One of Japan’s oddest TV shows celebrates its 15th anniversary with a trip to Itomori, setting of Makoto Shinkai’s anime film phenomenon.

You can find some pretty unusual stuff on late-night Japanese television, but even by local standards, TV Asahi’s Zenryokuzaka, or “Full-Power Hill,” is pretty unique. Each episode is just a few minutes long and follows the same format: the program travels to a steep road somewhere in Japan, and a young woman, generally a model or actress, runs as fast as she can up to the top. Once there, the camera zooms in on her as she gasps for air in sweaty exhaustion, and then the episode wraps up.

▼ Zenryokuzaka

Simple as the premise may be, Zenryokuzaka is popular enough that’s it’s currently marking 15 years on the air, and this week it’s celebrating with a handful of very special episodes. While the program usually visits hilly streets in Tokyo, for three episodes it’ll instead be showcasing the town of Itomori, in Gifu Prefecture. Don’t bother looking for Itomori on any maps of Japan, though, because you won’t find it…at least if you’re looking on real-world maps, because Itomori is the setting of record-breaking anime film Your Name.

On the nights of June 25, 26, and 27, Zenryokuzaka will star Mitsuha Miyamizu, Your Name’s female lead, as she runs up the streets from the Makoto Shinkai-directed hit. The three episodes will respectively feature morning, afternoon, and nighttime scenes, though it’s not immediately clear whether they’ll simply be recycling footage from Your Name, or will feature new animation as well.

▼ Mitsuha voice actress Mone Kamishiraishi’s vocal work will be part of the collaboration.

During the three-episode run, Zenryokuzaka will even temporarily change its name to Hill’s Name, as a tip of the hat to its Your Name tie-up.

The first two episodes will air at 12:50 a.m., while the third will start at 1:05 a.m. TV Asahi will also be showing Your Name itself on June 30, as part of the run-up to the release of Shinkai’s new film, Weathering with You, which comes out on July 19.

Source: Anime! Anime! via Jin, Twitter/@9BGQLK9irHH4Q6y
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