Renowned animation director Mamoru Hosoda's new film, "Scarlet: Endless Scarlet," faced a tough reception. After its lukewarm premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September and its Japanese theatrical release last November, it was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews on social media, pulling in only around 600 million JPY at the Japanese box office to date.
However, despite its disappointing commercial performance, it was announced today (Jan 6) that "Scarlet: Endless Scarlet" has snagged three nominations at the 53rd Annie Awards, often dubbed the "Oscars of animation." The film is up for Best Independent Animated Feature, Outstanding Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production, and Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Feature Production. This news immediately grabbed attention!
The Annie Awards, hosted by ASIFA-Hollywood, the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, have been held since 1972. Initially established to recognize overall animation excellence with the Best Animated Feature award, it later expanded to include various categories across different animation fields. While initially focused on American productions, animated works from other countries gradually began to appear. With the rise of streaming, animated shows and films released on these platforms are also eligible to compete.
▼ "Scarlet: Endless Scarlet" nominated for Best Independent Animated Feature, Outstanding Achievement for Directing, and Outstanding Achievement for Writing.
The nominations for the 53rd Annie Awards were officially announced at 8 AM PST on January 5th (1 AM JST on January 6th). Looking back at director Mamoru Hosoda's Annie Awards track record, he previously became the first Japanese director to win Best Independent Animated Feature at the 46th ceremony for his film "Mirai." His other works, including "Belle" and "Mirai," have also received multiple nominations for directing and writing.
This latest round of nominations gives Hosoda the chance to become the first Japanese individual to win Best Independent Animated Feature twice, and he's also considered a strong contender to win the directing and writing awards for the first time.
Additionally, Tatsuya Yoshihara, director of "Chainsaw Man the Movie: Reze Arc," also received a nomination for Outstanding Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production. In the TV categories, Fuga Yamashiro and Abel Góngora, directors of the anime "Dandadan," based on Ryū Yukinobu's manga, were also nominated for Outstanding Achievement for Directing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production.
The 53rd Annie Awards ceremony will take place on February 21st, local time. Those interested should definitely tune in!
via： 安妮獎官方X