This Friday, March 11, the 45th delivery of the Japan Academy of Film Awards. The movie Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time was crowned Animation of the Year, beating in this category belle, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko and Sing a Bit of Harmony.
Last month, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time was also announced as the winner of the Popularity Award, the only recognition of the gala chosen through fan voting.
The award for Animation of the Year was created in 2006. The Japan Film Academy considered as eligible films those released locally between January 1 and December 31, 2021. The rest of the nominated films received from the Academy an award certifying them for “Excellence in Animation of the Year”.
The winners for Animation of the Year from previous editions were: The girl who jumped through time in 2007; Tekkon Kinkreet in 2008; Ponyo and the secret of the little mermaid in 2009; Summer Wars in 2010; Arrietty and the world of the tiny in 2011; poppy hill in 2012; the wolf children in 2013; the wind rises in 2014; stay with me doraemon in 2015; The boy and the beast in 2016; In this corner of the world in 2017; Night Is Short, Walk On Girl in 2018, look my little sister in 2019; The time with you in 2020 and Demon Slayer: Mugen Train in 2021.
You might also be interested: Where to watch the Evangelion series and movies?
To no one’s surprise, the acclaimed Drive My Car was the big winner of the evening with a total of eight awards, including Film of the Year, as well as Best Director, Actor, Screenplay, Photography, Lighting, Editing and Sound. It should be remembered that the feature film directed by Ryūsuke Hamaguchi is nominated for four Oscar Awards.
However, the last installment of the tetralogy Rebuild of Evangelion she wasn’t the only anime representative to take home an award during the ceremony. the composers Ludvig Forssell, Taisei Iwasaki and Yuta Bando received the award for Best Soundtrack for their work on belle, by Mamoru Hosoda. While, Kyoto Animation and Toei Animation received the Shigeru Okada Award for “producing high-quality films that combine entertainment and art with creativity and unique technological advances.”
As for movies live action based on manga, the Academy recognized Mio Imada, from tokyo avengers; Hayato Isomura, from What Did You Eat Yesterday?and Ai Yoshikawa, from Honey Lemon Soda.
You might also be interested: Drive My Car – Trailer and release date in Mexico.
You can check the complete list of winners of the 45th edition of the Japan Academy Awards in the following LINK.
Gustavo Pineda I write about film, television and anime at Cine PREMIERE.