Lost in Starlight Director on Making Netflix’s First Korean Anime Film

Misplaced in Starlight marks a defining second for 36-year-old filmmaker Han Ji-won — and a uncommon breakthrough for Korean animation on the world stage. 

A vividly realized sci-fi romance set in Seoul within the 12 months 2050, the movie is Netflix‘s first authentic animation produced in South Korea, and it has received reward from none lower than the nation’s most adorned director. In statements accompanying the movie’s world launch on Might 30, multi-Oscar winner Bong Joon Ho hailed the characteristic as “a visible masterpiece that takes you across the universe,” highlighting Han as a brand new expertise to observe whereas signaling a long-awaited coming-of-age second for the nation’s animation sector.  

South Korea has lengthy been often known as an animation powerhouse, however principally for behind-the-scenes work. For many years, native studios quietly toiled as manufacturing subcontractors on Japanese anime and Hollywood options — cranking out clean-up, in-betweening, and digital compositing for world franchises — whereas Korean-made animation not often reached a global viewers below its personal banner. Misplaced in Starlight‘s success hints on the outlines of a coming animated chapter within the ever-breaking Korean cultural wave. 

A genre-fluid imagining of Seoul within the not-so-distant future, Misplaced in Starlight follows two younger dreamers separated by 140 million miles. Nan-young (voiced in Korean by actress Kim Tae-ri), a space-bound astro-botanist, departs on a mission to terraform Mars, leaving her quiet, music-obsessed boyfriend Jay (voiced by Hong Kyung) behind on Earth. The movie unfolds as a lyrical meditation on long-distance love, private ambition, and the fragile emotional gravity that holds folks collectively. Visually, it’s suffused by luminous, hologram-filled cityscapes, delicate water colours and interstellar dreamscapes — a extremely completed type that blends a number of the grounded heat of Studio Ghibli’s hand-drawn character design work with the cosmopolitan shimmer of a Makoto Shinkai sundown. 

Shortly after Misplaced in Starlight‘s debut, The Hollywood Reporter related with Han to debate her journey of bringing Misplaced in Starlight to display screen, her animation influences, what Bong’s reward has meant to her and the unbridled potential of Korean animation. 

How did Misplaced in Starlight start? What was the unique inspiration behind the undertaking?

Some years in the past, I labored on a branded movie — Beautiful Moments, for the Korean jewellery firm StoneHenge — and for that undertaking I used to be given quite a lot of artistic freedom. I used to be capable of discover concepts I’d had been excited about for a very long time — issues like the feminine dream, astronauts, household tales, childhood, house, and music. That movie integrated all of these parts, and it ended up getting quite a lot of consideration. Based mostly on that, Climax Studio contacted me, and I had the prospect to develop on these themes.

On the time, I used to be relationship, so I used to be very excited about love, and I needed to include that into my storytelling. Fortunately, the manufacturing firm was excited about letting me discover all of these items, and that’s how the story started to take form.

Misplaced in Starlight is about in a futuristic model of Seoul, and there are such a lot of imaginative visible particulars all through the movie’s world. How did you strategy depicting Seoul in 2050? It felt to me like a clear, recent model of Blade Runner.

That’s truly a fairly correct approach to describe it — a clear model of Blade Runner. I set it in opposition to a sensible backdrop as nicely. In Korea, there’s an space of Seoul known as Eulji-ro, which is fashionable proper now with each vacationers and artists. It has this very cyberpunk, retro-industrial vibe. It was full of producing workshops, steel outlets, garages — very gritty — however now quite a lot of indie artists do performances and collaborative initiatives there. Jay, within the animation, works round there. And there’s additionally Sewoon Arcade, the place his document store is predicated — that’s an actual location in Seoul too. So I began with these reasonable backdrops and added creativeness to create this future panorama.

You talked about the “cleanliness”— that basically resonates with what I needed to specific. I didn’t wish to depict a darkish or apocalyptic future. I imagined a future the place we’ve achieved our greatest to guard the atmosphere and issues turned out okay. I needed the setting to really feel like a spot that’s good to stay in. So mixing that retro allure with futuristic optimism, rooted in actual places, was very intentional.

I additionally appreciated the way in which feminine empowerment is expressed within the movie. The 2 lead characters every go on parallel journeys of self-overcoming, however there’s such a putting distinction: Nan-young goes all the way in which to Mars to uncover the thriller of her mom’s disappearance, braving storms and mortal hazard. Jay, in the meantime, is usually simply shy, making an attempt to work up the braveness to sing in public. 

That’s a good level, however I don’t essentially suppose Nan-young’s achievement is larger than Jay’s. Visually, after all, Nan-young’s journey appears extra dramatic—going to Mars and confronting her inside trauma—however I consider that revealing your voice in entrance of a big viewers can be an act that requires nice bravery.

As a feminine creator, I did wish to present how girls overcome boundaries and obtain issues, however I feel the distinction you observed may simply have extra to do with their professions — astronaut versus musician — quite than a hierarchy of bravery. What I actually needed to indicate is that development can come from epic journeys, but additionally from the small, intimate challenges.

