Main Staff Comments and Latest Information from "Liz and the Blue Bird", the latest KyoAni production directed by Naoko Yamada!

Liz and the Blue Bird," the latest animated film produced by Kyoto Animation, will open in theaters nationwide on April 21, 2018. The key visual, staff, special video, scene cuts, and advance purchase specials have been released, and comments from the main staff have arrived.

Liz and the Blue Bird" is based on Ayano Takeda's novel "Hibike! Euphonium Kita-Uji High School Brass Band Club, Disturbing Second Movement," which depicts the adolescence of high school students. Kyoto Animation, winner of the "40th Japan Academy Prize for Best Animation" and the "Tokyo Anime Awards Festival 2017 Animation of the Year Film Grand Prix in the Theatrical Film Division" for "Unamplified", depicts the fleeting yet beautiful moments of two girls, Mizore and Nozomi. The film will open in theaters nationwide on April 21, 2018.

The key visual, special trailer, scene cuts, and staff of "Liz and the Blue Bird" have been unveiled.
The main staff includes Naoko Yamada, director of Kyoto Animation, who will direct her fourth theatrical film, Reiko Yoshida for the screenplay, Taishi Nishiya for character design, and Kensuke Ushio for music!

In addition, advance tickets with a special clear file will be available in limited quantities.
The tickets will be on sale at theaters from January 6, 2018 (Sat), and will also be sold at the Kyoto Animation booth and the Shochiku booth at Comic Market 93 from December 29 (Fri) to 31 (Sun), prior to the theater sales.

The production team, which has been reflecting the sensitive hearts of people, has created a film that depicts the envy and despair that we have all felt before.
And the love that embraces them.
This spring, we are sure that you will receive a film that will "resonate" in your heart.

Staff Comments】 ※Honorifics omitted
Director : Naoko Yamada
This film is about girls who spend their days so stubbornly and healthily that they cannot even see one step ahead.
I want to film the sighs, heartbeats, heart-throbbing whisperings, and the slight fever in their worries, all of which spill out unexpectedly.
Thoughts and feelings.
Things that seem to be the same but are not exactly the same.

It is precisely during this sensitive adolescent period that they are able to be beautiful, and Ihope that you will join me in witnessing the finite moments ofthese girls, who are like glass balls that can be broken if touched.

Screenplay: Reiko Yoshida
They want to be loved, to be looked at, to be acknowledged, and to be their own person.
Desire can be a wing to fly to the sky, but it can also be a birdcage to confine oneself or someone else.
This is the story of a girl who unleashes herself.
And it is also the story of a girl who discovers she has no wings.
But the encounter between the two is not an unfortunate one.
I hope you will look up at the way director Yamada's sensibility freely flaps its wings and paints a beautiful, yet fragile, and somewhat cruel story high in the sky.
I hope you will look up and see the beautiful, fleeting, and somehow cruel story he paints in the high sky.

Character Design: Taishi Nishiya
Liz and the Blue Bird.
This work is a story about two girls, Mizore and Nozomi.
In order to blend in with the unique worldview of this work, I created the characters in a new way, a little different in approach from the previous "Eupho" works.
The girl's fine lines and transparency, the tense air in the classroom and her faint breathing.
The distance and feelings between the two change little by little in the course of casual conversation and interaction in their usual daily lives.
I would like to delicately and carefully depict their emotions and quiet heat so that they ooze out from the screen.

Music: Kensuke Ushio
I am working hard to crystallize a moment of youth that could be broken if you touch it, or if you don't hold your breath, it will fall apart.
Please look forward to its release in April 2018.

Film Information
Liz and the Blue Bird
Release date: April 21, 2018
Distribution: Shochiku Co.

＜Synopsis.
She is a blue bird.
Flying around freely in the wide sky is her happiness.
But I was afraid of leaving her alone, so I locked her up in a bird cage and pretended not to notice anything.
Mizore Arumozuka plays oboe and Nozomi Kusaki plays flute in the brass band of Kita-Uji High School.
They are in their third year of high school, and this is their last competition.
Liz and the Blue Bird" was chosen as the free piece, and there was a solo in which the oboe and flute played together.
This song is just like us," she said carefree.
Mizore is happy to spend her days with Kimi, but fears that her days are coming to an end.
They are supposed to be "best friends.
However, the oboe and flute solos do not go well together, and the distance between them is felt.

<Staff>.
Original story: Ayano Takeda (Takarajimasha Bunko "Hibike. Euphonium") Euphonium Kita-Uji High School Brass Band Club, Turbulent Second Movement")
Director : Naoko Yamada
Screenplay: Reiko Yoshida
Character Design: Taishi Nishiya
Art Director：Mutsuo Shinohara
Color Designer: Naomi Ishida
Instrument Setup：Hiroyuki Takahashi
Director of Photography：Kazuya Takao
3D Director：Tetsuro Umezu
Sound Director：Yota Tsuruoka
Music: Kensuke Ushio
Music Production: Lantis
Music Production Cooperation: Senzoku Gakuen School of Music
Brass Band Supervisor: Masahiro Owada
Animation Production: Kyoto Animation
Production: "Hibike! Production Committee
Distributor: Shochiku

＜Advance Ticket Information
Advance tickets with a special clear file (limited quantity)
On Sale:
Screening Theaters: Saturday, January 6, 2018
　 Comic Market 93: December 29 (Fri.) - 31 (Sun.), 2017
Price: General: 1,500 yen (tax included) Child: 900 yen (tax included)

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