Los Angeles, California, home to the biggest anime-centric event in The United States, also houses a great many anime appreciators. It may not seem fair that that city in particular always hosts Japanese pop culture related events and people that never seem to happen anywhere else, except maybe New York. Well, you have another reason to be happy if you’re a local LA otaku, and angry if you’re outside the city: With their capital A artistry most other studios wouldn’t dream of approaching, Studio 4°C will hold an exhibition at the Gallery Nucleus for a two-week stretch next month.
From 6 February through the 21st, you can partake in a Studio 4°C Exhibition viewing experience if you have either: A. purchased the Studio 4°C art book; or B. pay five dollars. The exhibition will also host an online Q&A with Children of the Sea director Ayumu Watanabe, who also directed a bunch of Doraemon movies for contrast! Backgrounds, concept art, cels, and more from said film; Yuasa’s Mind Game; the Genius Party anthology; and others will make themselves available to your eyes. Heck, they have specified they will be displaying materials from 1997’s Eternal Family from Koji Morimoto, which is honestly unbelievable.
Now, the gallery assures COVID-19 safety protocols will be in place. Whether that mitigates enough risk is up to you. We will say that, in an imaginary COVID free vacuum at least, a Studio 4°C Exhibition would be delightful. If you’ve seen Children of the Sea, or Tekkonkinkreet, or Mind Game, you know the studio approaches their craft with the utmost care; Every background a detailed painting you could hang up in a museum, every stretch of their sophisticated brand of hand-drawn animation teeming with life. We would love a look behind that curtain, in better times.
This Studio 4°C Exhibition runs at the Gallery Nucleus in Los Angeles from 6 February through 21 February.