Summer Days with Coo
| Summer Days with Coo | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Keiichi Hara |
| Written by | Keiichi Hara |
| Music by | Kei Wakakusa |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 138 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Budget | $3,333,389[1] |
Summer Days with Coo (河童のクゥと夏休み Kappa no Kū to Natsuyasumi, lit. "Summer Vacation with Coo the Kappa") is a 2007 Japanese animated film about a kappa and its impact on an ordinary suburban family, directed by Keiichi Hara.
Reception
The film won the Best Animation Film award at the 2008 Mainichi Film Awards[2] and was nominated for Best Animation Film at the 2008 Japanese Academy Awards,[3] and for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2007 Asia Pacific Screen Awards. It also won the Grand Prize for Animation at the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival and the Feature Film category at the 2008 Tokyo Anime Award.
Plot
A small, lone Kappa miraculously survives over 200 years into modern day Tokyo, Japan when he is found by young Koichi. "Coo" who is secretly adopted by the whole family, faces a tragic past and the present's challenge of living in a dramatically changed environment, searches with his new human friend for places not invaded by people hoping to find any remaining of his kind. When this intelligent "water spirit" draws the popular attention of the whole city upon being discovered and then confronted with his past, it forces him to take action and make an ultimate decision, in order to preserve his kind, inner peace and well being in today's harsh world.
Characters
- Coo (クゥ Kuu) - Coo is the Kappa the whole story revolves around. He is found by Koichi Uehara, after he had survived over 200 years as a fossil. He then lives with Uehara family.
- Kouichi Uehara (上原康一 Uehara Kōichi0 - A fourth grade student,one day he finds a fossil of a baby Coo who survived for 200 years.
- Ossan (オッサン) - The Uehara family dog.
Other mythical creatures
There are other Japanese mythical creatures appearing in the movie:
- A doll-like Zashiki warashi, living in a marigaya in Iwate Prefecture
- Kijimuna, living in Yanbaru, Okinawa
- A rain or water elemental Asian dragon.
Cast
- Kazato Tomizawa as Coo
- Takahiro Yokokawa as Kouichi Uehara
- Naoki Tanaka as Yasuo Uehara
- Naomi Nishida as Yukari Uehara
- Tamaki Matsumoto as Hitomi Uehara
- Yoshito Yasuhara as Ossan
- Michio Hazama as The Samurai
- Akiko Yajima as Announcer
- Keiji Fujiwara as Emcee
- Gori as Kijimuna
References
- ↑ "Kappa no ku to natsu yasumi (2007)". Retrieved 8 December 2015.
- ↑ "Mainichi Film Concours: 2008". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
- ↑ "Tekkonkinkreet Wins Japan's Academy Award for Animation". Anime News Network. 2008-02-15. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
External links
- Official website (in Japanese)
- Summer Days with Coo at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Summer Days with Coo on IMDb
