Anime movie director Sunao Katabuchi has another film on the way. While we don’t have very many details yet, it sounds like it could be an interesting one.
Katabuchi’s animation studio CONTRAIL tweeted out a series of messages on Thursday (Japan Time) about the new film. The new film doesn’t have a title yet, but it will apparently be set in Kyoto during the Heian Period of ancient Japan. That’s before just about any history-themed anime series you can think of.
The staff team that produced "In This Corner of the World" (2016) and “In This Corner (and Other Corners) of the World”(2019) at MAPPA Co., LTD. has launched CONTRAIL CO.,LTD.
Director Sunao Katabuchi is now working on a new film.
#SunaoKatabuchi pic.twitter.com/COxGEPWp97— CONTRAIL (@CONTRAIL_info) March 25, 2021
The Heian Period (794-1185) was a time when the Japanese imperial court was still in power. The Chinese influence of the earlier Nara Period was beginning to wane and native Japanese art and culture started to flourish. As CONTRAIL noted in the tweets, this period is known for classic literature such as The Pillow Book (Makura no Soshi) and The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari). But both of these depict court life, not ordinary Japanese lives.
‘However, there are terrible events, which are not described in these literary works. For example, the spread of plagues,’ CONTRAIL states.
Katabuchi previously directed In This Corner of the World (2016), which was later extended as In This Corner (and Other Corners) of the World (2019). The film takes place in the Hiroshima area during the war years of the 1930s and 1940s.