The Sky Crawlers (2008)

Following the grand animated experiment that was Innocence, Mamoru Oshii took on a number of varied projects. He served as supervisor for the television series Windy Tales (Fujin monogatari, 2004–2005), which was created by Production I.G based on the winning submission for the Anime Plan Grand Prix contest. In addition, he served as planning assistant for the series Blood+ (2005–2006), a continuation of the ideas that he helped begin in Blood the Last Vampire. He also designed the marking on the nose of an American B-29 that appeared in the live-action film Lorelei: Witch of the Pacific Ocean (Rōrerai, 2005). This film about the quest of a top-secret Japanese submarine to stop a third atomic bombing on Japan at the end of World War II was directed by Shinji Higuchi, one of the founders of the animation studio Gainax. The two had previously worked together on two liveaction films—the giant monster film The Eight-Headed Giant Serpent Strikes Back (Yamata no orochi no gyakushū, 1985), for which Higuchi handled the special effects and Oshii was credited with “equipment cooperation,” as well as Remnant 6 (Uchū kamotsusen Remunanto 6, 1996). They would go on to work together on Assault Girls, for which Higuchi was credited with the key art design. Oshii also was responsible for an installation at the 2005 World Exposition in Aichi, Japan, called “Open Your Mind” This multimedia installation used sculpture and video screens in order to create an immersive event, the aim of which was to “have visitors think anew about the recovery of the Earth while experiencing the wonder of nature and the environment.”1