:anime: It's That Time of The Year, Again:: Crunchyroll Hosts Global Shinkai Day!

Just a quick reminder, Crunchyroll is once again hosting its three-day celebration of the works of anime auteur Makoto Shinkai. "Global Shinkai Day" will be hosting the director's self-made first feature, Voices of a Distant Star, The place promised in our early days--his first feature-length film--, and his most recent film, 5 centimeters per second, which was just re-released on DVD by CR (with Bandai Ent.'s assistance). The festival was recommended last March as its "Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick", and while I'm not repeating picks again (something I try to avoid), I could not pass up another mention of it. Shinkai is a wonderful artist and a free event like this gives one a great opportunity to see his works for the first time (or revisit them all over again). The timing is also a bit ironic, since I made allusions to his visual style in my anime pick and review of the recent Wish Upon the Pleiades (Hokago no Pleiades).

However, keep in mind that you only have this weekend (Friday, March 11 to Sunday March 13) to watch all three. Click on the GSD "Anime Pick" link from before for additional information and links (should still be relevant, outside of the 5cm info on its availability). And to whet the appetite, here are my short views on them:

Voices of a Distant Star
--Really amazing to think that he made this by himself on a Mac. Streaming sub-only.

The place promised in our early days
--I wasn't that into the film the first time I saw it, but after rewatching it last year, I have grown to like it a lot. Streaming sub-only.

5 centimeters per second
--My favorite feature of Shinkai's and one of the best anime I have ever seen, period. The new DVD release is definitely high on my buy list (which is also on sale during GSD). Streaming subbed and dubbed (unlike last year, when the latter was yanked unexpectedly)!

Not present among the offerings, of course, is his new film, Hoshi o Ou Kodomo/Children who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below, which will be debuting in Japanese theaters on May 7 of this year. Crunchyroll does, however, have a trailer up for it.

Well…happy viewings!

--HD


P.S.: As an added bonus, check out the official website for Makoto Shinkai's work for wallpaper from his previous anime. Also, try perusing the rest of the site for more beautiful pictures.