The Eternal Idol (film)

The Eternal Idol is a 2009 Japanese anime romance drama film directed by Keiichi Sugiyama and based on the 2004 novel by Ryotaro Sekizawa, who also wrote the film's screenplay. The story is about a high school loner Masanori Kojima, who, due to an incident involving love he had some time ago, he generally avoids the idea of it, until he starts forming a bond with a fellow high school girl. However, it turns out that this girl is actually a famous popstar idol by the name of Ryoko Tani, forcing the two of them to keep their relationship a secret due to Japan's rule against idols dating.
Entering development in 2005, The Eternal Idol was produced on a budget of ¥567 million (US$4.2 million), and was animated by Gonzo and produced by Jun Fukuda and Tsuneo Takechi and Daisuke Kadoya and Seiji Okuda under the companies The KlockWorx and Nippon Television Network Corporation, respectively, in association with Paramount Pictures and Paramount Productions (Japan) G.K., who co-distributed the film with The KlockWorx in Japan and handled the worldwide distribution outside of Asia. Unlike other anime films, the film was first recorded in English and would later be dubbed into Japanese during production. The English voice cast consists of Matt Lanter, Hayden Panettiere, Paul Giamatti, Jordan Hinson, Brian Donovan, Beth Grant, Stanley Tucci, and Jonathan Winters.
The Eternal Idol was first screened out of competiton at 1st Okinawa International Movie Festival on March 20, 2009. It would later be released in Japan on May 16, and in the United States on July 3. The film was well-received by mainstream and anime critics, with the chemistry between the two leads, the animation, the voice performances and Tenmon's score being all singled out for praise. It was also financially succesful, making back $171 million worldwide. It was nominated for the 2010 Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year but lost to Summer Wars, and was also nominated at the 37th Annie Awards for Best Animated Feature, Production Design in a Feature Production and Voice Acting in a Feature Production, but also lost to Up, Coraline and The Princess and the Frog, respectively. The success of the film and later Paranormal Activity would inspire Paramount to launch the Insurge Pictures banner in 2010.
==Plot==
Coming soon!
==Cast==
Character 	Seiyū 	Dub Actor
Masanori Kojima 	Yūichi Nakamura 	Matt Lanter
Masanori Kojima 	Rie Kugimiya (young) 	Maile Flanagan (young)
Ryoko Tani/Noriko Itoh	Aya Hirano 	Hayden Panettiere
Hachiro Nishikawa 	Yuji Ueda 	Paul Giamatti
Chinatsu Iseri 	Shizuka Itō 	Jordan Hinson
Yoichi Miyazaki 	Jun Fukuyama 	Brian Donovan
Midori Kojima 	Michiko Neya 	Beth Grant
Yuu Kojima 	Tōru Ōkawa 	Stanley Tucci
Asuka Higuchi 	Sanae Kobayashi 	Mela Lee
Kei Isobe 	Fumie Mizusawa 	Kari Wahlgren
Raiden Oshiro 	Hiroshi Kamiya 	Jeff Bennett
Akihiko Nagai 	Susumu Akagi 	Maurice LaMarche
Chieko Matsushima 	Masako Katsuki 	Jodi Benson
Kohaku Takeuchi 	Wataru Hotano 	Benjamin Diskin
Police Captain 	Kōichi Yamadera 	Ray Porter
Announcer 	Kendo Kobayashi 	Bob Bergen
Ryoko's Parents 	Emi ShinoharaHideyuki Tanaka 	Mary Elizabeth McGlynnJess Harnell
Police Officers 	Tohru KusanoKenichi EndōJin Urayama 	Cam ClarkeBob BergenRodney Saulsberry
US School Teacher 	Nicholas Guest 	Nicholas Guest
Thugs 	Wataru TakagiTetsushi TanakaMitsuru OgataKazuhiro Nakata	Crispin FreemanJess HarnellSteve BlumPhil Proctor
Additional Students 	Kenichi SuzumuraHiro ShimonoChiaki Omigawa 	Charlie SchlatterDante BascoKath SoucieJeff Bennett
Narrator 	Shō Hayami 	Jonathan Winters
===Additional Voices===
*Cam Clarke
*Dave Wittenberg
*Eddie Frierson
*Christine Lakin
*Michelle Ruff
*Rodger Bumpass
*Jim Ward
*Michael Sorich
== Production ==
In 2005, a year after The Eternal Idol was published, Daisuke Kadoya of the then recently founded film division of Nippon Television Network Corporation, approached Ryotaro Sekizawa and Kodansha about adapting the novel into a feature film. Sekizawa agreed to this, largely due to the international success of the film adaptation of Blue Blanket, and production would begin in 2006. As he had done with almost every film adaptation he was involved in up to this point, Sekizawa wrote the screenplay himself, making it as close to the original novel as he could, though he made a handful of changes in writing the film. One major change Sekizawa made from the original novel was changing the point of view from a first person POV to a third person POV with a different narrator, along with adding more detailed exposition about idol culture in Japan, whereas in the novel, the exposition wasn't as detailed, and the culture was explored sporadically as the story went along. Sekizawa wrote the screenplay whilst in America working on True Machination.
