Friday Road Show and Ghibli Exhibition is different from studio’s past art events, Ghibli co-founder says.

In Japan, summer is the time for Ghibli movies. Not only is summer the time of year when the famed anime studio customarily release its new films in theaters, every year broadcaster Nippon TV shows a number of Ghibli works as part of its Friday Roadshow (Kinyo Roadshow in Japanese) weekly movie program during the summer months.

This year Studio Ghibli and Friday Roadshow are deepening their summertime partnership with a new event, the Friday Road Show and Ghibli Exhibition, which opened in Tokyo on June 29.

This isn’t Ghibli’s first exhibition, but at a pre-opening ceremony the studio’s veteran producer Toshio Suzuki (pictured above, posing in front of the event’s mascot characters, caricatures of himself and Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki) said the Friday Road Show and Ghibli Exhibition is unique in its focus. “The exhibitions we’ve done up until now have been closer in feel to art exhibitions,” Suzuki explained, “but this time…we’ve made [participatory] entertainment a major focus, and it’s been a lot of fun.”

Part of that “participatory” aspect comes in the form of giant photo spots that recreate Ghibli’s iconic movie posters, but minus the movie’s main character, so that you can step in and take a photo of yourself as the protagonist. Guests can insert themselves into the posters for Princess Mononoke (pictured above), Kiki’s Delivery Service (seen below), Spirited Away, The Cat Returns, and Ponyo (although the Ponyo photo spot will only be available until July 2).

Also amazing in scale is a walk-through section of the Sea of Corruption, the spreading poisoned environment seen in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

Renowned modeling artist Takayuki Takeya has crafted not only a massive Ohm, as the giant, multi-eyed bug-like creatures are called, but also a surrounding grove of the Sea’s sinisterly sporous vegetation.

If you want to see even more Ohms, a special free-to-download AR smartphone app will fill the area with more of the creatures, and elsewhere in the exhibit is a separate AR area where you can see the world from the perspective of the miniscule heroine of Arrietty.

While Suzuki describes the Friday Road Show and Ghibli Exhibition as being less art museum-like than the studio’s other exhibitions, the event is still showcasing an amazing treasure trove of Ghibli artwork. Guests will be able to see selected annotated storyboard (e konte, if you want to use the in-Japan industry jargon) pages for almost every feature-length anime Ghibli has made, from 1984’s Nausicaa to 2020’s Earwig and the Witch.

▼ An e konte page from Whisper of the Heart

The Friday Road Show and Ghibli Exhibition is being held at Warehouse Terada B&C Hall venue, located in the Tennozu canal neighborhood by Tokyo Bay, between now and September 24, after which it moves to the Toyama Prefectural Art Museum in Toyama City from October 7 to January 28.

Event information
Friday Road Show and Ghibli Exhibition / 金曜ロードショーとジブリ展
Venue: Warehouse Terada B&C Hall/E Hall /寺田倉庫 B&C HALL ／E HALL
Address: Tokyo-to, Shinagawa-ku, Higashi Shinagaw, 2-1-3
東京都品川区東品川２丁目１−３
Runs until September 24
Admission 1,800 yen (adults), 1,500 yen (high/middle school students), 1,100 yen (elementary school students)
Website

Source, images: PR Times
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