Clannad (film)
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese anime
film directed by Osamu Dezaki
and based on the visual novel of the same name by Key
. Toei Animation
announced at the Tokyo Anime Fair on March 23, 2006 that an animated film would be produced, and was released in Japanese theaters on September 15, 2007. The film is a reinterpretation of the Clannad storyline which centers on the story arc
of the female lead Nagisa Furukawa.
A promotional campaign took to the streets of Akihabara
on March 10, 2007 transported in a large black bus with the words painted on the sides. A group of young women cosplay
ing in the female high school uniform
from Clannad emerged from the bus to hand out flyers and pink and white colored thundersticks
to passersby to promote the film.
) is a male third-year high school student who does not feel at home due to a distant father who works a night shift, and a mother who died when he was a child. Due to this, he simply goes to school for no reason and does not have any interest in school activities. Tomoya meets a third-year girl from his school one day early in the school year named Nagisa Furukawa (Mai Nakahara
). Nagisa is repeating her last year of high school due to having been sick most of the previous year, and this year she does not know what to do. Tomoya suggests she finds something new to do at school, and she comes up with restarting the drama club. By the time the sakura
trees are done blooming, Nagisa has already started hand-making posters advertising the drama club's reformation. Tomoya, and his good friend Youhei Sunohara (Daisuke Sakaguchi
), help Nagisa with putting them up around the school, but the student council quickly goes around and uses red paint to deface the posters and write 'invalid' on them. This angers Youhei greatly and he beats up one of the student council members.
Kouko Ibuki (Yūko Minaguchi
), the teacher who had been the adviser for the drama club before it disbanded, gets involved by telling Nagisa that if she can gather more members that she will talk to the school about reforming the club. Tomoya and Youhei try again by this time making copies of hundreds of posters and putting them all around the school, but no one joins the club. In the end, Nagisa gets Tomoya and Youhei to sign up, and she reassures them that she will not ask them to act on stage. The drama club is reformed, and with a month left until the school festival, Nagisa decides to do a soliloquy
based on a dream she has had ever since she was a child; meanwhile, Tomoya and Youhei work backstage with the music and lights respectively. Nagisa gets to writing the script, and invites Tomoya and Youhei over to her house for dinner, though only Tomoya can come due to Youhei taking up a part time
job with an electrical company. At Nagisa's house, which turns out to double as a bakery, Tomoya meets her energetic parents Sanae (Kikuko Inoue
) and Akio (Ryōtarō Okiayu
), and even gets to stay overnight after being heavily persuaded by Nagisa's father.
Like Nagisa, Tomoya has also had a recurring dream ever since he was a child. In his dream, he initially is disembodied in a dead world where he is the only thing "alive". He finds a discarded human-sized doll and uses it as a body to travel around the world on an old bicycle. After some searching, he finds a large sakura tree known as the "promised tree" where he believes he will meet the person he has felt is with him in this dead world.
When the school festival finally begins, Nagisa reveals that she has not finished the script, but still wants to go on with the play since the story is still within her. Nagisa has her performance in the evening, so in the meantime Nagisa hangs out with Tomoya and Youhei. During lunch, she tells them that the reason why she wanted to do drama was due to her parents formally having been theater actors, but they both had to give up acting after Nagisa was born. Nagisa wants to do drama so as to continue her parents' dreams in her footsteps. For the play, Sanae gives Nagisa her wedding dress to use as her costume, much to the surprise of Akio. Nagisa starts with her monologue without a hitch, and during her recitation Kouko gives stage directions to Tomoya and Youhei via headsets. Gradually, Tomoya comes to realize that the story Nagisa is reciting is the same dream that he has had since he was a child, and is shocked to find that Nagisa also had the same dream of the dead world. At the play's conclusion, Tomoya realizes that he and Nagisa were meant to be together and confesses his love to her.
