Nasu: Summer in Andalusia

Nasu: Summer in Andalusia
Directed by	Kitarō Kōsaka
Produced by	Masao Maruyama
Music by	Toshiyuki Honda
Editing by	Takeshi Seyama
Studio	Madhouse
Release date(s)	December 21, 2003 (2003-12-21)
Running time	47 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Nasu: Summer in Andalusia (茄子 アンダルシアの夏, Nasu: Andarushia no Natsu^?) is a 2003 Japanese anime film by Madhouse, directed by Kitarō Kōsaka, the famed animation supervisor of the Oscar-winning anime film Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke and long-time collaborator of Studio Ghibli, and adapted from a short 3-tankōbon manga by Iō Kuroda, entitled Nasu, which was serialized in the Afternoon manga magazine.

Kōsaka became interested in adapting the work after his long-time collaborator, Hayao Miyazaki, a fan of cycling, himself recommended the manga to Kōsaka.^[1][2] The film soon went on to become the first Japanese anime film ever to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival.^[1][2][3]

Nasu: Summer in Andalusia has been translated and dubbed into English by the anime television network Animax, which has broadcast the film in Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and other regions. It was also translated into French, under the title Nasu - Un été andalou, and Italian, under the title Melanzane - Estate andalusa. The German version was released as Nasu - Sommer in Andalusien.

It was announced that a sequel, Nasu: A Migratory Bird with Suitcase, was being produced, which will be set in Japan on the Japan Cup Cycle Road Race, which was subsequently released in 2007. Directed by Kitarō Kōsaka, it featured Ken'ichi Yoshida, another long-time collaborator of Studio Ghibli, who has worked on several Studio Ghibli films such as Princess Mononoke and Porco Rosso, as animation director. In 2008, Nasu: A Migratory Bird with Suitcase won the best Original Video Animation award at the seventh annual Tokyo Anime Awards, held at the 2008 Tokyo International Anime Fair.^[4]

Plot

Nasu: Summer in Andalusia follows the story of a professional Spanish cyclist, Pepe Benengeli, as he competes in the Vuelta a España road bicycle race through his home town in the Iberian region of Andalusia. As the story progresses, Pepe is faced with frustrating consequences, with him facing pressure from his sponsors and the wedding of his former girlfriend, Carmen, to his elder brother, Angel, coinciding on the same day of the penultimate stage of the bicycle race. Originally is meant to be a backup racer whose job is to assist his more prominent team-mate to win the race. However he accidentally overhears a conversation in his sponsor's van through his radio com-link which had been negligently left open, in which he finds out ,to his shock, that his sponsor intends to fire him after the race. Realizing that he cannot race without a sponsor and that he has nothing left to lose, he disregards his instructions and sets out to win the race for himself.

Credits

Nasu: Summer in Andalusia was produced by the anime studio, Madhouse, and directed and written by Kitarō Kōsaka, the famed animation supervisor of the Oscar-winning anime film, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, and long-time collaborator of Studio Ghibli, and was his theatrical film directorial debut. The music for the film was conducted by Toshiyuki Honda, and its sound was produced by Masafumi Mima. Its directors of photography were Katsuyoshi Kishi and Hisao Shirai, its art director was Naoya Tanaka and its editing was done by Takeshi Seyama. Its producer was Masao Maruyama and its executive producer was Tamotsu Shiina.

Cast

• Yo Oizumi - Pepe
• Eiko Koike - Carmen
• Hiroaki Hirata - Frankie
• Masahiko Tanaka - Ciocci
• Minoru Hirano - Hernandez
• Mitsumasa Daigo - Zulbaran
• Rintarou Nishi - Pizzaro
• Seiji Sasaki - Zamenhoff
• Toshio Kakei - Angel
• Yuko Kaida - Woman A
• Yuzo Sato - Gilmore

Staff

• Original Work: Iō Kuroda's Nasu
• Director, Screenplay, Animation Director: Kitarō Kōsaka
• Episode Direction: Atsushi Takahashi
• Producer: Masao Maruyama
• Ending Theme: Kiyoshirō Imawano
• Music: Toshiyuki Honda
• Production: Madhouse
• Special Assistance: Nihon Jitensha Shinkōkai
• Production: Nasu: Summer in Andalusia Production Committee

References

1. ^ ^{a b} (Japanese) Makoto Ayano (2003-11-10). "CyclingWeb.jp：Cycling People Special Interview 高坂希太郎". CyclingWeb.jp. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20070930021433/http://www.cyclingweb.jp/c_people/kosaka/vol01.html. Retrieved 2007-07-05. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Tom Mes (2003-06-10). "Midnight Eye interview: Kitaro Kosaka". Midnight Eye. http://www.midnighteye.com/interviews/kitaro_kosaka.shtml. Retrieved 2007-07-05. 
3. ^ "高坂希太郎とは - はてなダイアリー". http://d.hatena.ne.jp/keyword/%B9%E2%BA%E4%B4%F5%C2%C0%CF%BA. Retrieved 2007-06-07. 
4. ^ "Eva 1.0 Wins Tokyo Anime Fair's Animation of the Year". Anime News Network. 2008-02-26. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-02-26/eva-1.0-wins-tokyo-anime-fair-animation-of-the-year. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 

External links

• Nasu: Summer in Andalusia: Official Website (Japanese)
• VAP's official website for Nasu (Japanese)
• Nasu: Summer in Andalusia at the Internet Movie Database
• Nasu: Summer in Andalusia (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Nasu (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia