Photo/Illutration A scene from “Ghost Cat Anzu” (Toho Co.)

“Ghost Cat Anzu” made a triumphant return to Japan after being showcased in Cannes and the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

The animated feature was shot with the rotoscope technique, which involves animators drawing over live-action footage.

Rotoscope animator Yoko Kuno and accomplished live-action film director Nobuhiro Yamashita teamed up to produce the movie based on a manga by Takashi Imashiro.

The story begins when Anzu (played by Mirai Moriyama), a bipedal ghost cat that speaks Japanese, meets an 11-year-old girl named Karin (Noa Goto) who comes to a rural town to stay at a temple managed by her grandfather.

Yamashita directed live-action sequences for drawings by the animators.

The dialogue was recorded when the actors delivered their lines during filming.

Yamashita said the actors went about their scenes as they imagined how their performances would end up in drawings.

Kuno added that each actor had a different picture in mind when they performed.

“The fact that I watched how live-action sequences were shot made a difference for me,” Kuno said.

She continued, “Detailed movements of characters can be omitted when we create animation drawings, but after I watched up close how passionately the actors played their scenes, I thought I should cherish their performances even if it meant we had to create additional drawings.”

Yamashita said he was amazed by many of the characters in the original manga because they are drawn only with dots and lines and yet convey a wide variety of feelings.

“I guess there are things that come through because they are simple drawings,” he said.

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