xxxHOLiC: Rei Manga Listed With xxxHOLiC: Shunmuki Blu-ray

Japanese retailer Mangaoh lists a special edition of CLAMP's XXXHOLiC: Rei manga that will include a Blu-Ray release of xxxHOLiC: Shunmuki video anime. xxxHOLiC: Shunmuki was a two-episode original video anime project that Kodansha bundled with the original xxxHOLiC manga in 2009. CLAMP's XXXHOLiC: Rei manga was launched in Kodansha's Young Magazine in February of this year.

 

CLAMP serialized the original xxxHOLiC manga in Weekly Young Magazine and Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine from 2003 to 2011, although it was renamed xxxHOLiC: Rō in 2009. It tells the story of Yuuko — a witch who grants people's wishes, but in return the person has to give up something precious — and Watanuki Kimihiro, a man who has visions. One day, Watanuki encounters Yuuko and she promises to get rid of the spirits that torment him. In return Watanuki must work in Yuuko's shop and help her grant other people's wishes.

 

Del Rey published the original 19-volume run in North America. The manga inspired two television series, an anime film, and several animation DVDs. Funimation released the North American edition of the first television series and xxxHOLiC the Movie: A Midsummer Night's Dream produced by Production I.G The actress/model Anne and actor Shota Sometani played Yuuko and Watanuki, respectively, in director Keisuke Toyoshima's live-action television adaption this year.

New Sailor Moon Anime to Stream Worldwide This Winter

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The female idol group Momoiro Clover Z confirmed during the Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Event #2 on Sunday that the new Sailor Moon anime will stream worldwide simultaneously this winter. In addition, the idol group will sing both the opening and the ending theme songs for the new anime. The anime will stream on Niconico.  Momoiro Clover Z, publisher Kodansha, and Sailor Moon manga creator Naoko Takeuchi had announced the new anime adaptation of the manga last summer. Momoiro Clover Z had also announced at that time that they would perform at least one theme song for the new anime. Fumio Osano, the Sailor Moon manga's Kodansha editor who is known by his nickname "Osabu," confirmed in April that the new Sailor Moon anime has been delayed from the previously announced release window of summer 2013. The solicitation sheet for new Sailor Moon super-deformed swinging keychains had teased, "New anime starts??" in the December 2013-January 2014 window.
Osano added during Sunday's event that the staff cannot announce the voice cast yet. He also indicated that the new anime would not be a remake of the earlier Sailor Moon anime.

07-Ghost Gothic Fantasy Manga to End Next Month

Yuki Amemiya, Yukino Ichihara's series inspired 2009 TV anime series

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The official website for Ichijinsha's Monthly Comic Zero-Sum magazine announced on Saturday in Japan that Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara's 07-Ghost gothic fantasy manga will end in the magazine's October issue on August 28. The manga will also be featured on the issue's cover.  The manga's story revolves around Teito, an orphaned slave with magical powers who enrolls in the military academy of the Barsburg Empire. However, he discovers his father's killers are in his school and flees. Teito gets caught in the larger struggle between Verloren, the God of Death, and the "beings of light" sent by Heaven: the Seven Ghosts.  Amemiya and Ichihara launched the manga in 2005, and Ichijinsha published the 16th volume in Japan in May. Go! Comi published the beginning of the manga in North America in 2008. Viz Media then picked up the license in 2012, and the company released the fifth volume in English earlier this month.
The manga inspired a television anime series in 2009. Ichijinsha also published the one-volume side-story manga 07-Ghost Children in 2010.

K: Memory of Red Prequel Manga Ends

Series running in Kodansha's ARIA magazine focuses on Red King Mikoto Suoh

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The cover of the September issue of Kodansha's ARIA magazine, which shipped on Saturday in Japan, reveals that it contains the final chapter of the K: Memory of Red manga. The issue also bundled a B2-size poster for the manga.  Rei Rairaku, one of the members of GoRA, composed the manga's story, and Yui Kuroe drew the art. The prequel manga centers on the Red King Mikoto Suoh, leader of HOMRA. The manga features a story that was not told in the television anime series.  Kuroe and Rairaku launched the manga in the same magazine in May 2012, and Kodansha published the second volume in March. The cover of the September issue of ARIA also notes that there is a "big announcement" regarding K: Memory of Red in the issue. The preview image for the October issue of ARIA features the following tagline: "Don't miss the latest information for 'K -Days of Blue-'!!" The image does not specify any more information about "K -Days of Blue-."
GoRA and GoHands' K television anime series premiered last October. Viz Media streamed the anime in North America as it aired in Japan, and the company is also releasing the series on home video and streaming the series dubbed on Neon Alley. The anime project is also getting a film sequel in 2014.

