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In commemoration of the “25th Japan Media Arts Festival’s Animation Division Excellence Award”, the TV anime “Sonny Boy” will be broadcast on BS Asahi on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2023. In addition, comments from director Natsume Shingo and cast members Ichikawa Aoi, Onishi Saori, Yuuki Aoi and Kobayashi Chiaki have also been received.

“Sonny Boy” is an original “science fiction coming-of-age ensemble drama” anime written and directed by Natsume Shingo of “One Pan Man”, “Space Dandy”, and “Tatami Time Machine Blues”, produced by Madhouse, with participation from Eguchi Hisashi as character designer, and the first anime theme song performed by Ginnan BOYZ.
One day during summer vacation, a junior high school suddenly begins drifting through another dimension, and the film depicts 36 boys and girls who are stranded there and awaken to supernatural powers, living a life of survival in a world filled with unreasonableness.

In commemoration of this work winning the Excellence Award in the Animation Division at the “25th Japan Media Arts Festival”, it has been decided to broadcast all the episodes on New Year’s Day on BS Asahi.
Along with this, comments from Director Natsume and cast members Ichikawa Aoi , Onishi Saori , Yuuki Aoi and Kobayashi Chiaki have also been received.

In response to winning the Excellence Award and the decision to broadcast all the episodes, director Natsume said, “While I feel “Sonny Boy” is well loved, I urge everyone to see it! In addition, a special interview with Director Natsume will be aired along with the broadcast of all the episodes.

The TV anime “Sonny Boy” will be broadcast on BS Asahi from 11:00 pm to 5:00 am on January 1, 2023. In addition, there will be a present campaign on BS Asahi’s official anime twitter and “Sonny Boy” official twitter. Please check each official twitter account for more details.

[Director Natsume Shingo]

I was very happy to receive this award. It was a lot of work to create a story from scratch and make it into a film, but all the hard work paid off and I was really happy to have made “Sonny Boy”.
And to commemorate the award, BS Asahi is going to broadcast all the episodes in one go! It’s not often they broadcast an entire series, and on New Year’s Day!
Thank you so much to everyone involved! While I feel “Sonny Boy” is well loved, I urge everyone to see it!
Not only for those of you who are seeing it for the first time, but for those of you who have already seen it once!!!
“Sonny Boy” is an original anime with a unique character. From the universal side of the drifting of boys and girls, it looks complicated at first glance with its difficult contents and aggressive direction, but what it wants to depict is quite simple.
I would be happy if you could feel something that tugs at your heartstrings through their drifting.

[Ichikawa Aoi as Nagara]

Congratulations on winning the Excellence Award in the Animation Division at the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival!
Once again, I am truly happy to have been a part of this wonderful work.
I think “Sonny Boy” is a work that changes depending on who, where, and when you watch it.
Thinking that the atmosphere and feelings I felt back then were only from that time, and that the “Sonny Boy” I’m receiving now will be different… I’m looking forward to the whole broadcast myself.
I hope you all enjoy the first “Sonny Boy” of 2023!

[Onishi Saori as Nozomi]

Congratulations on winning the Excellence Award in the Animation Division of the Japan Media Arts Festival for “Sonny Boy”…! As someone who participated in the film as the character Nozomi, I am also very happy. I feel very strange when I talk with director Natsume Shingo. I think that what comes out of the director’s mouth as words is only a part of the information that I think or imagine in my head…! I think “Sonny Boy” is the kind of animation where you can see a little bit of the hidden part of the director. I hope you can experience the world that I couldn’t quite see what was going to happen when I was dubbing, in one take! Please enjoy!

[Yuuki Aoi as Mizuho]

Congratulations on this award!
I was impressed by what Ichikawa, who plays Nagara, said during the post recording,, “It’s like looking at someone’s photo album and listening to their memories.”
When you show me an album, I get to know the memories of the person who wasn’t there. I thought there was no appropriate word for the dark joy I felt when I knew who I was talking to, and it became clear to me that “Sonny Boy” expressed that feeling through animation. And now that it’s won an award, and it’s being broadcast all at once… I mean, everyone can relate to this feeling! I was so happy. I’d be happy if people could be drowned in this overwhelmingly new visual expression, but still feel like they “get” it.

[Kobayashi Chiaki as Asakaze]

Congratulations on winning the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival, Animation Excellence Award!
“Sonny Boy” has a unique worldview and unpredictable development, so I remember that when I was recording it, I was just as uncomfortable as Asakaze and the others in many ways.
However, I believe that it was because many people kept struggling with the single-minded desire to see the goal that the director envisioned that we were able to create a work with a wonderful individuality that can’t be seen anywhere else.
When I finished watching this film, it reminded me of my favorite scenery in my hometown, but I’d like to hear what other people think about it, because I’m sure it will leave a different aftertaste for each viewer.
I hope more people will take this opportunity to experience and love “Sonny Boy”.

（C)Sonny Boy committee