Mamoru Oishii's Sky Crawlers

Teaser trailer 1



Teaser trailer 2




Game trailer

The Sky Crawlers is a Japanese novel series by Hiroshi Mori. First published by Chuōkōron-shinsha in June 2001 and spanning five books, it follows the journeys and tribulations of a group of young fighter pilots involved in dogfight warfare, and is set during an alternate historical period. The series is unlike other works by Mori, noted for his series of mystery novels. The art for the series is illustrated by noted mangaka Kenji Tsuruta.

Now from I understand is it is alternate Second World War aerial combat mixed with heavy philosophy, something that this director notably liked to talk about, using violence/death/destruction/military as metamorphsis of his existenalist philosophy. Movies like Ghost in the Shell and live action Avalon reinforced this aspect of him very vocally.

On June 20, 2007, it was announced that the novel would be adapted into a anime film, directed by Mamoru Oshii, which is slated for release in 2008.

Animated by Production I.G, the film will be written by Chihiro Itō, feature character designs by Tetsuya Nishio, music by Kenji Kawai and will be distributed across Japan by Warner Bros. Japan.

Mori had stated that he felt The Sky Crawlers was the "most difficult" of his works to adapt, and had given his consent to the making of the film after learning of Oshii's involvement as director.

Now this part intrigued me. Just how obtuse the novel story is? I will check it out since it have Oishii and IG studios name in it. One thing struck me about the trailer is the heavy dose of melancholy and gloomy mood. My kind of anime.

Certainly too, Warner Brothers name spiked my interest even higher.

Japanese movie site
Novels