Understanding 'teru teru bōzu,' the ghost-like charms in 'Weathering With You'
While Makoto Shinkai’s latest film, “Weathering With You,” has already been released in Japan, it’s likely anime fans overseas won’t be able to see the movie until 2020. However, there are a few moments in the film that may leave international audiences scratching their ...
Anime director Makoto Shinkai's new film can't shake 'Your Name.' comparisons
Makoto Shinkai’s latest film, “Weathering With You” (“Tenki no Ko”), may have outperformed the director’s 2016 blockbuster, “Your Name.,” at the box office on its opening weekend, but it failed to create many waves on social media in its first week. “Weathering With You,” which ...
Makoto Shinkai isn't afraid of a bit of rain in the pursuit of his art
It has been raining for weeks, but director Makoto Shinkai doesn't seem to mind a bit. The award-winning creator's latest film, "Weathering With You," couldn't have been accompanied by better meteorological conditions than in the weeks leading up to its July 19 release. According to the ...
'Weathering With You': Breezy with scattered showers
Arriving in the middle of a seemingly endless rainy season in Tokyo, "Weathering With You" feels like it's benefitted from an ingenious stealth marketing campaign. Little has been left to chance with Makoto Shinkai's follow-up to "Your Name." The film raked in nearly $360 ...
Cinematically big in Japan: Where film crews lead, fans soon follow
A visit to a film location can add some movie magic to your Japan travels.
Convenience store stars for July: Cream puffs, doughnuts and iced soda floats
Green tea, lemon and Makoto Shinkai's film "Weathering With You"-themed fruit-flavored soda drinks all hit convenience stores shelves this month.
Japan's anime industry in crisis despite its popularity
Japan's booming animation industry is in crisis — with low pay, long hours and a huge shortage of artists — just as its global popularity has never been higher. Though earlier this month, French animator Jeremy Clapin won this year's celebrated Annecy International Animation Film ...
Fans: Don't worry about a live-action 'Your Name.' remake; 'Alita' shows it can be done
It was the groan heard 'round the internet. Back in September 2017, J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions announced it had picked up the live-action rights to 2016 anime megahit "Your Name." Reaction from anime fans online was not exactly positive. To be fair, they had ...
'Your Name.' director Makoto Shinkai's new film set for next summer
Makoto Shinkai, who wrote and directed the 2016 smash-hit animation "Kimi no Na wa." ("Your Name.") said Thursday that his next film, featuring a girl who has the power to stop the rain and clear the sky, is due out next summer. "Tenki no Ko" ...
2018's anime lineup offers plenty of potential
Over the past few years, the success of several films — including, most notably, Makoto Shinkai's record-setting "Your Name." — have proven that anime directed by someone other than director Hayao Miyazaki can still attract a wider audience. Several films set for release this year ...
Radwimps were the perfect choice when it came to soundtracking 'Your Name.'
Yokohama Arena feels special on this chilly Tuesday night in early March. It's here that Radwimps — a rock outfit from Kanagawa Prefecture whose members could bike to this very venue when they were teens — are playing the first of two sold-out shows. The ...
A new wave of Japanese filmmakers matches the old
Nearly two decades after the Japanese New Wave of the 1990s, the directors who led it, including Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Hirokazu Koreeda and Naomi Kawase, are still the local industry's most prominent faces abroad. But this year a new generation of filmmakers has finally started ...
