Cinematic Point Of View

This is some really exciting and unexpected film news! Director Michael Arias is bringing Taiyo Matsumoto‘s manga Sunny to life in a film adaptation using stop-motion animation. The photos above and below are some “work-in-progress” images just released.

I can’t think of a more interesting and perfect way to capture the look and feel of Matsumoto’s manga, nor a better director for the project. Arias is responsible for the English translation of Sunny and he previously directed Tekkonkinkreet, a ground-breaking and visually brilliant feature film of another Matsumoto manga. If you haven’t seen it, you gotta track it down.

Set in 1970s Japan, Sunny is a slice-of-life manga series about a group of foster home kids and their stories of abandonment, loss, and the challenges of growing up without their family. These kids share a broken down old car parked in the foster home’s yard they call “Sunny.” This old car becomes an emotional shelter, like a treehouse, to help them process life’s difficult moments or escape to happier times through their imaginations.

I’m only on the second volume of Sunny but, like all of Taiyo Matsumoto‘s work, it hits on so many emotional levels and the artwork is like no other. It’s really special.

It sound like there film is still several years away from completion but it’s exciting news and I can’t wait to learn more about the production as it progresses. I’ll keep an eye out for anything on Sunny and try to share it here.