Nasu: Summer in Andalusia
"Nasu: Summer in Andalusia" is the directorial debut of longtime Studio Ghibli collaborator Kosaka Kitaro. Kosaka has honed his chops as animation director on Studio Ghibli's "Spirited Away", and other masterpieces including "Princess Mononoke" and "Grave of the Fireflies", putting him in the company of the anime world's elite.The film is based on one episode of Kuroda Io 's famous manga of the same name, and is the tale of the Spanish cyclist Pepe as he competes in the Vuelta - a world famous cycling tour. One of the stops on the tour is Pepe's hometown, and as fate would have it, he rides in on the very same day that his brother is to get married to Pepe's former girlfriend, Carmen. Tired of playing second fiddle in relationships and on his own cycling team, Pepe decides that now is the time for him to control his own destiny...