Especially for big-budget animated films that are hoping to reach beyond hard-core otaku audiences, a summer release is seen as a must.
Studio Ponoc, largely composed of artists who were with Studio Ghibli until it went into extended stasis following the release of When Marnie Was There in 2014, chose last July for the debut of its first anime, Mary and the Witch’s Flower.
In Japan, though, summer is when prestige theatrical anime premier.
Nishimura was also clear on who Studio Ponoc is not drawing inspiration from: Marvel. “We don’t want to tell superhero stories like Marvel,” he said while expanding on the Little Heroes title.