by It has been revealed that Takeda Kazuyoshi ‘s manga “Peleliu: Guernica of Paradise,” which depicts the young people who lived on Peleliu Island, a fierce battleground during the Pacific War, has been adapted into an anime film and will be released on December 5th.
The work was serialized in the manga magazine Young Animal (Hakusensha) from 2016 to 2021. It was a much-talked-about work that won the Excellence Award at the Japan Cartoonists Association Awards in 2017. When the original manga reached its final chapter, it was announced that the anime would be made in 2021. However, it will now be released nationwide as an anime movie in 2025, the 80th anniversary of the war’s end.
The anime will be directed by Goro Kuji, who worked on Mato Seihei no enslaved person. This is Kuji’s first time directing an anime movie. It will be produced by a team of Shinei Animation, known for “Doraemon,” ” Crayon Shin-chan,” and Fugaku, known for “Dog Signal.”
The original authors, Takeda and Junji Nishimura, will write the screenplay. An image shot depicting the jungle of Peleliu Island and a special trailer using the same shot has been released.
“Peleliu—Guernica of Paradise” is set on Peleliu Island, the site of fierce fighting during the Pacific War. Ten thousand Japanese soldiers were sent, but only 34 survived. The story depicts young people living on the battlefield from the perspective of Tamaru, a soldier who aspires to be a manga artist. “Peleliu Gaiden is currently being serialized irregularly.
Comment from Kazuyoshi Takeda
I am also involved in the film’s production as a supervisor and co-writer with veteran animation director Junji Nishimura. It took a long time to complete the script. The original manga of “Peleliu” is 11 volumes long, excluding the side stories, so how do we incorporate this into the film? As the original author, I don’t want it to end up like a bland digest if we try to include everything from the original.
There was also an idea to carefully create only the first half of the original, but the story still felt unsatisfying. Above all, this work is based on the original and historical fact—a war 80 years ago. Some people live there.
The script for the film version of Peleliu, which was made with much thought, is something that we can confidently deliver to fans of the original. Now, I’m filled with the desire to see the lovable characters, such as Tamaru and Yoshiki, moving vividly across the screen. The animated film Peleliu—Guernica of Paradise—will be released on December 5th at the end of this year, so please look forward to further updates.
