The official website for the anime film of Kazuyoshi Takeda's Peleliu: Guernica of Paradise (Peleliu: Rakuen no Guernica) manga unveiled on Wednesday the collaboration music video for the film's theme song "Kiseki no Yō na Koto" (Something Like a Miracle) performed by Mone Kamishiraishi. The music video includes never-before-seen clips from the film.
The film will open in Japan on December 5.
Rihito Itagaki plays kindhearted manga artist Hiroshi Tamaru, and Tomoya Nakamura plays his reliable sidekick Keisuke YOSHIKI.
Other cast members include:Hirosato Amano as ShimadaYūta Fujii as KosugiEiji Mikami as IzumiTakamasa Mogi as KatakuraGorō Kuji (Chained Soldier, episode director for The Fire Hunter) is directing the anime at Shinei Animation and Fugaku. Junji Nishimura (chief director of Chained Soldier; scriptwriter for A Lull in the Sea, True Tears, GLASSLIP) and original manga creator Kazuyoshi Takeda are writing the screenplay. Toei is distributing the film.
Other staff members include:
Character Designer/Chief Animation Director: Ryōji NakamoriProp Design: Goichi Iwahata, Noritaka SuzukiMechanical Design: Kaoru KamigikuArt Setting: Mika Nakajima, Katsuki Sarutani (Studio MAO)Concept Board Art: Takamasa Masuki, Yūsuke Takeda (Bamboo)Art Director: Kuniko Iwatani, Hiroshi Katō, Hirofumi Sakagami (Totonyan)Color Key Artist: Aki Watanabe, Kasumi Hasegawa (Studio Toys)Compositing Director of Photography: Shinichi Igarashi (Studio Twinkle)3D CG Director: Tetsuya Nakano (GEMBA), Shinichiro Takahashi (STUDIO Katyusha)Editor: Toshihiko Kojima (Okayasu Promotion)History Advisor: Takaaki SuzukiSound Director: Chikako YokotaSound Production: HALF H・P STUDIOMusic: Kenji KawaiThe anime adaptation was first announced in April 2021.
Takeda launched the manga in Young Animal in 2016 with story cooperation by historian Masao Hiratsuka. The main manga ended in the magazine in April 2021, and has 11 compiled book volumes. The manga was nominated for the 25th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2021. The manga also won an award at the 46th Japan Cartoonist Awards in 2017.
The manga takes place during the Battle of Peleliu, a months-long battle that took place during World War II between the U.S. and Japan on the island of Peleliu in Palau. The manga takes place in the summer of 1944. Peleliu is a paradise with coral reefs and beautiful forests. Tamaru is a soldier who wants to become a manga creator. The manga depicts Tamaru's daily life during a drawn-out battle between Japan's approximately 10,000 troops and the U.S.'s 50,000 troops, exploring themes such as what the soldiers fight for when so far from home on a small island.
The manga inspired a spinoff titled Peleliu Gaiden that launched in Hakusensha's Young Animal magazine in March 2022. The spinoff ended in the fourth volume around July 2025.
Sources: Peleliu: Guernica of Paradise film's website, Comic Natalie