Gonzo would be selected to animate the film, with Origin: Spirits of the Past director Keiichi Sugiyama being assigned to direct the film. It was also co-produced by Jun Fukuda and Tsuneo Takechi of The KlockWorx, who also engaged in distribution, along with a production committee additionally consisting of Geneon Entertainment (later Geneon Universal Entertainment), Dentsu, Kodansha, Imagica and King Records. The budget was estimated to have been ¥567 million (US$4.2 million). The production was also handled in part by American production company and distributor Paramount Pictures, alongside their recently established Japanese production arm Paramount Productions (Japan) G.K. According to Marc Handler, who served as the story editor for the English version, the reason Paramount got involved was due to the success they had with their release of True Machination, and when they learned about The Eternal Idol being in production, they were eager to get the distribution rights hoping it could also become a major success. Paramount Pictures would secure the worldwide distribution rights for $6 million, with their Japanese distribution arm, Paramount Japan K.K., co-distributing the film with The KlockWorx in Japan, whilst Paramount self-distributed the film internationally.
Similar to how the novel was written in both Japanese and English, it was decided that The Eternal Idol would be produced in both Japanese and English, with the English dialogue being recorded first, followed by the Japanese dialogue. The English dialogue was recorded at Studiopolis, with Jamie Thomason directing the voices. A couple of actors with name recognition (Hayden Panettiere, Paul Giamatti, Stanley Tucci, and Jonathan Winters) all lent their voices to the English language version. The Japanese voice cast included Yūichi Nakamura, Aya Hirano, Yuji Ueda, Shizuka Itō, Jun Fukuyama, Michiko Neya, Tōru Ōkawa and Shō Hayami. The overall sound production was done at both Aoi Studio and Techno Sound in Japan, whilst the re-recording and final print mastering was done at TODD-AO Studios West in Santa Monica.
Tenmon composed the score for The Eternal Idol, and it was his first, and, until Tsuredure Children in 2017, only anime project not to feature the involvement of Makoto Shinkai. The Japanese lyrics for the vocal songs were provided by Miyako Muramoto, while Muramoto collaborated with Don Black on the English lyrics for the songs.
== Release ==
=== Marketing ===
In the United States, Paramount premiered the film's teaser trailer before the release of DreamWorks Animation's Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa on November 7, 2008, and would then release it online the following week. Another trailer was released in April of 2009, and instead first released online before being screened in theaters. Promotional partners for the American release of the film included 7-Eleven, Motel 6, Walmart, Kmart and Papa John's, as well as various companies specializing in home decorating. Promotional partners for the Japanese release included Mister Donut, Mitsubishi Corporation, East Japan Railway and Hi-Chew, all of whom previously worked in promoting True Machination's Japanese release.
A manga adaptation of the film and novel was serialized by Kodansha between 2009 and 2010. LIVE Comics published the manga in English between 2010 and 2011.
=== Theatrical release ===
The Eternal Idol was first screened out of competiton at 1st Okinawa International Movie Festival on March 20, 2009. It would then have its official theatrical premiere at Cinema Rise in Shibuya, Tokyo, on May 9, 2009. It entered a nationwide theatrical release in Japan a week later, on May 16.
Internationally, the film had it's American theatrical debut on July 3, 2009, initially starting in a release of just 15 theaters before expanding to 2,436 theaters on July 17. In the wide release, the teaser trailer for The Last Airbender was attached to the film.
=== Home media ===
Due to the difference in theatrical and home media window in Japan and the United States, The Eternal Idol was first released on home media in the latter territory rather than in Japan. Paramount Home Entertainment released the film on DVD and Blu-ray on November 17, 2009. Bonus features included a few deleted scenes, two featurettes, one on the production of the film itself, and another on the English version of the film, interviews with the cast and crew, and the US theatrical trailer. The deleted scenes and production featurette were all presented in Japanese with English subtitles.
In Japan, Geneon Universal Entertainment, Inc. released the film on Blu-ray in both standard and limited edition formats on March 10, 2010. Ironically, the company's successor, NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan, would absorb Paramount Japan after the company made a distribution agreement with Toho-Towa in 2016.
Category:2009
Category:2009 anime
Category:2009 animated films
Category:2009 films
Category:Works by Ryotaro Sekizawa
Category:Paramount Pictures
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Category:The KlockWorx
Category:Nippon TV
Category:Nippon Television
Category:Nippon TV films
Category:Gonzo
Category:Anime films
Category:Romance films
Category:Romantic anime
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Category:Animated romance films
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