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Masaaki Yuasa's Japan Sinks: 2020 Launches 'Shizumanu Kibō' Spinoff Project
posted on by Kim Morrissy
Netflix Japan began streaming a promotional video for its "Shizumanu Kibō" (Unsinking Hope) project, a spinoff project for the Japan Sinks: 2020 anime series by Science SARU and Masaaki Yuasa, on Wednesday. The video shows an extended version of the rap song depicted in the anime, and attempts to portray uplifting messages.
Voice actor Kensho Ono (who plays Kaito in the anime), hip-hop artist Daichi Yamamoto, singer songwriter Taichi Mukai, virtual singer Kafu participated in the rap. As with the anime proper, hip-hop artist and R&B singer Ken the 390 supervised the rap. The video was directed by Nao Watanabe.
Netflix Japan posted a quote by Yuasa, translated as follows: "The theme of Japan Sinks: 2020 is 'Understanding the preciousness of the things we take for granted in our daily lives after losing them for the first time.' Everyone living in this coronavirus-stricken society has the potential to become the protagonist of this story. I hope that through 'Shizumanu Kibō' you can feel the strength to walk towards hope in spite of all the worries and conflicts that humans live with today."
The anime is based on Sakyo Komatsu's Japan Sinks (Nihon Chinbotsu) disaster science-fiction novel. The original novel begins when a series of natural disasters hit Japan. Massive tectonic shifts cause volcanic eruptions from remote Japanese islands, triggering earthquakes, and eventually triggering more eruptions in volcanoes in the Japanese mainland. Through it all, a team of scientists attempt to convince the Japanese government that the Japanese archipelago will soon sink beneath the sea sooner than anyone expected.
The new anime moves the setting from 1970s Japan to modern Japan. While the original announcement of the anime mentioned the story would be set just after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, this detail has now been removed, and is now simply set in "modern Japan" (the Olympics are now delayed). The story centers on the Mutō family, and the siblings Ayumu and Gō. The four members of the Mutō family are caught in an earthquake that hits Tokyo, and attempt to escape the city, while disaster claws at their heels.
The 10-episode series debuted worldwide on Netflix on July 9.
[Via Nijimen]