Shortly after the festival, Nagisa's health falters once again and she has to take another leave of absence from school for a year, meaning it is not until a year after Tomoya's class graduated that Nagisa is able to graduate high school as well. After this, Tomoya and Nagisa start living together in a small apartment in town while Tomoya works for an electrical company and Nagisa works part time as a waitress at a local family restaurant. Later, Nagisa becomes pregnant, and her doctor informs her family that if she gives birth to the child that she may die in the process. However, Nagisa's family chooses not to tell Nagisa about it. One winter night, Nagisa gives birth to a baby girl she names Ushio and Nagisa dies that same night. This causes Tomoya to go into deep depression for a period of five years, during which he does not go to work, or even visit his daughter who is being raised by Nagisa's parents.
Tomoya's friends and his father try to get him out of his depression, but Tomoya is very stubborn. Tomoya's father (Hiroshi Naka
) asks Tomoya's friends to take him out on a retreat for a few days in order to break his depression, and they take Tomoya out of his house so fast he does not even know what is going on. Once they tell him on the train, Tomoya is dead set on going back home, and makes it to the train platform which would take him home, but anticipating this, Nagisa's parents were waiting for him with Ushio. Tomoya's friends block his escape route, and Tomoya turns back to see Ushio starting to run toward him. She trips midway which makes Tomoya leap out and catch her. Picking her up, he is able to see the continuation of his old dream once more, and sees Nagisa under the promised tree smiling lovingly at him and Ushio.
, there are numerous differences, both subtle and obvious, between the Clannad TV series and film. The series follows the original visual novel's storyline closer, while the film makes several changes from the original material. While both the series and film depict the developing relationship of Tomoya and Nagisa, the film presents their relationship as central to the plot. Due to this focus, the film downplays the other main heroines which played major roles in the series, such as having Kyou (Ryō Hirohashi
), and Tomoyo (Hōko Kuwashima) playing minor roles, while Kotomi appearing only as a background character, and Fuko not appearing at all. Furthermore, Tomoya takes the place of the girl of the illusionary world and Kyou's sister Ryou does not appear in the film, though Fuko's older sister Kouko is in the film, and plays a major role. In the film, Kouko is still teaching at Nagisa's school, is depicted as athletic, and had been the drama club adviser (she was an art teacher in the series) before the club was dissolved, instead of Toshio Koumura as in the series. Also, Kouko's fiancé
Yusuke (Hikaru Midorikawa
) plays a bigger role in the film in how he helps Tomoya obtain a job at an electrical company and remains his friend during Tomoya's depression.
The relationships between certain characters and the characters themselves have changed in the film. For instance, Tomoyo and Youhei constantly fight in the series, but in the film they act friendly toward each other and work together to get Tomoya out of his depression later in the film. In fact, Youhei in the film is depicted less as a comic relief character as in the series, and is more serious about life, such as when he gets a part time
job due to his family's financial situation. In the series, Tomoya's father is a lazy, unemployed drunk who mostly sleeps with piles of trash around him, but in the film he actually works a graveyard shift
and usually sees his son in the morning before he goes to school. He also cares more about his relationship with Tomoya and even lets him reunite with Ushio to prevent Tomoya from becoming like himself. Kyou is seen as a close friend of Tomoyo in the film, and even helps Tomoyo with her election for student council president, but in the series, Kyou finds Tomoyo as a nuisance who gets in the middle of her plans with hooking up Tomoya with her sister Ryou. However, despite these numerous changes, Nagisa's parents Akio and Sanae mostly retain their roles and personalities as seen in the series, and original visual novel. In regards to voice acting, only the film-version of Tomoya Okazaki is voiced by a different actor from the TV series. However the ending between the series and film has one major change, with Nagisa being brought to life in the series whereas she remains deceased by the conclusion of the film.
