New GIOVANNI'S ISLAND Trailer Looks Gorgeous

Splendid! For those in the mood for something a bit more serious this holiday season, how about the new, hand-drawn, gorgeous-looking trailer for Production I.G.'s Giovanni's Island (Giovanni no Shima)?

As our own Andrew Mack noted in September, Mizuho Nishikubo, Oshii Mamoru's long time animation director, is at the helm of the project, and it's a serious one, as the official synopsis makes clear:

In the aftermath of the most devastating conflict mankind had ever experienced, the tiny island of Shikotan became part of the Sakhalin Oblast... and on the unhealed border of this remote corner of the world, friendship among children from two different countries timidly blossomed, striving to overcome language barriers and the waves of history. Inspired by true events.

The film is heading for release in Japan on February 22, 2014. The trailer, embedded below, has no English-language subtitles, but the beauty of the animation, and the tone of the story, comes through loud and clear.

Via: Eigapedia.