Japanese anime director Makoto Shinkai released "Your Name." (or "君の名は."; pronounced as "Kimi no Na Wa." in Japanese), one of his greatest works so far a few months ago. Recently, it was confirmed by Funimation, an American entertainment and anime licensing company located in Flower Mound, Texas, that "Your Name." has made the official consideration list of the 89th Annual Academy Awards in the Best Animated Feature category, according to Crunchyroll.
"We're thrilled to have 'Your Name.' on the list of contenders for a Best Animated Feature nomination," said CEO and founder of the Funimation Company Gen Fukunaga. He also praised Shinkai's film, saying "It is a masterpiece of animation from director Makoto Shinkai and is definitely worthy of Oscar consideration. We look forward to releasing it in theaters in 2017." Funimation describes Shinkai's film as "a beautiful story about time, fate and the hearts of two young souls."
Makoto Shinkai's latest film has earned more than 17.9 billion Yen or around 170 million dollars at the Japanese box office since releasing it during the 26th of August this year, according to PR Newswire. It was said to be the first anime film to earn more than 10 billion Yen in Japan that was not directed by the world's most famous anime director, Hayao Miyazaki.
The film has also even surpassed two of Miyazaki's films, "Ponyo", which was released in 2008 and "The Wind Rises", which was released in 2013 and currently holds the number 7 spot for Japan's highest grossing film of all time. The animated film's qualifying run will occur from the 2nd to the 8th day of December at the Laemmle Music Hall in Los Angeles, California. The film will be shown in the United States in select theaters nationwide in early next year.