Ayame Gōriki Stars in L DK Live-Action Film

Adaptation of Ayu Watanabe's shōjo romance manga to open in spring 2014

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Actress Ayame Gōriki will star as Aoi in the live-action film adaptation of Ayu Watanabe's L DK shōjo manga. Kodansha's Bessatsu Friend magazine had revealed last month that the manga would be getting a film adaptation, but did not specify the medium at that time.  Gōriki will also play Shiori Genpō in next year's Black Butler live-action film, and is also playing Jun in the this year's live-action Gatchaman film. Gōriki also played Yuno Furusaki in the live-action Mirai Nikki - Another: World television series.Yasuhiro Kawamura (live-action Nodame Cantabile, Himitsu no Akko-chan films) is directing the film, and Yuuko Matsuda (live-action Gokusen series) is handling the scripts. The film is slated to open in Japan in spring 2014, and filming is set to start in the beginning of July. The manga follows Aoi, a high school girl who lives by herself. Through one circumstance after another, she ends up living under the same roof with the "prince" of her school, Shūsei. (The manga's title is a wordplay on "LDK," the abbreviation for "living room, dining room, kitchen" in Japanese apartment ads.)
Watanabe launched the manga in 2009, and Kodansha will publish the 12th compiled book volume on May 13. The manga has more than 2.7 million copies in print.

Ayame Gōriki Plays All-New Master in Live-Action Black Butler

Live-action Gatchaman actress plays female head of Phantom hive family in 2020

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Actress Ayame Gōriki (live-action Gatchaman) will star in the live-action film adaptation of Yana Toboso's popular manga Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji) early next year. She will play a brand-new master to the enigmatic title character Sebastian, played by Hiro Mizushima (Zettai Kareshi - Kanzen Muketsu no Koibito Robot). While the original manga is set in 19th century England, this new film is set over 130 years later in 2020, in an Asian city where Western and Asian cultures freely intermingle. Gōriki will play Shiori Genpō, a descendant of the prestigious aristocratic family Phantomhive. Since only males can take the reins of the family, Shiori dons male clothes and the name Kiyoharu to lead the massive Phantom Corporation. This will be first time that Gōriki plays a girl who assumes a male disguise. Mizushima's Sebastian Michaelis character is a demonic butler with impeccable knowledge, manners, grace, cooking skills, martial arts, looks, and more. Like Ciel in the original manga, Shiori has a seal in her right eye as a symbol of her contract with Sebastian. Sebastian watches over and protects Shiori, but at a price — he consumes her soul.Kentaro Otani (NANA) and Keiichi Satou (Tiger & Bunny, Karas, Asura) are co-directing the film. This will be the first time since Beck three years ago that Mizushima is starring in a film.The manga debuted in Square Enix's Monthly G Fantasy magazine in 2006, and its 16 volumes thus far have 15 million copies in print, including those published in 42 countries and territories. The manga already inspired a television anime series in 2008 and a stage play in 2009. It received the top prize in the shōnen manga category of France's Japan Expo Awards in 2010 and the Best International Manga Award in Germany's Animagic in 2011.
The film begins shooting this month. Mizushima previously played another eminently capable butler inspired by a manga series, Mei-chan no Shitsuji.

