming regularly from this month.

http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/images/studio070720.jpg

I'll announce the information in the near future. It is a short animated video clip. My studio is livened up, so my cat Sayuri looks having fun everyday.

The following is talking about software. It's a CG-maniac topic.



I have upgraded Photoshop to CS3 (Extended), and am using it regularly. The upgrade in this time is very useful for animation making (from my personal viewpoint). I say its new video layer is loaded in very high degree of perfection. I had used Bauhaus's software Mirage for retouching effects and additional drawing on animation, but Photoshop has become perfectly enough to satisfy my usage now. For example, I drew the motion of water in the below cut in Byousoku- by Mirage.

http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/images/mirage_sample.jpg

But the new Photoshop can do same thing. It can keep layers' structure along to timeline, and it generates PSD files same to past version. It is simple and practical.

As is customary with upgrade, some behaviors have become heavy. I don't understand why they changed number of full-screen mode from 3 to 4. (It's inconvenience because I have to press down F key once more.) And I'm a little annoyed by the soft fade-out effect of palettes in application changing. Even so, the new UI itself is user-friendly and stable. Photoshop has been becoming a really nice software.

I upgraded After Effects to CS3. However, I have downgraded it to 6.5 now. Although CS3 has a lot of good side, it is dull at all events. Leaving aside the new UI because it is matter of practice (I can't orient oneself to the independent graph editor though), I'm unhappy with it: OpenGL's acceleration doesn't work on Mac, the waiting time before RAM preview get longer, and they say the rendering speed is optimized to multiprocessor but I don't feel so actually. Am I bad because using it on G5 quad? It might be fast on Intel. I have put my hopes to the function it can load Photoshop's video layers. However, (I guess it can't be helped but) it is dull too.

However, my complaints like "it's dull" will be resolved easily if PC become faster severalfold. I like making video by computer, including such a feature.

On the other hand, I feel kind of nostalgia for old computer culture in which programers always max-out the hardware's performance by software. In such a case, I occasionally visit Nico Nico Douga website for viewing PC game's video made 20 years ago (laugh). They have caps of video game which I was longing but couldn't play in my old days. I never get tired of watching those. Ah..... I have to go to bed now.

-Makoto Shinkai

Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) says they have scheduled screening of Byousoku 5cm and The Place Promised in Our Early Days on August 8 and 19. (Byousoku 5cm screenings have become "full house" already.)

Source (Chinese/English)
http://www.hkiff.org.hk/07summeriff/eng/schedule/index.html

On a relevant note, Animax says they will hold special screening of Byousoku 5cm and The Place Promised in Our Early Days at Hong Kong Art Centre. (I don't understand Chinese but it seems that the ticket booking will be accepted until August 7.)

Source (Chinese):
http://www.animax-hk.com/promotions/hkiff/default.asp

According to ICv2's news, ADV announced they are setting up nation-wide screening of Byousoku 5cm in mid-November.

Source (English):
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/11025.html

The screening will be held in two consecutive weeknights. Byousoku 5cm on big screen will be a big gift to Shinka-fans in US.

Asian Film Festival of Dallas announced that they will have a screening of Byousoku 5cm on August 30.

AFFD Official Website (English):
http://affd.org/2007/filmindex.html#5cps

(Thanks for your info, Marc!)

BTW, I think $5.00 is nice price. In Japan, the price of Byousoku 5cm's ticket is 1300yen ($11.00)....

I have updated Pictures of Actual Places page.

http://daike.hp.infoseek.co.jp/03_filmography/5cm/5cm_actualplace_2.html

It is for the second episode Cosmonaut.

My friend Kawasaki-san traced the tracks of Mr Shinkai's location hunting, and took pictures of the actual places from which Mr Shinkai inspired. Those pictures are so interesting for me, so I upload some of them to my page under his permission.

http://daike.hp.infoseek.co.jp/03_filmography/5cm/5cm_actualplace_1.html

This is for the first episode Oukashou. Now I'm making the second and the third.

Mr Shinkai updated his recent history on his website. I translated that roughly below.

Source (Japanese):
http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/colum.html

-------------------

My theatrical stage greeting tour started from May 3 for Byousoku 5cm has finished by greeting in Tollywood on June 23. I have done stage greeting in some theater in almost every weekend, and I have met many, thousands of people in recent almost 4 months. One couple said they happened to visit the theater, and some fans totally become familiar faces because they visit many of my autograph sessions constantly. Also there were many people who viewed my work for the first time in the 5 years after Voices of a Distant Star. I feel the days have passed so quickly, like in a blink of an eye. I really want to thank you.

