Summer Ghost

Summer Ghost (Japanese: サマーゴースト, Hepburn: Samā Gōsuto) is a Japanese animated short film produced by Flat Studio and directed by Loundraw [ja]. It was released in Japanese theaters on November 12, 2021.

Summer Ghost
Theatrical poster
Kanjiサマーゴースト
Revised HepburnSamā Gōsuto
Directed byLoundraw [ja]
Written byHirotaka Adachi
Story byLoundraw
Starring
Music by
  • Akira Kosemura [ja]
  • Itoko Toma
  • Guiano [ja]
  • Hideya Kojima
Production
companies
  • Flat Studio
  • Flagship Line
Distributed byAvex Pictures
Release date
  • November 12, 2021 (2021-11-12) (Japan)
Running time
40 minutes[1]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Voice cast

CharacterJapanese[2][3]English[4]
Tomoya Sugisaki (杉崎 友也, Sugisaki Tomoya)Chiaki KobayashiDavid Errigo Jr.
Aoi Harukawa (春川 あおい, Harukawa Aoi)Miyuri ShimabukuroKyla Carter
Ryō Kobayashi (小林 涼, Kobayashi Ryō)Nobunaga ShimazakiClifford Chapin
Ayane Satō (佐藤 絢音, Satō Ayane)Rina KawaeiMegan Harvey

Production

In June 2020, animator and illustrator Loundraw [ja] revealed that he is producing a short theatrical anime film as part of the Project Common multimedia project.[5] The film was unveiled in February 2021, with the project serving as Loundraw's directorial debut. It is produced by Loundraw's company Flat Studio, with scripts written by Hirotaka Adachi, and music composed by Akira Kosemura [ja], Itoko Toma, Guiano [ja], and Hideya Kojima.[6][3]

Release

Theatrical

Summer Ghost was released in Japanese theaters on November 12, 2021 by its distributor Avex Pictures.[2] It had its international premiere on the same day at the Leeds International Film Festival in England.[7]

In North America, GKIDS screened the film in Japanese and English language formats in 2022.[8] The film premiered at Anime Expo on July 3, 2022.[9]

Home media

The film was released on Blu-ray in Japan on March 25, 2022. The limited edition version includes the original soundtrack, an 80-minute documentary of the film's production, animatics, and a special booklet.[10] GKIDS and Shout! Factory released the film in North America on November 1, 2022, on Blu-ray and digital platforms.[4]

A manga adaptation by Yoshi Inomi was serialized in Shueisha's Tonari no Young Jump [ja] website from October 8, 2021,[3] to June 3, 2022.[11] The chapters were compiled into two tankōbon volumes, released on November 19, 2021,[12] and June 17, 2022.[13]

Two novels were written by the film's scriptwriter Hirotaka Adachi. The first is a novelization that expands on the film's story which was released on October 29, 2021. The second is an original spin-off novel titled Ichinose Yūna ga Uiteiru (Yūna Ichinose Is Floating) which was released on November 26 of the same year.[3]

In February 2023, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they licensed the novel and manga adaptations.[14] They were both released in digital and print formats on August 8 of the same year.[15]

References