Danica Davidson
May 22, 2023 
The MAPPA Stage 2023 event took place yesterday, and it gave us some teaser info on the upcoming anime movie The Mourning Children: Nagiko and the Girls Wearing Tsurubami Black (Tsurubami-Iro no Nagiko-tachi in Japanese) that’s directed by Black Lagoon and In This Corner of the World director Sunao Katabuchi. For starters, here is a behind-the-scenes video of the movie being made:
We also learned over the weekend that the movie’s music will be composed by Akira Senju, who has worked on Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Mobile Suit Victory Gundam. (For Otaku USA’s interview with Senju, go here.)
Katabuchi has been working on this project since 2017, and it’s a historical piece that will take place in the tenth century. Real-life Japanese author Sei Shōnagon is included as a character in it. Britannica explains:
“Sei Shōnagon, (born c. 966, Japan—died c. 1025, Japan), diarist, poet, and courtier whose witty, learned Pillow Book (Makura no sōshi) exhibits a brilliant and original Japanese prose style and is a masterpiece of classical Japanese literature. It is also the best source of information on Japanese court life in the Heian period (794–1185).”
Katabuchi’s directing assistant is Chie Uratani, who is known for working on Hijikata Toshizo: Shiro no Kiseki, Princess Arete, and Ushiro no Shomen Daare. The chief animation director is Masashi Ando, who has impressively been involved with Princess Mononoke and The Deer King. The art director, Toshiharu Mizutani, also has a solid list of credentials, having worked on Akira, Children of the Whales, Banana Fish and more.
Prior to this, Katabuchi directed Black Lagoon, Black Lagoon: Roberta’s Blood Trail, Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage, In This Corner of the World, Princess Arete, Mai Mai Miracle, and Meiken Lassie.
The movie is being produced by Contrail, a company Katabuchi founded four years ago. Manabu Ohtsuka of MAPPA is also the representative director for this studio.
Source: ANN
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin. She is also the author of its upcoming sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