We will have some DVD release events in July. Thanks to your support, the pre-order sales of this DVD records better than my previous work. And, I have some plans of lecture including making. The novel I'm serializing on a magazine "Da Vinch" may become a book. (I'll announce details when these are decided.) In contrast, I have a feeling that "Byousoku 5cm"-related affairs which has been continued after the summer of 2005, is ending. (The further development, including screenings in abroad, will be done, but the affairs I myself need to do is almost in the final phase.)
I had started Byousoku 5cm "to make some shorts in relaxed mood", but I couldn't relax so much after started making. However, I feel it was very happy I could make this film now, in this good time.

I'm starting next work little by little. The full-length work will a long way off; I have some plan to make short visual works before that. My reply to comments by e-mail is delayed a little over 1 month. I'm sorry about that. And, I'd like to travel to somewhere distant place if I could from the end of this year.

Today was a female Byousoku staff's wedding reception. I heard from her that she had decided to get married when we were making the film. To my joy, they have shown Byousoku's promo video to the guests in the reception. I saw it with deep feeling that each of us have finished each big challenges. I wish her happiness in the future.

-Makoto Shinkai

Byousoku 5cm is showing in Korea from June 21. The theaters are CGV Kangbyun and CGV Sangam.

CGV Official Site (Korean):
http://www.cgv.co.kr/

Other related links (Korean):
http://cafe.naver.com/chosok5cm/
http://www.thelook.co.kr

(Thanks for your info, Linoa!)

ADV officially announces they have licensed "5 Centimeters Per Second".

http://www.advfilms.com/Films_PRDetails.asp?ID=1922

The article says:

ADV Films will debut a 35mm subtitled version of 5 Centimeters Per Second at two late night screenings Saturday June 30. A limited number of tickets will be available for purchase at the ADV Films booth at Anime Expo. Both showings will take place at a theater within walking distance of the convention center and Expo hotels.

ADV is putting together a theatrical tour of 5 Centimeters Per Second for the fall. A DVD release is currently planned for December.

ADV's official site doesn't announce it yet, but ICv2 says ADV has licensed Byousoku 5cm.
And they also says:

"ADV does plan to release 5cm Per Second theatrically before the DVD is released in December."

They don't mention the number of theaters, and it would be not many, but some lucky fans living in North America may be able to watch Byousoku 5cm on big screen.

Source:
http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/10791.html

(Thanks for your info, Marc.)

Byousoku 5cm Official Blog says Yahoo! Japan has special streaming programs of Mr Shinkai's past works and a video clip. The programs are free. (Spoken language is Japanese. No subtitles.)

Yahoo! Japan Byousoku 5cm Official Site:
http://5cm.yahoo.co.jp/streaming/
(Click the oragne button to view the movies. You can watch trailers in the nonscheduled days.


Schedule

The Place Promised in Our Early Days:
From July 11 to 18

Voices of a Distant Star:
From July 2 to July 30

3. Video Clip of "One more time, one more chance":
From June 18 to July 17
(This is a promotion video made by Mr Shinkai for the theme song of Byousoku 5cm.)

Mr Shinkai updated his recent history on his website. I translated that roughly below. (Sorry for my late update....)

Source (Japanese):
http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/colum.html

-------------------

Thank you for everyone who came to my stage greeting in Cine Terie Tenjin and Miyazaki Cinema-kan. I have visited the both theaters two years ago (for The Place Promised-), so I felt "I have come back" there this time. I did the greetings in such a happy mood. I stayed in Kagoshima and Miyazaki for five nights because I had some other things to do in Kyushu. I say, Kyushu is a nice place! Although the stay was for job, it was a refreshing trip taking hot spring bath everyday.

The (second) talk live with Mr Gisaburo Sugii in Cinema Rise was end successfully. Thanks for people who visited the live. Talking of Mr Sugii, he has some daring side of personality different from the mood of his films. His story in preliminary meeting was so funny too. He talked about the backgrounds why he directed Mr Mitsuru Adachi's works, the problems about cat character in "Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru (Night of the Galaxy Railroad)" and etc. I could have very happy time officially and personally.

And, about the picture. My cat Sayuri's picture is on a cover of magazine "Neko no Techou (Handbook of Cats)" May issue!
http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/images/sayuri_nekote.jpg
But Sayuri is kinda an average cat, not so photogenic, so I think she is not suitable for cover art.... I'm afraid if the magazine had poor selling because of that. However, it was the happiest interview by magazine I have received until now. Sorry I didn't talk about my works in the interview. For your information, the article appears in "Nyamirii Houmon (fa-mew-ly visiting)" corner. When I thinking back the interview calmly from a distance, what the article show will be I'm slobbering over my cat. I'm a little worried if readers can't bear to see my behaviors, but If you love cats and if you are tolerant enough to see a man being mad for a cat, enjoy it.

-Makoto Shinkai