, the art director from Key
who worked on the visual novel. This design was later used as a template for Megumi Kadonosono
who provided the character art for the film adaptation. Kadonosono previously worked on two other animated films released in early 2007: Fashionable Witches Love and Berry: Magic of Happiness as the chief animation director, and the Kiddy Grade
film, also providing the character design. The screenplay was written by Makoto Nakamura
who had worked on the first Kanon
television anime series in 2002, and the Air film
in 2005, two other anime adapted from visual novel
s originally made by Key. Finally, the film was directed by Osamu Dezaki
, who has been involved with animation direction since the first Astro Boy anime in 1963, and went on to direct the Air film.
s packaged together contained preview footage and promotional material that was released on April 28, 2007, which came bundled with a promotional poster. The main feature was a nearly nine minute teaser for the film which provided a general overview of the important characters and revealed some of the plot. Another video is a short one minute, fifteen second piece compiling scenes from the film that come together as a backdrop to the original version of the song "Mag Mell" taken from the visual novel's original soundtrack. The last two videos included are short television commercials, one thirty seconds in length, and the second fifteen seconds. The DVD set was only available to those who pre-ordered film tickets. The film was released on DVD in three editions: the Collector's Edition, the Special Edition, and the Regular Edition on March 7, 2008. The Collector's Edition, retailing for 12,800 yen
(about US$
118), is sold in a specialized box including, with a Blu-ray Disc
edition of the film, a special illustrated jacket, a picture label, and a deluxe booklet. The Special Edition, retailing for 8,800 yen (about US$81), was similarly released in a box set containing the film DVD, along with the special illustrated jacket and the picture label, but also contained a bonus drama CD, and a bonus DVD. The Regular Edition, retailing for 6,800 yen (about US$63), contained no special features and was sold in a normal DVD case containing only the film DVD. All prices are before tax. Anime licensor Sentai Filmworks announced that they have licensed the film and will release the film in both English-subtitled and dubbed format in March 2011.
entitled was released on July 14, 2007 by Frontier Works
containing the two theme songs to the film arranged
by Eufonius
. The first track is an arranged version of "Mag Mell", the opening theme to the original visual novel, sung by Riya
. The second track is an original song, again sung by Riya. The final track is an off vocal version of the first track. The music CD was only available to those who pre-ordered film tickets. An image song single by Lia
named "Yakusoku" was released at Comiket 72
on August 17, 2007, but was only given to those who bought film tickets in advance. The film's original soundtrack was released on November 21, 2007 by Frontier Works.
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
film directed by Osamu Dezaki
Osamu Dezaki
, also known as , , or , was a Japanese director of anime born on November 18, 1943, in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. His older brother, Satoshi Dezaki, is also an anime director....
and based on the visual novel of the same name by Key
Key (company)
Key is a Japanese visual novel studio which formed on July 21, 1998 as a brand under the publisher Visual Art's and is located in Kita, Osaka, Japan. Key released their debut visual novel Kanon in June 1999, which combined an elaborate storyline, an up-to-date anime-style drawing style, and a...
. Toei Animation
Toei Animation
Toei Animation Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio owned by Toei Co., Ltd. The studio was founded in 1948 as Japan Animated Films . In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was reincorporated under its current name...
announced at the Tokyo Anime Fair on March 23, 2006 that an animated film would be produced, and was released in Japanese theaters on September 15, 2007. The film is a reinterpretation of the Clannad storyline which centers on the story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
of the female lead Nagisa Furukawa.
A promotional campaign took to the streets of Akihabara
Akihabara
, also known as , is an area of Tokyo, Japan. It is located less than five minutes by rail from Tokyo Station. Its name is frequently shortened to in Japan...
on March 10, 2007 transported in a large black bus with the words painted on the sides. A group of young women cosplay
Cosplay
, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...
ing in the female high school uniform
Japanese school uniform
Japan introduced school uniforms in the late 19th century. Today, school uniforms are common in many of the Japanese public and private school systems. The Japanese word for this type of uniform is .-Usage:...
from Clannad emerged from the bus to hand out flyers and pink and white colored thundersticks
Thundersticks
Thundersticks, sometimes known as cheerstix, bangers or bambams, are long, narrow plastic balloons that are used as promotional noise makers. The noise is created when two thundersticks are struck together...
to passersby to promote the film.