Crunchyroll to Stream Hayate the Combat Butler! Cuties Anime

New series where each episode follows different characters to premiere on April 8

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The media distribution service Crunchyroll announced on Wednesday that it will stream the Hayate the Combat Butler Cuties (Hayate no Gotoku! Cuties) television anime series. Crunchyroll will stream the series on Mondays starting on April 8 at 1:35 pm. EDT for members worldwide outside of Asia. Masashi Kudo returns from Hayate the Combat Butler: Can't Take My Eyes Off You to direct the anime at Manglobe, and he also handles the character designs. Yooichi Ueda will take on the role of series director, while Rie Koshika is in charge of the scripts. Shizuka Itou, who also plays Hinagiku Katsura in the series, is signing the anime's opening theme song "Haru ULALA ♡ LOVE yo Koi!!!" Each episode of the love-comedy anime will follow different characters and a different "route." The ending theme song will change in each episode as well. The cast from previous seasons is also returning. The anime will premiere in Japan on April 8. Kenjirou Hata's original manga already inspired the first Hayate the Combat Butler television anime (2007-2008) and its Hayate the Combat Butler!! follow-up (2009). The Hayate the Combat Butler: Can't Take My Eyes Off You (Hayate no Gotoku! Can't Take My Eyes Off You) television anime aired last year.Crunchyroll has been streaming all three of the previous television series.

Thermae Romae's Yamazaki Previews Steve Jobs Manga Online

Mari Yamazaki adapts Walter Isaacson's biography of late Apple co-founder

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Kodansha posted the first 16 pages from Mari Yamazaki's Steve Jobs biography manga on the Yahoo! Bookstore Japan website.The manga begins in 2004 with the late Apple company co-founder Steve Jobs travelling to Colorado to surprise author Walter Isaacson with a request: to pen his life story. Isaacson muses if Jobs is comparing himself with Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein, the subjects of two Isaacson biographies. The author puts off writing Jobs' story until he receives a call from Jobs' wife Laurene with shocking news: Jobs has cancer. The entire first chapter debuted in the May issue of Kodansha's Kiss magazine on Monday.Yamazaki ended her historical comedy manga Thermae Romae in Enterbrain's Monthly Comic Beam magazine on March 12. The manga inspired a television anime mini-series, a live-action film starring Hiroshi Abe and Aya Ueto, and an upcoming live-action film sequel. Yen Press publishes the manga in North America, while Discotek licensed the anime in North America.
Thermae Romae won the Manga Taisho (Cartoon Grand Prize) award in 2010, followed by the Short Work Prize in the 14th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prizes. Although Yamazaki was born in Tokyo, she now lives in Chicago.

Love*Com's Nakahara to Start Dame na Watashi ni Koi Shite Kudasai Manga

Romantic comedy to debut in YOU magazine in April

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Shueisha's Monthly YOU magazine announced a new romantic comedy series by manga creator Aya Nakahara (Lovely Complex) entitled Dame na Watashi ni Koishite Kudasai (Please Love Hopeless Me). The series will launch with a color opening page in the May issue of the magazine on April 15. Aya Nakahara is known for her romance manga, with her latest work being Junjō Cider that launched in Shueisha's Bessatsu Margaret magazine in 2011. Arguably her most well-known work, the 17-volume Lovely Complex, has been published in English by Viz Media in North America. Viz Pictures also released the manga's live-action film adaptation on DVD.

Boys Over Flowers' Kamio to Launch Ibara no Kanmuri Manga

Series about girl with secret to premiere in Betsuma in April

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The official website for Shueisha's Bessatsu Margaret magazine has announced that Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango) creator Yoko Kamio is launching the Ibara no Kanmuri (Crown of Thorns) manga in the magazine's May issue on April 13. The manga centers on a girl named Nobara who has a secret that she cannot tell a certain person. Since the main Boys Over Flowers manga ended in 2004, Kamio drew two Boys Over Flowers side stories in 2006 and 2007. She also drew her Cat Street manga in Bessatsu Margaret from 2004 to 2007, her Matsuri Special manga in Jump Square magazine from 2007 until 2010, and the Tora to Ōkami series in Bessatsu Margaret from 2010 to 2011.
Boys Over Flowers has been adapted into a television anime series, a 1995 Japanese live-action film, and a more well-known 2005 Japanese television drama, which spawned a sequel and a hit film. The manga also inspired a live-action Taiwanese drama and a 2009 live-action South Korean drama. Viz Media released Kamio's Boys Over Flowers romance manga and its television anime adaptation in North America.