Korea has a protracted historical past of doing expert contract work for worldwide studios, however comparatively few authentic Korean animated options have damaged by means of globally. May you describe the Korean animation scene proper now? Ought to viewers count on extra thrilling authentic work to return? 

As you stated, Korean studios have lengthy taken on outsourced work from the U.S. and Japan, principally within the manufacturing stage, quite than pre-production. However in recent times, extra corporations are constructing devoted groups to work on design and story improvement. There’s an actual push now to create authentic IP. Some corporations are even forming in-house story and webtoon groups.

Globally, most animated works are based mostly on present webtoons, comics, or video games, quite than authentic IP. So a movie like ours — based mostly on an authentic story — remains to be comparatively uncommon. However there are some current examples, like The Exorcism Chronicles (2024) and King of Kings (2025). These are good indicators for each studios and creators.

My very own background is in unbiased animation, and I consider Korea is kind of sturdy in that space. So the potential for synergy on this second between indie animators and Korean studios is admittedly thrilling. However animation takes time, and long-term assist is crucial — in order that’s one thing we nonetheless want extra of earlier than the scene can actually take off. 

Do you suppose Korean animation has any particular qualities — visible or thematic — that noticeably set it other than Japanese anime and the U.S. studio animation that viewers all over the world know so nicely? 

It’s arduous to generalize, as a result of it’s been a very long time since Korean characteristic animation was lively in a giant approach, and even the works that exist are fairly various in type. 

My movie is 2D, whereas most industrial work just lately has leaned towards 3D. So even inside Korea, there’s a visible hole relying on the approach. However I didn’t need Misplaced in Starlight to appear to be Japanese anime. I needed it to mirror how younger Korean folks immediately look, gown, and do make-up. That Korean-ness was essential to me.

On the similar time, I integrated some Western-style drawing parts. It’s a mix. Fairly than talking for all of Korean animation, I simply hope this work can provide a brand new sort of reference level for world audiences to know what Korean animation might be.

Throughout the lengthy, five-year course of of constructing this movie, what had been a number of the largest moments of doubt for you? 

This movie is kind of distinctive. It blends sci-fi with grounded emotion, and it’s not confined to a single style. That meant we needed to preserve a really delicate steadiness — throughout story, music, visuals, manufacturing, every little thing. We labored with each in-house and exterior groups, and the skin associate had their very own manufacturing pipeline, which we needed to alter to suit our imaginative and prescient. That required intensive communication. Generally we’d ask ourselves, “Do we actually should go this far?” However ultimately, we’re proud we did, as a result of that spotlight to element is what made the ultimate product satisfying. Acheiving that delicate style steadiness was the toughest half — but additionally what made it particular.

There was one thing subtly recent within the character design for me — maybe that got here from seeing Korean vogue and up to date tradition on this medium for the primary time, as you talked about. The colour palette and the dealing with of sunshine and landscapes additionally jogged my memory quite a lot of Makoto Shinkai. The place do you establish your influences? 

Like most animators, I’ve been influenced by the works I cherished rising up—and Makoto Shinkai is unquestionably in there. However on the subject of character expression and storytelling, I’ve additionally drawn from others — like Hayao Miyazaki, who actually impressed me to pursue animation within the first place. I used to be additionally deeply influenced by Isao Takahata’s Solely Yesterday, which focuses on very reasonable, totally dimensional characters. Satoshi Kon additionally had a powerful influence on me, particularly together with his reasonable visible type. For Misplaced in Starlight, I labored with a personality designer. I shared my inventive preferences and early drafts, and his type aligned intently with mine. That collaboration actually helped create the distinctive, reasonable look we achieved. 

Netflix has shared a quote from Bong Joon Ho calling your movie “a visible masterpiece that takes you across the universe.” How did that come about? 

Our manufacturing firm confirmed him the movie and requested for his ideas. In fact, director Bong is somebody I respect enormously, so it was an enormous honor to obtain that reward from him. I heard that he additionally remarked on how nicely the movie captured the sensation of latest life in a futuristic setting, and he appreciated the drawing type. I used to be very humbled and honored to listen to that. 

It’s been that Bong is definitely at work on a characteristic animation himself — an grownup animation titled The Valley, which might be his subsequent movie. Given how the Korean Wave has impacted so many areas of worldwide tradition — pop music, vogue, cinema, TV drama — do you suppose animation may very well be the subsequent frontier? Somebody of Bong’s statures leaping into the world might give the Korean animation business a giant increase, no? 

Completely. It’s been a long-standing dream for many people in animation for Korean works to go world. For years we stated the business was struggling and that our breakthrough would in all probability be a protracted methods off — however then webtoons turned globally profitable, proving our artistic capability.

If somebody like Bong Joon Ho will get concerned in animation, after all that might give us an enormous increase. That stated, 2D and 3D animations function below totally different enterprise fashions — the funding and advertising methods completely differ — so we will’t deal with them precisely the identical. However I consider we’re prepared to indicate the world that Korean animation has a wealthy custom, excessive requirements, and robust artistic voices. If we’re given time and assist, I actually consider we will construct one other Okay-wave — this time in animation.