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Madman Entertainment announces new films for Reel Anime 2012

The first film is Children Who Chase Lost Voices (Hoshi o Ou Kodomo) is the latest film from Makoto Shinkai (Voices of a Distant Star, The Place Promised in Our Early Days and 5 Centimeters Per Second) and the film follows Asuna, a young girl who spends her lonely days listening to mysterious music emanating from a crystal radio, a keepsake from her recently departed father. She soon ends up on a journey of discovery to find a mysterious boy she just met. Takayo Nishimura (5 Centimeters Per Second, Before Green Gables) designed the characters and oversaw the animation process. Takumi Tanji (5 Centimeters Per Second, The Place Promised in Our Early Days) directed the art, and musical composer Tenmon (5 Centimeters Per Second, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, Voices of a Distant Star) collaborated with Shinkai again on this project.

The second film is Wolf Children (Ōkami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki) and tells the story of a 19 year-old college student named Hana who falls in "fairy tale-like" love with a "wolf man." After marrying the wolf man, Hana gives birth to two Wolf Children, older sister Yuki ("snow") who was born on a snowy day and younger brother Ame ("rain") who was born on a rainy day, but when Hana's husband suddenly dies she decides to move to a rural town. The film is produced by a new studio "Studio Chizu" established by Mamoru Hosoda (director of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars) specifically for the production of the film. The film is also co-produced by Studio Madhouse. Hosoda is credited as the creator, screenwriter and director with Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (character designer on Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, FLCL, Summer Wars) handling the character design.

From Up On Poppy Hill is the third announcement, a Studio Ghibli film based on a 1960's shōjo manga of the same name by Tetsuo Sayama and Chizuru Takahashi. The film follows a group of teens as the come together to save their school's clubhouse from destruction in preparation for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Hayao Miyazaki wrote the screenplay adaptation and the film was directed by Gorō Miyazaki.

Finally Berserk: The Golden Age Arc - The Egg of the King (Berserk Ōgon Jidai-Hen I: Haō no Tamago) is confirmed to be a part of Reel Anime 2012. The trilogy will adapt the "Golden Age" arc of the Berserk manga and details the youth of Guts, a highly skilled mercenary as he joins the army "Band of the Hawk" and befriends it's leader Griffith. The film is produced by Studio 4°C and stars Hiroaki Iwanaga (Tomica Hero Rescue Force, Moyashimon, Kamen Rider OOO) as Guts, Takahiro Sakurai (Toriko, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, anohana) as Griffith, and Toa Yukinari (Grey's Anatomy dubbing, Naruto Shippūden) as Casca. Toshiyuki Kubooka (Batman: Gotham Knight episode 5) is directing the films and Ichiro Okouchi (Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion) is handling the screenplay.

Sources: Madman's Facebook, Capsule Computers and Geek of Oz.