Anime Manga Explosion Featured Animation Artist Shinomiya Yoshitoshi

・Special on Shinomiya Yoshitoshi, Japanese Nihonga painter and animation director!
・Making-of A NEW DAWN, winner of the Contrechamp Jury Award at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival!
・Animation artist Sukikara Makiko talks about the special techniques used in the film!
・Digest version of the film!

The ANIME MANGA EXPLOSION documentary series (NHK World TV) dives deep into the artistry of the creators behind Japanese manga and anime that electrify audiences worldwide.

Our October 25th 2026 episode features up-and-coming director Shinomiya Yoshitoshi. He studied Nihonga, a traditional form of Japanese painting, in the undergraduate and graduate programs at Tokyo University of the Arts and worked as a Nihonga artist. At the same time, he expanded into animation as a background artist on Shinkai Makoto's films and director for animated commercials. His feature-length animation film debut A NEW DAWN was released in March 2026. The film has earned worldwide acclaim as an official selection for competition at the Berlin International Film Festival and winner of the Contrechamp Jury Award at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The story is about young aspiring fireworks artisans who seek answers to problems thrust upon them in a changing world. Shinomiya conceived of the film himself and spent 10 years bringing the project to fruition. He shares the origin story behind the film's creation.

The film is remarkable for the vibrant hues of the background art. Shinomiya handled art direction and color design, and he aimed to convey the seasons and sense of place through detailed drawings of plants and wildlife. Also, his meticulous screen compositions created a distinctive storyworld through the use of flat color planes rooted in Shinomiya's experience with Nihonga painting.

The film embraces analog techniques. Shinomiya enlisted the talent of animation artist Sukikara Makiko, who uses a multiplane camera. This analog method entails layering cell animation and backgrounds and photographing them with a camera. Bubbles in the underwater scenes take on a distinctive presence, which Sukikara achieved by layering transparent gel on the drawings and photographing the images. We share the production process in an interview with Sukikara. And, for the climactic fireworks scene, the film used the analog technique of creating tiny holes in the key drawings and filming them using light transmitted through the paper. Shinomiya combined the resulting light footage with the fireworks to convey the weight and speed of the burning particles. We explore the techniques he used to craft firework scenes.

We also show a digest of A NEW DAWN. Don't miss this look at Shinomiya's animation that draws on his unique experience in Nihonga Japanese painting!

Broadcast schedule:
October 25, 2026 (Sun) NHK World Japan
28-minute episode, broadcast from 12:10, 18:10, 23:10, and next day 5:10 (Japan time)

Free VOD streaming on the NHK World Japan website from the following day.
See the viewing guide for details: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/ja/tv/howto_watch_in_japan/

Featuring: Shinomiya Yoshitoshi (Director), Sukikara Makiko (Animation Artist)

Narrator: Michael Turpin

Episode page: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/5129004/

Official website: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/anime_manga/