December 7, 2007

Guardian of the Spirit, the TV series directed by Kenji Kamiyama and premiered in Japan on NHK BS-2 in April 2007, has been awarded Jury Recommended Work in the Animation Division of the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival (2007). Guardian of the Spirit is a 26-episode high fantasy based on Nahoko Uehashi best-seller novel, Seirei no Moribito.

Five Production I.G's works received recognitions in the past editions. In 2000, Blood: The Last Vampire (director: Hiroyuki Kitakubo) was awarded with the Animation Division Grand Prize, and in 2002, Episode 2 of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (director: Kenji Kamiyama) received the Excellence Prize in the same category. In 2004, both Innocence (director: Mamoru Oshii) and Otogi Zoshi (director: Mizuho Nishikubo) were nominated Jury Recommended Works. In the 10th edition, I.G was double awarded with Solid State Society (Jury Recommended Work, Animation Division) and the bisque doll reproducing D'Eon de Beaumont (from Kazuhiro Furuhashi's TV series Le Chevalier D'Eon), appointed Jury Recommended Work in the Entertainment Division. In this 11th edition, Kenji Kamiyama's Solid State Society was also nominated Jury Recommended Work in the same Animation Division for the second consecutive year.

Started in 1997, the Japan Media Arts Festival is a "Contest" that praises creative media art works utilizing the latest expression technology, and it is also a "Festival" that supports creative activity and broadly presents various art works. At the same time, the event is promoting the development of media arts in Japan by providing the opportunities of appreciation, such as Exhibitions and Sanctioned Events.

Japan Media Arts Festival official website:
http://plaza.bunka.go.jp/

© Nahoko UEHASHI/KAISEI-SHA/Guardian of the Spirit Committee