Studio Ponoc’s newest animated feature film, ‘The Imaginary’ is getting ready to hit the theatres. On the 21st of August, 2023, Studio Ponoc shared its first trailer for its animated feature film ‘The Imaginary’, which is based on A. F. Harold and Emily Gravett’s original novel.
The Imaginary novel was originally published in 2014 and since then, it has various awards and critical acclaim. The anime adaptation of the novel has sparked a great amount of eagerness and enthusiasm among the fans. Let’s take a look at what this new magical piece by Studio Ponoc has to offer us.
The Imaginary anime trailer released
The trailer of Studio Ponoc’s new feature film ‘The Imaginary’ has showcased a similar style of animation to that of Studio Ghibli. The film is directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, a former lead film producer of Studio Ghibli. As of now, not much has been revealed about the movie’s plot, but it can be expected that it will follow the storyline of the original source material.
The story follows the life of Amanda and Rudger (Amanda’s imaginary friend). Except for his creator, Amanda, little Rudger lives among most people as an “Imaginary,” unseen and unheard. But he continually lives in fear of being forgotten and vanishing from the world. He receives an ultimatum from a strange figure one day: either join him and live or remain in Amanda’s realm and perish.
The trailer has immaculate visuals and the exemplary magical elements that are seen in the Studio Ghibli movies. In an announcement, Studio Ponoc also stated that they are very hopeful and happy to share the visuals for ‘The Imaginary’ anime movie. It is also to be noted that, just like Studio Ghibli’s movies, The Imaginary’s animation is also hand-drawn. They may have also experimented with some new techniques to alleviate the storytelling experience as a whole.
When will Studio Ponoc’s new feature film be released?
The Imaginary’s anime adaptation was initially scheduled to be released during the summer of 2022. But its release was considerably postponed following some technical difficulties.
- The animated film is now scheduled to be released in theatres across Japan on December 15th.
- Fans from around the globe however, will have to wait a little longer as it will hit the theatres internationally in 2024.
- It is going to be a treat for anime lovers all over the world, as they will get to witness Miyazaki’s last Ghibli movie – How Do You Live? and Ponoc’s The Imaginary.
The new trailer for the movie has also revealed the cast. A number of Japanese actors are featured in the voice cast, including Kokoro Terada as Rudger, Rio Suzuki as Amanda, Sakura Ando as Lizzie, Riisa Naka as Emily, a character Rudger meets in The Town of Imaginaries, Takayuki Yamada as Zinzan, a mysterious cat, Atsuko Takahata as Granny Downbeat, and Issey Ogata as Mr. Bunting, a man who follows Rudger. More cast members will be revealed.
Where can you watch The Imaginary anime movie?
As the movie is yet to be released, it cannot be confirmed right away where it will be streamed. But considering the stir it has already created among the anime community all over the world, it can be expected that a famous streaming platform will give us access to this much-anticipated movie.
Either an international OTT platform like Netflix or Prime Video, or an avid anime streaming network like Crunchyroll can be expected to stream The Imaginary movie.
Conclusion
The Imaginary anime movie has sparked quite an amazing response after the trailer was released. The anime community is hopeful that Ponoc Studios will also be producing movies at par with Studio Ghibli’s standards. Although not much is known about the film as of yet, we can be hopeful that it is surely going to be a visual and auditory experience of a lifetime!
Thanks for the info on anime