Plot
Tomoya Okazaki (Kenji NojimaKenji Nojima
is a Japanese seiyū who was born in Tokyo. He is employed by Japanese voice talent agency Aoni Production. He is the son of veteran seiyū Akio Nojima and is the younger brother of seiyū Hirofumi Nojima...
) is a male third-year high school student who does not feel at home due to a distant father who works a night shift, and a mother who died when he was a child. Due to this, he simply goes to school for no reason and does not have any interest in school activities. Tomoya meets a third-year girl from his school one day early in the school year named Nagisa Furukawa (Mai Nakahara
Mai Nakahara
is a voice actress. She is employed by I'm Enterprise. Some of her hobbies include cooking and watching movies, and she is skilled at kendo. She worked with voice actor Ai Shimizu in eight anime where most of the characters they voiced in together had close connections: DearS, Kage Kara Mamoru!,...
). Nagisa is repeating her last year of high school due to having been sick most of the previous year, and this year she does not know what to do. Tomoya suggests she finds something new to do at school, and she comes up with restarting the drama club. By the time the sakura
Sakura
A cherry blossom is the flower of any of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese Cherry, Prunus serrulata, which is sometimes called sakura after the Japanese . Many of the varieties that have been cultivated for ornamental use do not produce fruit...
trees are done blooming, Nagisa has already started hand-making posters advertising the drama club's reformation. Tomoya, and his good friend Youhei Sunohara (Daisuke Sakaguchi
Daisuke Sakaguchi
is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with Aoni Production.-Television animation:*Atashin'chi *Baccano! *Bamboo Blade *Black Jack *Bleach *Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo...
), help Nagisa with putting them up around the school, but the student council quickly goes around and uses red paint to deface the posters and write 'invalid' on them. This angers Youhei greatly and he beats up one of the student council members.
Kouko Ibuki (Yūko Minaguchi
Yuko Minaguchi
is a Japanese seiyū from Tokyo who is affiliated with Aoni Production.-Notable voice roles:* Princess Apricot in Bosco Adventure * Yumi in Blue Sonnet * Yawara Inokuma and Kaneko Inokuma in Yawara!...
), the teacher who had been the adviser for the drama club before it disbanded, gets involved by telling Nagisa that if she can gather more members that she will talk to the school about reforming the club. Tomoya and Youhei try again by this time making copies of hundreds of posters and putting them all around the school, but no one joins the club. In the end, Nagisa gets Tomoya and Youhei to sign up, and she reassures them that she will not ask them to act on stage. The drama club is reformed, and with a month left until the school festival, Nagisa decides to do a soliloquy
Monologue
In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...
based on a dream she has had ever since she was a child; meanwhile, Tomoya and Youhei work backstage with the music and lights respectively. Nagisa gets to writing the script, and invites Tomoya and Youhei over to her house for dinner, though only Tomoya can come due to Youhei taking up a part time
Part time
A part-time job is a form of employment that carries fewer hours per week than a full-time job. Workers are considered to be part time if they commonly work fewer than 30 or 35 hours per week...
job with an electrical company. At Nagisa's house, which turns out to double as a bakery, Tomoya meets her energetic parents Sanae (Kikuko Inoue
Kikuko Inoue
is a popular Japanese voice actress and singer. She has been part of the singing groups DoCo and Goddess Family Club, among others, and is the manager of her voice-acting company, Office Anemone. Inoue tends to play the "perfect girlfriend" or "motherly" role in many series, but she has also played...
) and Akio (Ryōtarō Okiayu
Ryotaro Okiayu
is a Japanese voice actor, who was born in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, and raised in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture. He has been active since 1989, and is currently affiliated with Aoni Production....
), and even gets to stay overnight after being heavily persuaded by Nagisa's father.
Like Nagisa, Tomoya has also had a recurring dream ever since he was a child. In his dream, he initially is disembodied in a dead world where he is the only thing "alive". He finds a discarded human-sized doll and uses it as a body to travel around the world on an old bicycle. After some searching, he finds a large sakura tree known as the "promised tree" where he believes he will meet the person he has felt is with him in this dead world.
