Anime director Makoto Shinkai charts his own course - The Japan News

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Last updated 14 abril 2025

Anime director Makoto Shinkai charts his own course - The Japan News

Makoto Shinkai is undoubtedly one of the most renowned creators of animated films alive. His latest work, “Suzume no Tojimari” (“Suzume”), is currently being shown in theaters. The film has more action scenes and is even more entertaining than his past works, including “Kimi no Na wa” (“Your Name.”). Shinkai, who recently spoke to The Yomiuri Shimbun about his determination to continue producing new works, is well aware that his narrative style is changing. His new film’s lead character is high school student Suzume Iwato, who lives in Kyushu. She meets Sota Munakata, a “closer” who shuts out calamities by locking doors, in ruins. But Sota is turned into a three-legged chair by Daijin, a mysterious cat. Suzume and Sota chase after Daijin, traveling through Shikoku and Kobe and then on to Tokyo. And so their door-locking journey begins. An old onsen spa resort town overrun by weeds, with torn paper lanterns hanging under the eaves of a derelict ryokan inn. A Ferris wheel and a carousel standing quietly abandoned in a disused amusement park. The sorts of ruins that Shinkai depicts with his unique, elaborate touch evoke both nostalgia and warmth, as if embodying the memories of people who once lived, worked and vacationed in these places. “When people lived in those places, were active there, they were borrowing them from nature. Now that those places are deserted, they will be returned to the gods. That’s the meaning I put in the story,” Shinkai, 49, said.