Anime & Manga News

Studio Ghibli's 'Aya to Majo' Announces Main Cast, Additional Staff

by Aiimee
Nov 12, 2020 2:44 PM | 14 Comments
NHK announced on their official website the main cast and supporting staff for Studio Ghibli's 3DCG animated film Aya to Majo on Thursday. The film, an adaptation of Diane Wynne Jones' children's novel Earwig and the Witch, will premiere on NHK General TV at 7:30 p.m. (JST) on December 30.

Cast
Aya: Kokoro Hirasawa (Tora-san: Boku ga Neko ni Natta Wake live-action film)
Bella Yaga: Shinobu Terajima (Oh Lucy! live-action film)
Mandrake: Etsushi Toyokawa (Hanbun, Aoi live-action drama)
Thomas: Gaku Hamada (Pokemon Movie 21: Minna no Monogatari)

Staff
Script: Keiko Niwa (Omoide no Marnie), Emi Gunji
Animation Director: Tan Seri
Character, Stage Setting Draft: Miho Satake (Sorairo Magatama)
Character Design: Katsuya Kondou (Mononoke Hime)
Background Art: Yuki Takeuchi
Animation Producer: Kentarou Morishita (Captain Herlock production coordinator)
CG Supervisor: Yukinori Nakamura (Kemushi no Boro)
Sound Director: Kouji Kasamatsu (Karigurashi no Arrietty)
Dubbing Director: Eriko Kimura (Gake no Ue no Ponyo sound director)
Music: Satoshi Takebe (Coquelicot-zaka kara)
Production Supervisor: Isao Yoshikuni (Piano no Mori (2018)), Keisuke Tsuchikashi (Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen), Kouji Hoshino (Kaguya-hime no Monogatari)

A band led by Takebe (keyboard) that includes Indonesian singer Sherina Munaf (vocals), Hiroki Kamemoto of GLIM SPANKY (guitar), Kiyokazu Takano of Mrs. GREEN APPLE (bass), and Kavka Shishido (drums) will perform music for the film.

Aya to Majo is being directed by Gorou Miyazaki (Coquelicot-zaka kara, Ged Senki) with planning by his father, Hayao Miyazaki (Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa director). Toshio Suzuki (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) is producing the film with Studio Ghibli alongside NHK and NHK Enterprises.

Originally set to premiere at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival before the festival was cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Aya to Majo is the second anime film adaptation of one of Jones' novels. Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli adapted her 1986 young-adult fantasy novel Howl's Moving Castle in November 2004, and the film was later nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 78th Academy Awards.

Source: NHK Anime World

14 Comments Recent Comments

wow it will air on TV for free? the TV license profit for this better be huge

Nov 14, 2020 10:52 PM by deg

The characters model in the poster looks so bad. i don't even want to watch this even if it's free. šŸ˜«

Nov 14, 2020 10:48 PM by lswarmruler

looks like shit


fr though 3D sucks

Nov 14, 2020 2:12 PM by xsushinamix

Wxku_shi said:
I'm pretty disappointed to learn it's going to be a 3D venture of the Studio. I was hoping and clamouring for a 2D animated film! Personally, I think it's a mistake, most 3D animations from Japan (exceptions are Land of the Lustrous and Demon Slayer) don't exactly hold up very well and often come across as cheap or lazy! Even-tho 3D animation's pretty difficult.


yeah, but this is a MOVIE, have you seem Lupin the III: the first, the film looks on par with the best quality CG animation from Europe/france/wherever.

As for TV, a lot of recent CG anime actually haven't been that bad looking, like while Dragon's Dogma was dumpster fire in terms writing, the CG was actually really good, the currently airing D4Dj has some problems with it's background characters, but otherwise it looks nice

Nov 13, 2020 1:13 PM by NG_Chloe

Korishi said:
Frozen was extremely successful in Japan. get ready for the new era :(


I highly doubt it, Spirited away, Your Name, and Demon slayer were both 2D and made a ton of money, just cause they're starting to use CGI, doesn't mean that it's going to take over.

Nov 13, 2020 1:11 PM by NG_Chloe

I'm pretty disappointed to learn it's going to be a 3D venture of the Studio. I was hoping and clamouring for a 2D animated film! Personally, I think it's a mistake, most 3D animations from Japan (exceptions are Land of the Lustrous and Demon Slayer) don't exactly hold up very well and often come across as cheap or lazy! Even-tho 3D animation's pretty difficult.

Nov 13, 2020 8:57 AM by Wxku_shi

xamantra said:
I'm not a Ghibli hater, but I don't consider a full-"3DCG" show an anime. It's just an "animated film" not a "weeb's anime". It's been almost 3 years since I last watched a live-action or any full-3dcg shows. I'm ready for the salt.


Not a Ghibli fan, but using CG is very common these days.
All that sakuga of Ufotable is 70% CG filters with 30% 2d animation. And there is a difference between 2016 Berserk and actual good CG.

Nov 13, 2020 8:19 AM by Pakumen-

Frozen was extremely successful in Japan. get ready for the new era :(

Nov 13, 2020 5:06 AM by removed-user

Am I too suspicious, or are the Ghibli so successful in the west, not least because of the enormous influence of Western animation on them?

Xenocrisi said:
xamantra said:
I'm not a Ghibli hater, but I don't consider a full-"3DCG" show an anime. It's just an "animated film" not a "weeb's anime". It's been almost 3 years since I last watched a live-action or any full-3dcg shows. I'm ready for the salt.

This is the dumbest thing I’ve read so far today


This person has clearly not seen 3DCG animations in various Japanese games, many of which look much more anime-ish than any modern ongoings.

Nov 13, 2020 3:02 AM by RobertBobert

xamantra said:
I'm not a Ghibli hater, but I don't consider a full-"3DCG" show an anime. It's just an "animated film" not a "weeb's anime". It's been almost 3 years since I last watched a live-action or any full-3dcg shows. I'm ready for the salt.

This is the dumbest thing I’ve read so far today

Nov 13, 2020 1:17 AM by Xenocrisi

xamantra said:
I'm not a Ghibli hater, but I don't consider a full-"3DCG" show an anime. It's just an "animated film" not a "weeb's anime". It's been almost 3 years since I last watched a live-action or any full-3dcg shows. I'm ready for the salt.

you should watch beastars or land of the lustrous bro

Nov 12, 2020 10:12 PM by capt_britain

xamantra said:
I'm not a Ghibli hater, but I don't consider a full-"3DCG" show an anime. It's just an "animated film" not a "weeb's anime". It's been almost 3 years since I last watched a live-action or any full-3dcg shows. I'm ready for the salt.


anime = animation made in Japan

CGI anime being cheap and souless most of the time is a different issue.

Nov 12, 2020 3:58 PM by MichaelJackson

I'm not a Ghibli hater, but I don't consider a full-"3DCG" show an anime. It's just an "animated film" not a "weeb's anime". It's been almost 3 years since I last watched a live-action or any full-3dcg shows. I'm ready for the salt.

Nov 12, 2020 3:49 PM by removed-user

Oh wow, we finally get more news on this at long last. I wonder if this will get released outside of Japan, I'd like to watch this.

Nov 12, 2020 2:51 PM by Fario-P

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