Itazura na Kiss Manga Gets New Live-Action TV Drama

Yūki Furukawa, Honoka Miki to star in new adaptation of Kaoru Tada's classic shōjo manga

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Kaoru Tada's classic unfinished shōjo manga Itazura Na Kiss is getting a new television drama adaptation starting on March 29. The Itazura Na Kiss ~Love in Tokyo drama will star 16-year-old model and actress Honoka Miki (Suzuki-sensei, Maria Watches Over Us) as Kotoko and 25-year-old Yūki Furukawa (High School Debut, Rich Man, Poor Woman) as Naoki. Miki herself is a huge fan of Tada's work, and owns all of the manga volumes. Yūki Yamada (2012's GTO, Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger) will also star in the series as Naoki's love rival Kinnosuke Ikezawa. The series will have a total of 16 episodes. In the romantic comedy, a high school girl named Kotoko finally tells a fellow senior named Naoki that she has loved him from afar since she saw him on their first day of high school.  However, Naoki, a haughty "super-ikemen" (handsome male) with smarts and sports talent, rejects her offhand. Fate intervenes when a mild earthquake ruins Kotoko's family house. While the house gets rebuilt, Kotoko and her dad stay at the home of her dad's childhood friend...whose son is Naoki. The story follows Naoki and Kotoko through high school and beyond, but the manga is unfinished because Tada passed away in an accident in 1999. The popular manga has more than 30 million copies in print. The story was previously adapted into a television drama series in Japan in 1996, two drama series in Taiwan under the name It Started with a Kiss in 2005 and 2007, a 2008 stage play, a 2008 television anime series, and a drama series in South Korea in 2010.
Digital Manga Inc. is publishing the series in North America, and the company will release the 10th volume in November.

Kenshin's Satoh Stars in Kano-Uso Shōjo Manga's Film

Live-action film based on Kotomi Aoki's manga to open in December

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The two lead roles and the main staff for the live-action adaptation of Kotomi Aoki's Kanojo wa Uso o Aishisugiteru manga were announced on Thursday. Takeru Satoh, who played Kenshin Himura in the live-action adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin, will play the male lead Aki Ogasawara. Sakurako Ōhara, a 17-year-old high school student who was chosen from an open audition with more than 5,000 applicants, will play the female lead Riko Koeda. Norihiro Koizumi (Flowers) will direct the film and Tomoko Yoshida (Bokura ga Ita) will write the screenplay. Seiji Kameda (Eureka Seven, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Inuyasha theme song arranger) will produce the music.Filming is planned to run from March to May, and the film will open in December. The story centers around Aki Ogasawara, a "sound creator" who composes for the popular band Crude Play and earns more than 100 million yen (about US$1.3 million) a year. Despite this, he conceals all of this and calls himself a NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training). Seeking a life outside of music, he begins seeing a high school girl named Riko Koeda. However, what Aki does not know is that Riko is actually a huge fan of Aki's music. Even with his girlfriend, Aki cannot escape the world of music.
Aoki launched the manga in Cheese! magazine in 2009, and Shogakukan is publishing the manga's eleventh compiled book volume this month.

Fairy Tail Anime's TV Run to End on March 30 (Updated)

Manga creator Hiro Mashima: "Please be patient … for me to announce some good news"

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ANN confirmed that Kodansha's TV Magazine announced on Friday that the Fairy Tail anime's television broadcast run will end on March 30. The adaptation of Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail fantasy adventure manga premiered on Japan's TV Tokyo station in October 2009.
 The April issue of Shueisha's Jump Square magazine is revealing on Monday that the Driland anime will begin a new run in Fairy Tail's current Saturday 10:30 a.m. timeslot on April 6. However, Mashima posted a statement to fans on his official Twitter feed on Saturday:

Until the time comes, I cannot say something I've always wanted to say, even on Twitter. Please be patient and wait until the time comes for me to announce some good news.

Crunchyroll has been streaming the Fairy Tail series as it airs in Japan. Funimation released the anime's fourth part on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in North America in February 2012. Del Rey published 12 volumes of the original manga in North America, and Kodansha resumed publishing the manga with the 13th volume in 2011. The 38th volume of the manga will include an original anime DVD in a special-edition bundle in Japan on June 17.
The original manga's story began with a teenaged girl named Lucy Heartfilia who aims to join the world's most notorious mage guild, Fairy Tail. During a daring rescue, Lucy encounters Natsu "Salamander" Dragneel, a quirky Fairy Tail member and a teenaged practitioner of the ancient Dragon Slayer magic. Lucy is eventually welcomed into the Fairy Tail guild as she, Natsu, and other members go on various quests together.

