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Evangelion's Anno & Ghibli's 'Giant God Warrior' Teaser Aired
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Japanese broadcaster NTV aired a 15-second teaser commercial for "Kyōshinhei Tokyo ni Arawaru" (Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo), the live-action tokusatsu (special-effects) short developed by Evangelion director Hideaki Anno and produced by Studio Ghibli on Friday. The short draws inspiration from the Giant God Warriors in Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind manga and anime film. (The commercial aired after the first television broadcast of a newly remastered version of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind on Friday evening.)
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo will present the full short as part of its "Kanchō Anno Hideaki Tokusatsu Hakubutsukan" (Curator Hideaki Anno's Special Effects Museum) exhibition. The exhibition "will spotlight the special craftsmanship such as seen in 'miniatures,' and will present on an unprecedented scale its entrancing world that is distinct from VFX or CG." The "deputy curator," Shinji Higuchi, is also the director of the new short and the storyboard artist for the Evangelion television series and films.
According to Anno, the short will not use use computer graphics, but will rely on traditional filmmaking techniques like miniatures to make the "final tokusatsu work." Higuchi added that the short will be between 5 and 10 minutes long. Anno was a key animator on the Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind film, and he later drew inspiration from the film's Giant God Warriors (and childhood memories of the tokusatsu franchise Ultraman) to create Evangelion.
The exhibition will run from July 10 to October 8. Advance tickets sales began on Thursday, and adult tickets cost 1,300 yen (US$16). Tickets will also be available at the door for 100 yen (US$1.25) more. Good Smile Company will sell a figma figure and a 50-centimeter-tall (20-inch-tall) polystone replica of the Giant God Warrior at the exhibition in July, and it will then offer them online after the exhibition ends on October 8.
Update: More background information added.
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