Shigeko (film)

Shigeko is a 2007 anime drama film directed and written by Tatsuya Hironaka in his second feature film credit, with Robert Fredrickson serving as a producer. It features an ensemble voice cast consisting of Jake Gyllenhaal, Eden Riegel, Hunter Parrish, Lance Henriksen, Tracy Morgan, David Cross and Bryan Cranston. The film's story is about a high school boy named Hikaru Nomura (Gyllenhaal), who forms an unlikely friendship with a delinquent girl named Shigeko Kumagai, after she protects him from a group of bullies led by Daichi Kobashigawa (Parrish), however, there is actually more to what Kobashigawa wants than what meets the eye, in part due to a link with a Yakuza gang that Shigeko's father (Cranston) is secretly a part of.
Similar to Lost Star, Shigeko was an international co-production between Aniplex and J.C.Staff in Japan, Robert Fredrickson via Paxshire Films and James D. Stern and Douglas Hansen via Endgame Entertainment in the United States. The film was also produced in English, similar to Lost Star, with Fredrickson co-writing the English screenplay for Hironaka and directing the voices.
Shigeko was released theatrically in Japan by GAGA USEN on February 17, 2007 and in the United States by Fox Atomic. The film recieved largely positive reviews from critics, with the characters, chemistry between the leads, animation and voice acting being highly praised. It was also very successful at the box office, making back $168 million worldwide against a $12 million budget. It was the highest grossing R-rated animated film up until the release of Darkness Lives in 2015.
==Release==
Shigeko was first released in Japan in a limited release on February 17, 2007 before expanding to a wider release on February 24. While the initial limited release presented the film in English with Japanese subtitles, the wider theatrical release utilized the Japanese dubbed version instead.
In the United States, Fox Atomic released the film in a wide release on March 2, 2007. Before the movie's release, the US trailer for the film premiered before X-Men: The Last Stand on May 26, 2006, and was later attached to the theatrical releases of The Omen, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Click, Waist Deep, The Devil Wears Prada, Superman Returns, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, You, Me and Dupree, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Lady in the Water, Little Miss Sunshine, Miami Vice, Fearless, The Descent, Pulse, Step Up, World Trade Center, Snakes on a Plane, Accepted, and Beerfest.
===Home media===
Shigeko was first released on DVD and Blu-ray by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on July 10, 2007 in the United States. Bonus features on the US home video releases include an audio commentary from Robert Fredrickson and Jim Hubbert, a deleted scene and the film's US trailer and TV spots.
In Japan, Aniplex released Shigeko on Blu-ray and DVD on November 14, 2007. It was released in both a standard edition and a limited edition premium box set release. This release contains a different audio commentary with Tatsuya Hironaka, Tomonori Ochikoshi and Masao Ueda, the same deleted scene bonus feature as the US release, the Japanese trailers and TV spots, and the choices of Japanese and English soundtracks. The box set also comes with a DVD delving into the backstories of some of the characters, production notes featuring 80 pages of character art and set designs from the film, a Micro SD, a postcard, and a small bookmark containing a reel from the film inside a plastic cover.
Category:2007
Category:2007 films
Category:2007 animated films
Category:2007 anime films
Category:Drama films
Category:Animated drama films
Category:Anime films
Category:J.C.Staff
Category:Aniplex
Category:Fox Atomic
Category:Next Entertainment
Category:Japanese-American
Category:Japanese-American films
Category:Japanese-American Anime
Category:Carl Andy timeline