Page "Cinema of Japan" Paragraph 34

In anime, Hayao Miyazaki directed Spirited Away in 2001, breaking Japanese box office records and winning several awards, followed by Howl's Moving Castle and Ponyo in 2004 and 2008 respectively.

In 2004, Mamoru Oshii released the anime movie Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence which received critical praise around the world.

His 2008 film The Sky Crawlers was met with similarly positive international reception.

Satoshi Kon also released three quieter, but nonetheless highly successful films: Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, and Paprika.

Katsuhiro Otomo released Steamboy, his first animated project since the 1995 short film compilation Memories, in 2004.

In collaboration with Studio 4C, American director Michael Arias released Tekkon Kinkreet in 2008, to international acclaim.

After several years of directing primarily lower-key live-action films, Hideaki Anno formed his own production studio and revisited his still-popular Evangelion franchise with the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy, a new series of films providing an alternate retelling of the original story.