Like the Clouds, Like the Wind

Like the Clouds, Like the Wind (雲のように 風のように) is a made-for-TV anime movie produced by Studio Pierrot for NTV and based on the novel by Ken'ichi Sakemi. It is often incorrectly thought to be produced by Studio Ghibli due to the character designs by Katsuya Kondō (who has worked on many Ghibli films), partially due to an error in its first fan translation that attributed the screenplay to Hayao Miyazaki instead of Akira Miyazaki, and the higher quality of the animation for a TV movie. However, Studio Ghibli had no involvement in the film.

Story
Ginga is a simple—yet energetic—country girl, living with her father far from the capital city of the empire in ancient China. When she learns of an opportunity to become a concubine of the young new Emperor, with the possibility of becoming his head wife in charge of all of the other wives, Ginga convinces her father to let her go. Once there, she meets all of the other potential head wives, each of whom have various reasons for being there. All of them must learn to read and write, learn the history of their country, and learn the proper mannerisms for being in the royal court.

Ginga's enthusiasm tends to get her in trouble more often than not, but it works to her advantage when they learn that the former emperor's head wife, who is not the mother of the current emperor, is plotting treachery against the new emperor, and that a rebellion is headed toward the capital.

Novel
The novel, Inner Palace Harem Story (後宮小説), won the first Japan Fantasy Novel Award in 1989, and then received sponsorship to become a film from Mitsui Real Estate. The novel has been released in both hardcover and bunkobon format.
 * Hardcover, ISBN 4-10-375101-0, Shinchosha, March 5, 1989, ¥1200
 * Bunkobon, ISBN 4-10-128111-4, Shinchosha, April 25, 1993, ¥480

Anime
Kumo Kaze, as it is sometimes called, had its premier broadcast on March 21, 1990 during the vernal equinox national holiday, and was shown in an unprecedented no-commercials presentation. The movie was released on Region 2 DVD in 2002. There is no commercial English language release.

Cast

 * Ginga: Ryōko Sano
 * Koryūn: Emiya Ichikawa
 * Kōyō: Yō Inoue
 * Seshaamin: Yōko Asagami
 * Tamyūn: Atsuko Takahata
 * Kakuto: Kinto Tamura


 * Kikkyō: Yūji Mitsuya
 * Iryūda (Heishō): Nobuaki Fukuda
 * Konton: Akiji Kobayashi
 * Empress Kin: Ikuko Tani
 * Taruto-baba: Hisako Kyōda
 * Mano: Kōichi Kitamura


 * Ino: Yōsuke Akimoto
 * Narrator: Tadashi Nakamura
 * Atsushi Ii
 * Tomie Kataoka
 * Eken Mine


 * Tetsuo Mizutori
 * Midori Nakazawa
 * Akemi Shinohara
 * Masaaki Tsukada
 * Akiko Yajima

Staff

 * Original story: Ken'ichi Sakemi
 * Director: Hisayuki Toriumi
 * Producer: Harumi Tamano
 * Production: Yomiuri Advertising, Studio Pierrot


 * Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki
 * Executive Producers:
 * Tōru Horikoshi (NTV)
 * Makoto Ōno (Yomiuri Advertising)
 * Noritaki Suzuki (Studio Pierrot)


 * Planning: Takeo Mutai (NTV), Kazuo Shimamura (Yomiuri Advertising)
 * Character Design: Katsuya Kondō
 * Animation director: Katsuya Kondō
 * Director of Photography: Nobuo Koyama


 * Art Director: Yūji Ikeda (Studio YS)
 * Editing: Takeshi Seyama
 * Sound Director: Kan Mizumoto
 * Music: Haruhiko Maruya
 * Production: Yūji Nunokawa

Theme song
Kumo no yō ni Kaze no yō ni
 * Lyrics: Anju Mana
 * Composed by: Tetsurō Kugizaki
 * Arranged by: Etsuko Yamakawa
 * Vocals: Ryōko Sano