Zekkyō Gakkyū Shōjo Horror Manga Gets Film Adaptation

Emi Ishikawa's collection of scary stories told by ghost girl in Ribon magazine

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The March issue of Shueisha's Ribon magazine is announcing on Friday that Emi Ishikawa's Zekkyō Gakkyū (Screaming Lessons) horror shōjo manga will get a film adaptation. Ishikawa's original manga follows a ghost girl named Yomi as she tells the reader various scary stories. Ishikawa began serializing the series in 2008 and the 13th collected volume will ship in Japan on February 15. The series already received a "vomic" (voice + comic) video in 2010 starring Tomomi Kasai, Moeno Nitō, Haruka Ishida, and Reina Fujie of the female idol group AKB48, as well as several anime promotional videos.

Inu × Boku SS Manga Enters Final Arc

Cocoa Fujiwara's romantic comedy manga inspired 2012 anime

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The official website for Square Enix's Gangan Joker magazine revealed on Tuesday that Cocoa Fujiwara's (dear, Watashi no Ookami-san) Inu × Boku SS manga has entered its final arc with the magazine's February issue. The manga began its serialization in 2009, and Square Enix released the 8th volume last November. The romantic comedy follows a mistress and her "servant" (bodyguard) in Maison de Ayakashi, a high-class building better known by the name "Demon House (Ayakashi-kan)." Rumors about it abound, ranging from "nothing but weirdos live there," to "It's a haunted house inside," but the truth is that the people who live in this mysterious building are all descendants of demons. Ririchiyo Shirakiin is troubled by her inability to interact with people, and comes to the building in order to change herself. There she meets Soushi Miketsukami, one of the Secret Service bodyguards assigned to each tenant, and he tells her, "Please make me your dog!"
David Production's television anime adaptation of the manga aired last year. Sentai Filmworks is releasing the anime in North America, and Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired.

Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyō Comedy Novels Get Anime

Shunsuke Sarai's story of boy resurrected as dachshund & sadistic girl with scissors

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Advertising for the sixth volume of Shunsuke Sarai's Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyō comedy light novel series has revealed this month that an anime adaptation has been green-lit. The absurd mystery comedy centers around Kazuhito Harumi, a high school boy who is obsessed with reading books. One day, he is killed in the middle of a robbery — and resurrected as a dachshund dog. Unable to read in his new form, the hapless Kazuhito now belongs to Kirihime Natsuno, a sadistic novelist who uses scissors on Kazuhito to abuse him. Sarai launched the novel series with illustrations by Tetsuhiro Nabeshima in 2011, and Enterbrain's Famitsu Bunko imprint will publish the sixth volume on January 30. Along with a short story volume, the novel series will have 300,000 copies in print.
The story earned an honor in the Entame Taishō awards' novel category. The story already inspired a drama CD last year, and Kamon Ōniwa launched a manga adaptation in Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Shōnen Ace magazine last May.

AKB48, Bakemonogatari, Persona 4 Win Gold Disc Awards

AKB48 takes Artist of the Year, Bakemonogatari wins Animation Album of the Year

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The Japanese Gold Disc Awards announced the latest round of annual winners on Monday. The Record Association of Japan evaluates musical artists and works in Japan every year, and choose a few to recognize for their effect on the record business. Finalists are chosen by how much they have sold of a music video or CD, as well as by digital sales. Once this data is verified by a certified public accountant, finalists are chosen. The time period for the 27th annual contest ran from November 1, 2011 until October 31, 2012. For the Japanese music category, AKB48 took the award of Artist of the Year, with the idol group selling 1,315,929 albums, 8,192,364 singles, and 699,740 music videos. Additionally, their songs were purchased for download 6,847,861 times. The Artist of the Year award for foreign music went to Australian artist Che'Nelle, who sold 512,210 albums, 18,201 singles, and 3,401,912 digital downloads. Her album “Believe” also won the Album of the Year category.The Bakemonogatari Complete Music Collection won the Animation Album of the Year award, while Persona 4 The Golden's original soundtrack won the Soundtrack Album of the Year award.
Other winners include Nogizaka46 and One Direction winning the New Artist of the Year award, Alexandra Stan and Hot Chelle Rae winning the Best 3 New Artists award, and KARA winning Best Asian Artist.

