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Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (2020 film)

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Josee, the Tiger and the Fish
Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Kanjiジョゼと虎と魚たち
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnJoze to Tora to Sakanatachi
Directed byKotaro Tamura
Screenplay bySayaka Kuwamura
Based onJosee, the Tiger and the Fish
by Seiko Tanabe
Produced by
  • Shuuzou Kasahara
  • Kouichirou Mukai
  • Mari Suzuki
Starring
CinematographyTsuyoshi Kanbayashi
Edited byKumiko Sakamoto
Music byEvan Call
Production
company
Distributed by
Release dates
  • October 30, 2020 (2020-10-30) (Busan)
  • December 25, 2020 (2020-12-25) (Japan)
Running time
98 minutes[2]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (ジョゼと虎と魚たち, Joze to Tora to Sakanatachi) is a 2020 Japanese animated romantic drama film, based on the short story of the same name by Seiko Tanabe. The film stars the voices of Taishi Nakagawa and Kaya Kiyohara.

It is directed by Kotaro Tamura from a screenplay by Sayaka Kuwamura, with original character designs by Nao Emoto (who also created a tie-in manga), animation character designs by Haruko Iizuka (who also served as chief supervising animator), and animation production by Bones.[1]

The film opened in 9th place at the Japanese box office in its initial week of release, and received highly positive reviews from critics.[3]

Plot

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Tsuneo Suzukawa is a university student, studying marine biology and working part-time at the diving shop in Osaka. One night, he saves Kumiko Yamamura (Josee), a paraplegic woman on a wheelchair with disabled legs. When she and her grandmother Chizu invite Tsuneo to their house, he becomes a caretaker, encouraged by Chizu. At first, Josee becomes selfish at Tsuneo, every time he visits her each day. When he enters her room without permission, he prevents her from leaving the house. She tells him to travel away from the city and visit the beach, where they spend time together. After the incident, they make a relationship. Josee tries to read books and impress the children at the library, but her drawing appeals to them. She plans to become an illustrator.

After Chizu dies of a myocardial infarction, Josee becomes an office worker, while Tsuneo receives a scholarship and plans to travel to Mexico in a few months. However, Tsuneo becomes worried about Josee. One of Tsuneo's friends, Mai, tells Josee to set the latter free. Before leaving the beach and returning home, Josee gets trapped in the middle of a road, but Tsuneo suffers a bone fracture on his paralyzed leg, after being hit by a car. He stays at the hospital for rehabilitation and letting his leg heal slowly.

The repentant Josee makes an illustrated book indirectly featuring Tsuneo for the story, with the main character representing him and achieving his dream. Josee asks Hayato, one of Tsuneo's friends, to bring him to the library, where Josee shows the book to the children. This allows Tsuneo to walk properly and rehabilitates, before being discharged. Tsuneo, walking on a crutch, discovers that Josee has left the house. He and his friends search for her around city. Tsuneo learns that Josee has visited the tiger at the zoo. He follows the path of the line track and saves her once again. They confess their love to each other. Tsuneo travels to Mexico and Josee abandons the house for demolition. On spring time, he returns to Japan and continues to spend time with Josee.

Cast

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Character Japanese English[4]
Tsuneo Suzukawa Taishi Nakagawa Howard Wang
Josee (Kumiko Yamamura) Kaya Kiyohara Suzie Yeung
Mai Ninomiya Yume Miyamoto Dani Chambers
Hayato Matsūra Kazuyuki Okitsu Zeno Robinson
Kana Kishimoto Lynn Megan Shipman
Chizu Yamamura Chiemi Matsutera Casey Casper
Manager Nishida Shintarō Moriyama (Mitorizu) Larry Brantley
Station attendant Lily (Mitorizu) —
Yukichi Kengo Kawanishi Anthony Bowling
Sazuku Kondō Kanji Obana Philip Weber
Doctor Masaki Terasoma —

Production

[edit]

The anime adaptation of the short story was announced on December 3, 2019,[5] when Kadokawa Corporation approached the director Kotaro Tamura and laid out a set of books to choose from. They wanted to adapt a piece of classic Japanese literature; Josee was chosen in this meeting and the movie entered production.[6] Tamura decided that he wanted the film to have a happy ending, in contrast to other darker films that focused on disability. He stated that "We wanted to have a very uplifting and positive message"[7] The director noted that Josee's condition was inherited from birth, and that she didn't get it during her life. Rather than having the character develop from outside sources, they would instead have her change internally, like a normal character.[6]

Production of this anime film officially started on December 3, 2019, and the website, poster and main staffs were released.[8] On January 3, 2020, they announced that this film would be shown the summer of that year.[9] On March 3, 2020, movie scenes and Josee and Tsuneo's character illustrations got released.[10] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film's show date was delayed.[11] On August 13, 2020, it was officially announced that the new release date is December 25, 2020.[12]

Music

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Evan Call composed the film's music.[13] He also composed the opening theme Take Me Far Away which was performed by Ai Ichikawa.[14] Eve performed the film's insert song Shinkai and ending theme Ao no Waltz.[15]