When the school festival finally begins, Nagisa reveals that she has not finished the script, but still wants to go on with the play since the story is still within her. Nagisa has her performance in the evening, so in the meantime Nagisa hangs out with Tomoya and Youhei. During lunch, she tells them that the reason why she wanted to do drama was due to her parents formally having been theater actors, but they both had to give up acting after Nagisa was born. Nagisa wants to do drama so as to continue her parents' dreams in her footsteps. For the play, Sanae gives Nagisa her wedding dress to use as her costume, much to the surprise of Akio. Nagisa starts with her monologue without a hitch, and during her recitation Kouko gives stage directions to Tomoya and Youhei via headsets. Gradually, Tomoya comes to realize that the story Nagisa is reciting is the same dream that he has had since he was a child, and is shocked to find that Nagisa also had the same dream of the dead world. At the play's conclusion, Tomoya realizes that he and Nagisa were meant to be together and confesses his love to her.
Shortly after the festival, Nagisa's health falters once again and she has to take another leave of absence from school for a year, meaning it is not until a year after Tomoya's class graduated that Nagisa is able to graduate high school as well. After this, Tomoya and Nagisa start living together in a small apartment in town while Tomoya works for an electrical company and Nagisa works part time as a waitress at a local family restaurant. Later, Nagisa becomes pregnant, and her doctor informs her family that if she gives birth to the child that she may die in the process. However, Nagisa's family chooses not to tell Nagisa about it. One winter night, Nagisa gives birth to a baby girl she names Ushio and Nagisa dies that same night. This causes Tomoya to go into deep depression for a period of five years, during which he does not go to work, or even visit his daughter who is being raised by Nagisa's parents.
Tomoya's friends and his father try to get him out of his depression, but Tomoya is very stubborn. Tomoya's father (Hiroshi Naka
Hiroshi Naka
is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with Production Baobab. He is originally from Ōita Prefecture.- TV anime :*Baki the Grappler *Clannad *Comic Party Revolution *Cowboy Bebop...
) asks Tomoya's friends to take him out on a retreat for a few days in order to break his depression, and they take Tomoya out of his house so fast he does not even know what is going on. Once they tell him on the train, Tomoya is dead set on going back home, and makes it to the train platform which would take him home, but anticipating this, Nagisa's parents were waiting for him with Ushio. Tomoya's friends block his escape route, and Tomoya turns back to see Ushio starting to run toward him. She trips midway which makes Tomoya leap out and catch her. Picking her up, he is able to see the continuation of his old dream once more, and sees Nagisa under the promised tree smiling lovingly at him and Ushio.
TV and film differences
Being done by two different production teams and having their own take on the story from the Clannad visual novelVisual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
, there are numerous differences, both subtle and obvious, between the Clannad TV series and film. The series follows the original visual novel's storyline closer, while the film makes several changes from the original material. While both the series and film depict the developing relationship of Tomoya and Nagisa, the film presents their relationship as central to the plot. Due to this focus, the film downplays the other main heroines which played major roles in the series, such as having Kyou (Ryō Hirohashi
Ryo Hirohashi
is a Japanese voice actress represented by a talent agency Aoni Production. She originates from Nagaoka, Niigata and is a graduate of Ryukoku University...
), and Tomoyo (Hōko Kuwashima) playing minor roles, while Kotomi appearing only as a background character, and Fuko not appearing at all. Furthermore, Tomoya takes the place of the girl of the illusionary world and Kyou's sister Ryou does not appear in the film, though Fuko's older sister Kouko is in the film, and plays a major role. In the film, Kouko is still teaching at Nagisa's school, is depicted as athletic, and had been the drama club adviser (she was an art teacher in the series) before the club was dissolved, instead of Toshio Koumura as in the series. Also, Kouko's fiancé
Engagement
An engagement or betrothal is a promise to marry, and also the period of time between proposal and marriage which may be lengthy or trivial. During this period, a couple is said to be betrothed, affianced, engaged to be married, or simply engaged...
