Cosmic Princess Kaguya!‘s Iroha, Kaguya, Yachiyo, and more are back, briefly, in a new animated music video that’s packed with new footage (including a new performance). What’s presented is a mix of afterstory content and shots that highlight certain offscreen elements.
The music video was storyboarded and unit directed by the anime movie’s director Shingo Yamashita and features Kaguya (Yuko Natsuyoshi) and Yachiyo Runami’s (Saori Hayami) rendition of BUMP OF CHICKEN’s “Ray.”
Other credits include illustrator hechima (the movie’s Tsukuyomi character designer) as the dance costume designer, Mikako Kunii as hechima’s assistant, and Hiromitsu Seki as the Ameterasu designer.
Cosmic Princess Kaguya! was released on Netflix on January 22 with a nearly 2-and-a-half-hour length. The movie reimagines the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter with a near-future setting and yuri.
The synopsis reads:
Tsukuyomi is a virtual realm where hopes and dreams come together. Iroha Sakayori, a 17-year-old high school student in Tokyo, leads an extremely busy life trying to balance part-time work and academics. She finds peace by watching a popular streamer named Yachiyo Runami, who is the administrator of an online virtual space called Tsukuyomi. Iroha frequents Tsukuyomi, where people can live different lives and freely pursue their creativity, and she passes the time by supporting Yachiyo and playing battle game to earn a little extra money.
On her way home one day, Iroha finds a telephone pole shining with iridescent hues. To her surprise, an adorable baby emerges from the pole. Unable to abandon it, Iroha takes the infant home and watches her rapidly grow into a girl her own age.
“Are you Princess Kaguya?” The grown-up Kaguya develops a self-indulgent personality. At Kaguya’s fervent request, Iroha helps her start streaming in Tsukuyomi. With Iroha as producer and songwriter and Kaguya as streamer and singer, the two grow steadily closer. Little do they know that ominous forces lie in wait, eager to take Kaguya back to the moon.
This is the tale of Princess Kaguya as never seen before.
Various music videos were previously released for Cosmic Princess Kaguya!, some before the film’s arrival. A manga adaptation launched on January 10, while a light novel adaptation came out on January 30. Both were published by KADOKAWA.
Cosmic Princess Kaguya! marked Yamashita’s feature film directorial debut and had music contributions from vocaloid producers ryo (supercell), 40mP, HoneyWorks, yuigot, Aqu3ra, and kz(livetune.
Staff
• Director: Shingo Yamashita (Pokétoon chief director, opening storyboard artist and director for Chainsaw Man, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1, and more)
• Tsukuyomi character designer: illustrator hechima
• Real world character designer: Akihiro Nagae (Drifting Home)
• Scriptwriter: Saeri Natsuo (Sono Toki, Kanojo wa.)
• Scriptwriter: Shingo Yamashita
• Live performance director: Naoya Nakayama (storyboard artist and unit director for YOASOBI’s “Idol” music video, OSHI NO KO Season 1 and 2)
• Background art director: Taichi Shishido
• Color designer: Izumi Hirose
• Tsukuyomi concept designer: illustrator Higashi Mizutamari
• Tsukuyomi concept designer: illustrator Fujimoto Gold from Gokinjo
• Real world concept designer: Hitomi Kariya
• Compositing director: Folium’s Daisuke Chiba (Stardust Telepath and Amane Kanata’s “Oracle” music video compositing director)
• CG director: Stimulus Image’s Masaya Machida (Overtake! co-CG director)
• Music composer: Conisch
• Animation production: Studio Colorido and Studio Chromato
Cast
• Yuko Natsuyoshi as Kaguya
• Anna Nagase as Iroha Sakayori
• Saori Hayami as Yachiyo Runami
Source: Cosmic Princess Kaguya! YouTube channel