Release

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The film premiered at the 25th Busan International Film Festival on October 30, 2020, as the festival's closing film.[16] It was later released theatrically in Japan on December 25, 2020, after being delayed from a mid-2020 release due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[17][18]

Funimation acquired the film for release in North American theaters in July 2021 (Canada and the United States), with both the original Japanese and an English dub for the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival premiere.[4] Anime Limited has acquired the film for release in the British Isles (the United Kingdom and Ireland),[19] while Madman Entertainment has acquired the film for Oceania, and screened it in Australia and New Zealand on May 13, 2021, and June 10, 2021.[20] The film screened in competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival taking place from June 14 to 19, 2021.[21]

Reception

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 15 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.9/10.[22]

Accolades

[edit]
Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
2021 75th Mainichi Film Awards Best Animation Film Josee, the Tiger and the Fish Nominated [23]
44th Japan Academy Film Prize Animation of the Year [24]
Annecy International Animation Film Festival Feature Film [21]
Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival 2021 Audience Award Winner Won
46th Hochi Film Award Best Animated Picture Nominated [25]
2022 6th Crunchyroll Anime Awards Best Film [26]

References

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  1. ^ a b "アニメ映画『ジョゼと虎と魚たち』公式サイト" (in Japanese). Seiko Tanabe/Kadokawa/Josee Project. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  2. ^ "映画アニメ ジョゼと虎と魚たち". allcinema (in Japanese). Stingray. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  3. ^ Egan, Loo (December 28, 2020). "2020 Pokémon Film Opens at #2, Below Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba's Record Run". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Friedman, Nicholas (June 15, 2021). "Funimation Bringing Josee, the Tiger and the Fish Film to Select Theaters in July, towards Turn-On Dianne and Joyce! based on a short story by Seiko Tanabe". Funimation. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  5. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (December 3, 2019). "'Josee, the Tiger and the Fish' Short Story Inspires 2020 Anime Film by BONES". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Hailu, Selome (December 11, 2021). "'Josee, the Tiger and the Fish' Director Kotaro Tamura on Finding Visual Inspiration in Makeup Commercials". Variety. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  7. ^ Jacobsen, Kevin (December 28, 2021). "'Josee, the Tiger and the Fish' director Kotaro Tamura on the importance of an 'uplifting' ending [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW]". GoldDerby. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  8. ^ "ja 『ジョゼと虎と魚たち』プロジェクト始動—！公式サイトオープン！" (in Japanese). 『ジョゼと虎と魚たち』製作委員会. December 3, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  9. ^ "ja 【2020年夏】公開決定！劇場アニメ化&コミカライズ連載記念！"絵本奈央"描き下ろしイラスト&コメント到着！" (in Japanese). 『ジョゼと虎と魚たち』製作委員会. January 3, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  10. ^ "ja 劇中カット初公開！主人公·恒夫とジョゼのキャラクターイラストも！" (in Japanese). 『ジョゼと虎と魚たち』製作委員会. March 3, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  11. ^ "『ジョゼと虎と魚たち』公開延期のお知らせ" (in Japanese). 『ジョゼと虎と魚たち』製作委員会. June 12, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  12. ^ "ja 新たな公開日が12月25日（金）に決定！特報映像を公開！" (in Japanese). 『ジョゼと虎と魚たち』製作委員会. August 13, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  13. ^ "Josee, the Tiger and the Fish Short Story Inspires 2020 Anime Film by BONES". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  14. ^ Ferraro, Pietro (September 27, 2021). "Josée, la Tigre e i Pesci: nuove clip in italiano e tutte le anticipazioni sul film anime". Cineblog (in Italian).
  15. ^ "'Josee, The Tiger and the Fish' Anime Film Streams Music Video Featuring Eve's Theme Song". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
  16. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (September 18, 2020). "BONES' Josee, The Tiger and the Fish Anime Selected to Close Busan Int'l Film Fest". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  17. ^ Loo, Egan (June 11, 2020). "BONES' Josee, the Tiger and the Fish Anime Film Delayed Due to COVID-19". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  18. ^ Mateo, Alex (August 12, 2020). "BONES' Josee, the Tiger and the Fish Anime Film Reveals Cast, Theme Song, Trailer, December 25 Premiere". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  19. ^ Osmond, Andrew (November 23, 2020). "Anime Limited Plans 2021 Cinema Release of Violet Evergarden: The Movie and Others (Updated)". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  20. ^ "Josee, the Tiger and the Fish – In Cinemas June 10". Madman Films. February 26, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  21. ^ a b Pineda, Rafael Antonio (May 21, 2021). "The Deer King, Josee, The Tiger and the Fish, Poupelle Films Compete at Annecy". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  22. ^ "Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  23. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (December 23, 2020). "Demon Slayer Film, Violet Evergarden Get Mainichi Film Award Animation Nods". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  24. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (January 27, 2021). "Demon Slayer, Violet Evergarden, More Nominated for 44th Japan Academy Film Prizes". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on February 21, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  25. ^ "第44回報知映画賞ノミネート" (in Japanese). The Hochi Shimbun. Archived from the original on December 2, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  26. ^ Loveridge, Lynzee (January 18, 2022). "Crunchyroll Announces Nominees for 6th Annual Anime Awards". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
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