No Anime Nominated for Oscars

Ghibli's From Up On Poppy Hill, Katsuhiro Otomo's "Combustible" were submitted

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 85th Academy Awards on Thursday. No Japanese-animated titles were nominated, although Goro Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's From Up On Poppy Hill and Isamu Imakake's The Mystical Laws were submitted for the Animated Feature Film category. Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira, Steamboy, Memories) and Sunrise's "Combustible" ("Hi no Yōjin") short was also submitted for consideration in the Short Film (Animated) category. There were no Japanese nominees in the Foreign Language Film category.The Animated Feature Film category has five nominees:

• Brave Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
• Frankenweenie Tim Burton
• ParaNorman Sam Fell and Chris Butler
• The Pirates! Band of Misfits Peter Lord
• Wreck-It Ralph Rich Moore

The Short Film (Animated) category also has five nominees:

• "Adam and Dog" Minkyu Lee
• "Fresh Guacamole" PES
• "Head over Heels" Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
• "Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"" David Silverman
• "Paperman" John Kahrs

Miyazaki's Spirited Away became the only Japanese animated feature to win an Oscar in 2002. Kunio Katō's "La Maison en Petits Cubes" won in the Best Animated Short Film category at the 81st Annual Academy Awards in 2009. Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's Ponyo qualified for a nomination in the feature film category in the 82nd Academy Awards, but did not receive one. Similarly, Mamoru Oshii and Production I.G's The Sky Crawlers and Masahiro Ando and BONES' Sword of the Stranger were among the 14 films submitted for the same category for the 81st Academy Awards; both were eventually accepted in the category but were not nominated.

Hataraku Maou-sama! Fantasy Comedy Slated for April

The official website for the Hataraku Maou-sama! fantasy comedy television anime was revamped on Saturday with the announcement that the anime will premiere in April.

 

In Satoshi Wagahara's original fantasy light novel series, a demon lord named Satan is one step away from conquering his alternate world when he is transported to Tokyo of our world. He ends up having to work part-time at a fast food restaurant to make ends meet. In order to conquer Japan, he (under the Earth name Sadao Maō) has to first move up from a freelancer to an actual employee. Meanwhile, the heroine Emilia has arrived in Japan also, in pursuit of Satan.

 

Naoto Hosoda is directing the anime at WHITE FOX, and Atsushi Ikariya is adapting original novel illustrator 029's characters for anime. Masahiro Yokotani is in charge of the series scripts. The cast is as follows:

 

 

           Ryota Ohsaka as Sadao Maō/Demon Lord Satan

• Yōko Hikasa as Emi Yusa/Heroine Emilia
• Nao Tōyama as Chiho Sasaki
• Yuuki Ono as Shirō Ashiya/Demon General Arushieru

Distant Star's Makoto Shinkai Makes Kotonoha no Niwa Anime Film

Children Who Chase Lost Voices creator's "tale of 'lonely sadness'" in 1st half of 2013

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The official website for Makoto Shinkai — the auteur director behind Voices of a Distant Star, 5 Centimeters Per Second, and Children Who Chase Lost Voices — announced on Christmas Eve that he is creating a new anime film called Kotonoha no Niwa. Shinkai plans to open the film in Japanese theaters in the first half of next year, and he began planning this past spring. The tagline on the website reads, "A tale of 'lonely sadness,' older than even 'love.'"

Shinkai wrote on his website that this is the first time he is making a "love" story — in the traditional Japanese meaning of the word. He added that there were words long before there were characters to write them in this world. The Japanese language during the era when it had no written form is known as "Yamato kotoba." The language during this time had its own pronunciations, before the importation of kanji characters from China.

At the time, "love" was written as "lonely sadness" (koi). Moreover, according to Shinkai, the modern concept of "love" (ai) was imported from the West. While his new Kotonoha no Niwa film is set in the modern era, it will be about koi in the original "lonely sadness" meaning — of longing for someone in solitude, as opposed to the modern meaning.