Ronja the Robber’s Daughter, Studio Ghibli’s first anime produced for television, won as the “Best 2D Animation Program” in the recently-concluded Asian Television Awards held at Suntec Convention and Exhibition Center in Singapore last December 2 and 3.
The anime series, which was directed by Goro Miyazaki, won over other Japanese anime nominees such as Terror in Resonance, Psycho-Pass 2 and Nobunaga Concerto, and alongside nominees from Singapore and Australia.
Cartoon Network Asia’s Monster Beach won a recognition as the “Highly-Commended” show in the same category.
Ronja is the only daughter of Mattis, a bandit leader who lives in a castle in the middle of a large forest. When Ronja grows old enough, she ventures into the forest to interact the strange and magical creatures that live there. She learns to live in the forest through her own strength, with the occasional rescue from her parents. Ronja’s life begins to change, however, when she happens upon a boy her own age named Birk. (Synopsis from Anime News Network)
Ronja the Robber’s Daughter, also known as Sanzoku no Musume Ronya, is an anime series based on the 1981 book Ronia the Robber’s Daughter (Ronja Rövardotter) written by Astrid Lindgren.
Goro Miyazaki, son of the legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki, directed the anime series, while Hiroyuki Kawasaki handled the scriptwriting, which was animated by Polygon Picturesand produced by Studio Ghibli, which was their first foray into television anime series. The series ran on NHK BS Premium from October 2014 until March this year, and has a total of 26 episodes.
The Japanese voice cast are lead by Haruka Shiraishi (“Kirie Motoba”, Himouto! Umaru-chan) as the title character Ronja.
The win of Ronja also contributed to the recognition of NHK BS Premium channel as the “Highly-Commended” Terrestrial Channel of the Year, which was won by MediaCorp Singapore’s Channel NewsAsia.
Viewers in the Philippines can watch the 2015 Asian Television Awards gala this Saturday night, December 5, on GMA News TV.
The Asian Television Awards is an annual event organized by Television Asia Plus magazine and it is the region’s “most significant and celebrated event, recognizing excellence in programming, production and performance”. The awards was launched in 1996 and is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
The awards comprise over 30 categories in different fields, which attracts 1,200 entries every year from different broadcasters and production houses in Asia.
