THE JAPAN TIMES
 

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Film Critics Association said Sunday it gave its award for the year’s best animation to “your name.” by Japanese director Makoto Shinkai.

The award for the film, which is taking Japan and other countries by storm, comes just two years after “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” by Japanese director Isao Takahata won the award in 2014.

The LAFCA award is believed to influence the Academy Awards.

“Spirited Away” by Hayao Miyazaki won the L.A. critics award in 2002 and the Oscar for Animated Feature Film the following year.

The movie is a love story of a high school girl who lives in the countryside and a high school boy in Tokyo and depicts gender-swapping in their dreams.

It is the first time that a Japanese anime not from Studio Ghibli Inc. has received the award.

Shinkai’s work is expected to compete with The Walt Disney Co.’s “Zootopia” and “Finding Dory” for an Oscar. Nominees for Academy Awards will be announced in January.

In China, the film topped the weekend box office, raking in 285 million yuan ($41 million) in ticket sales since hitting the nation’s screens on Friday.

 

According to a popular website for cinema tickets in China, Maoyan.com, the weekend box office revenue was the highest among Japanese films released this year in China, the world’s second-largest film market.

The website predicted that it may possibly overtake the animated film “Stand By Me Doraemon” to become the highest-grossing Japanese film in China of all time.

“Stand By Me Doraemon” recorded 530 million yuan in total box office sales when it was released in China in 2015.

China limits the number of foreign movies that cinemas can show every year and maintains tight control over which films are distributed.