Yusuke (Hikaru Midorikawa
Hikaru Midorikawa
is a Japanese voice actor from Otawara, Tochigi who is represented by Aoni Production.He is most known for the roles of Softon in Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Tamahome in Fushigi Yugi, Seiran Shi in Saiunkoku Monogatari, Heero Yuy in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Kaede Rukawa in Slam Dunk, Zelgadis Greywords in...
) plays a bigger role in the film in how he helps Tomoya obtain a job at an electrical company and remains his friend during Tomoya's depression.
The relationships between certain characters and the characters themselves have changed in the film. For instance, Tomoyo and Youhei constantly fight in the series, but in the film they act friendly toward each other and work together to get Tomoya out of his depression later in the film. In fact, Youhei in the film is depicted less as a comic relief character as in the series, and is more serious about life, such as when he gets a part time
Part time
A part-time job is a form of employment that carries fewer hours per week than a full-time job. Workers are considered to be part time if they commonly work fewer than 30 or 35 hours per week...
job due to his family's financial situation. In the series, Tomoya's father is a lazy, unemployed drunk who mostly sleeps with piles of trash around him, but in the film he actually works a graveyard shift
Graveyard shift
A graveyard shift means a shift of work running through the early hours of the morning, especially one from midnight until 8 am. See shift work.Graveyard shift may also refer to:In movies, television, and video games:...
and usually sees his son in the morning before he goes to school. He also cares more about his relationship with Tomoya and even lets him reunite with Ushio to prevent Tomoya from becoming like himself. Kyou is seen as a close friend of Tomoyo in the film, and even helps Tomoyo with her election for student council president, but in the series, Kyou finds Tomoyo as a nuisance who gets in the middle of her plans with hooking up Tomoya with her sister Ryou. However, despite these numerous changes, Nagisa's parents Akio and Sanae mostly retain their roles and personalities as seen in the series, and original visual novel. In regards to voice acting, only the film-version of Tomoya Okazaki is voiced by a different actor from the TV series. However the ending between the series and film has one major change, with Nagisa being brought to life in the series whereas she remains deceased by the conclusion of the film.
Production
The film was first announced to be in production at the Tokyo Anime Fair on March 23, 2006 for a planned 2007 release. The original character design was conceived by Itaru HinoueItaru Hinoue
is a female Japanese artist from Osaka, Japan, and is one of the founding members of the software company Key. Hinoue's choice of her pseudonym stems from the manga C by Shō Kitagawa; the protagonist in the manga was named...
, the art director from Key
Key (company)
Key is a Japanese visual novel studio which formed on July 21, 1998 as a brand under the publisher Visual Art's and is located in Kita, Osaka, Japan. Key released their debut visual novel Kanon in June 1999, which combined an elaborate storyline, an up-to-date anime-style drawing style, and a...
who worked on the visual novel. This design was later used as a template for Megumi Kadonosono
Megumi Kadonosono
is a Japanese animator, animation director and character designer from Osaka, Japan.-Anime credits:*Aquarian Age: Sign for Evolution: Animation *Clannad movie: Character Design*D.N.Angel: Animation director...
who provided the character art for the film adaptation. Kadonosono previously worked on two other animated films released in early 2007: Fashionable Witches Love and Berry: Magic of Happiness as the chief animation director, and the Kiddy Grade
Kiddy Grade
is a 24 episode science fiction anime series produced in 2002 and created by gímik and Gonzo Digimation and directed by Keiji Gotoh. The series is licensed and distributed in North America by FUNimation Entertainment. The series currently airs on the FUNimation Channel in both its "syndicated...
film, also providing the character design. The screenplay was written by Makoto Nakamura
Makoto Nakamura
is a Japanese screenwriter of anime from Saitama, Japan.-Anime staff in:* Unico , Art* Tenchi Muyo Movie 3: Tenchi Forever , Opticals* Kanon , Storyboard , Series Story Editor...
