Nasu: Summer in Andalusia

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. The film soon went on to become the first Japanese anime film ever to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival. 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. A sequel, Nasu: A Migratory Bird with Suitcase, set in Japan on the Japan Cup Cycle Road Race, was 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.