Anime Anime Global

The animation film ” Kin no Kuni Mizu no Kuni,” which has received a flood of requests from various fields for a film adaptation, has released a video and storyboard of a dialogue between Sara and Naranbayar on a bridge lit by moonlight, which is one of the highlights of both the original story and the film.

Two countries that have been separated for 100 years. Sara (voiced by: Hamabe Minami), a calm princess in “Kin no Kuni (the Land of Gold)” who is not taken seriously by anyone, and Naranbayar (voiced by: Kaku Kento), a poor family-oriented architect in “Mizu no Kuni (the Land of Water)”, are enemies, but are caught up in their countries’ agendas and play the role of a “fake married couple”. They keep their feelings for each other in their hearts but are clumsy and unable to tell the truth.

The scene in which Sara and Naranbayar are conversing on the moonlit bridge has just been released. This scene is known as one of the most famous scenes in the original work, and many people cite it as their favorite scene in the film.

The scene is one of the highlights of the film, in which Sara, who has visited the <Land of Water> and is caught up in a certain happening, meets Naranbayar on the way back home, but is unintentionally overcome with emotion. She hugs him tightly and tells him in a gentle yet strong voice, “It’s okay, you’re not pathetic or anything”. Sara, hearing this, cried even more tears in Naranbayar’s arms.

The beauty of their silhouettes floating in the moonlit night, combined with the magnificent background music by Evan Call, a popular composer known for his work on the anime “Violet Evergarden” and the historical drama “The 13 Lords of the Shogun,” makes this scene a captivating one. The two voice actors, Kaku and Hamabe, who dubbed the voice for the scene, said they felt the importance of the scene at the time of writing the script, and took dozens of takes to complete the scene during post recording.

The scene was storyboarded and directed by Morio Asaka, a renowned creator at Madhouse, known for the popular anime series “Card Captor Sakura” and “Chihayafuru”. Director Watanabe Notono asked Asaka, her trusted senior, to direct this scene with the firm conviction that “this was the only scene they would be asked to do”. Asaka said of the direction, “I think the cut of the two standing on the bridge with the moon in the background has great pictorial power, and I thought the key to that scene was how beautifully I could make it look. I was very particular about the way the silhouettes of the two stand against the light of the moon.”

In the commercial state of the “Land of Gold,” surrounded by desert, dry textures and warm colors are used, but in this scene set in the “Land of Water,” the use of cold colors is daringly used to more emotionally convey the emotions of the two. As Asaka says, “The two are facing each other’s feelings, but there comes a point when Saara makes a certain mistake and the two have to temporarily separate. I thought that the use of cold colors would enhance the scene and bring out the sense of their difference,” and the beautiful blue-based images add to the sadness of the scene.

In the film, Sara, who was supposed to be encouraged by Naranbayar, gives encouragement to the lost Naranbayar in an important scene that will trigger a major change in the story. Will their clumsy feelings for each other ever reach each other? And will they be able to change the future of their country?

The film’s emotional climax, full of “the purest gentleness,” is a must-see in theaters. The film “Kin no Kuni Mizu no Kuni” is currently in theaters nationwide.

(c)Iwamoto Nao/Shogakukan (c)2023 “Kin no Kuni Mizu no Kuni” Production Committee