who had worked on the first Kanon
Kanon
is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key and originally released as an adult game on June 4, 1999, playable on a Microsoft Windows PC. An all ages version for the PC was released in January 2000, and was later ported to the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable...
television anime series in 2002, and the Air film
Air (film)
Air is a 2005 Japanese animated drama film directed by Osamu Dezaki and written by Makoto Nakamura based on the visual novel Air by Key. Originally, the film was set for a release date in autumn 2004, but was delayed; the film finally premiered in Japanese theaters on February 5, 2005...
in 2005, two other anime adapted from visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
s originally made by Key. Finally, the film was directed by Osamu Dezaki
Osamu Dezaki
, also known as , , or , was a Japanese director of anime born on November 18, 1943, in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. His older brother, Satoshi Dezaki, is also an anime director....
, who has been involved with animation direction since the first Astro Boy anime in 1963, and went on to direct the Air film.
DVDs
A set of three DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s packaged together contained preview footage and promotional material that was released on April 28, 2007, which came bundled with a promotional poster. The main feature was a nearly nine minute teaser for the film which provided a general overview of the important characters and revealed some of the plot. Another video is a short one minute, fifteen second piece compiling scenes from the film that come together as a backdrop to the original version of the song "Mag Mell" taken from the visual novel's original soundtrack. The last two videos included are short television commercials, one thirty seconds in length, and the second fifteen seconds. The DVD set was only available to those who pre-ordered film tickets. The film was released on DVD in three editions: the Collector's Edition, the Special Edition, and the Regular Edition on March 7, 2008. The Collector's Edition, retailing for 12,800 yen
Japanese yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling...
(about US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
118), is sold in a specialized box including, with a Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
edition of the film, a special illustrated jacket, a picture label, and a deluxe booklet. The Special Edition, retailing for 8,800 yen (about US$81), was similarly released in a box set containing the film DVD, along with the special illustrated jacket and the picture label, but also contained a bonus drama CD, and a bonus DVD. The Regular Edition, retailing for 6,800 yen (about US$63), contained no special features and was sold in a normal DVD case containing only the film DVD. All prices are before tax. Anime licensor Sentai Filmworks announced that they have licensed the film and will release the film in both English-subtitled and dubbed format in March 2011.
Music
A maxi singleMaxi single
A maxi single or maxi-single is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an a-side song and a b-side song.-The first maxi singles:...
entitled was released on July 14, 2007 by Frontier Works
Frontier Works
is a Japanese company specializing in the creation and distribution of media related to anime, such as producing OVAs, radio dramas, drama CDs, anime soundtracks, or other related products...
containing the two theme songs to the film arranged
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
by Eufonius
Eufonius
Eufonius is a Japanese progressive rock music group which debuted on October 11, 2003 with the release of their first album Eufonius which was also an independent release. The band has produced songs for various anime and video games, such as Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl, Himawari!, Noein, True...
. The first track is an arranged version of "Mag Mell", the opening theme to the original visual novel, sung by Riya
Riya
Riya, born February 18, is a female Japanese singer from Fukuoka, Japan. In her early career, she admired Akino Arai. Riya eventually became the lead singer and lyricist to the J-pop band Eufonius, which debuted in 2004.- Albums :...
. The second track is an original song, again sung by Riya. The final track is an off vocal version of the first track. The music CD was only available to those who pre-ordered film tickets. An image song single by Lia
Lia (singer)
Lia is a female Japanese singer-songwriter who is a former member of I've Sound. Lia has also participated in happy hardcore singing, producing four such albums with this style of singing; these albums have her name in all capital letters. She is notable as the singer for the opening and ending...
named "Yakusoku" was released at Comiket 72
Comiket
, otherwise known as the , is the world's largest self-published comic book fair, held twice a year in Tokyo, Japan. The first Comiket was held on December 21, 1975, with only about 32 participating circles and an estimated 600 attendees. Attendance has since swelled to over a half million people....
on August 17, 2007, but was only given to those who bought film tickets in advance. The film's original soundtrack was released on November 21, 2007 by Frontier Works.