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The anime film of Mizuki Tsujimura‘s Lonely Castle in the Mirror (Kagami no Kojō) novel won a Special Mention for the AniMovie award at the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film in Germany. The festival was held from April 23-28.
The jury stated the film won the Special Mention “for brave and sensitive story-telling in dealing with the important theme about overcoming loneliness through unlikely friendship.”
Benoît Chieux’s Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds won the main AniMovie award for best animated feature film this year.
Hayao Miyazaki‘s Ponyo won the AniMovie award in 2010, and Makoto Shinkai‘s The Garden of Words film won the award in 2014. Mamoru Hosoda‘s Mirai won the award in 2019. Sunao Katabuchi‘s In This Corner of the World film won the Special Mention for the Animovie award in 2017.
Lonely Castle in the Mirror opened in Japan in December 2022. GKIDS screened the film in Japanese with English subtitles and with an English dub in select theaters in North America in June 2023.
Keiichi Hara (Colorful, Miss Hokusai, The Wonderland) directed the film at A-1 Pictures. Miho Maruo, who wrote the script for Hara’s Miss Hokusai and The Wonderland films, penned the script. Keigo Sasaki (Blue Exorcist, ERASED, The Seven Deadly Sins) designed the characters, and was also the chief animation director. Russian artist Ilya Kuvshinov, who drew the character designs for The Wonderland, was credited for visual concept and castle design. Harumi Fuuki, who has composed the music for Hara’s prior films, returned for this new film. Shochiku distributed the film.
The Japan Academy Film Prize Association for excellence in film nominated the film for Animation of the Year in the 46th annual awards.
Doubleday released the novel in English in April 2021, and it describes the story:
In a tranquil neighbourhood of Tokyo, seven teenagers wake to find their bedroom mirrors are shining.
At a single touch, they are pulled from their lonely lives to a wondrous castle filled with winding stairways, watchful portraits and twinkling chandeliers. In this new sanctuary, they are confronted with a set of clues leading to a hidden room where one of them will be granted a wish. But there’s a catch: if they don’t leave the castle by five o’clock, they will be punished.
As time passes, a devastating truth emerges: only those brave enough to share their stories will be saved.
Tsujimura (Anime Supremacy! novel, writer for Naoshi Arakawa‘s A School Frozen in Time manga) released the original novel in Japan in 2017.
Sources: Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, Animation Business Journal (Tadashi Sudo)