You may have heard of anime pilgrimages in which you travel to a location that’s been featured in an anime. The reason that this is possible at all in the first place is because a lot of anime series and films base their settings on real locations. While this isn’t unheard of for other types of animation, just look at Saludos Amigos for instance, this practise seems surprisingly widespread in anime and so I thought I might take a look at location scouting in anime and why I find it so fascinating.
I remember the first time I heard about location scouting in anime was when I was listening a podcast (either Manga UK or ANN, I can’t remember) where I heard a story that an older couple in London were running their shop when a group of Japanese people came in and started taking pictures. A few months later, a few people came to the shop to visit and told the older couple that their shop had been used in K-On! The Movie. This movie was quite meticulous when it came to recreating London and the idea that the shop had been recreated in the movie was very interesting to me.
Another interesting encounter with location scouting in anime occurred when I was watching Noein: To Your Other Self. Having really enjoyed the series, I decided to check out the extras and an area that was covered extensively was how the setting of Noein was based on the Japanese city of Hakodate in Hokkaido. They showed a lot of comparison images between the various locations in the city and in the anime and it was always surprising to me how similar they looked.
Of course, one of the most notable examples must be the house from Wolf Children. After the massive success of the Mamoru Hosoda film, fans began to make their way to the house that inspired Hana’s new house in the movie. Once it was announced that the couple who owned the house were having trouble maintaining it as they grew older, fans decided that they would help to preserve the house so that it wouldn’t fall into disrepair.
Location scouting is one of the many reasons why many anime series and movies have such incredibly detailed backgrounds and it’s always fascinating to compare what you’ve seen in an anime to the real life version. Let me know your thoughts on the fascinating practise of location scouting in anime, what other examples you’re aware of, whether you’ve ever gone somewhere simply because it was in an anime and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!