MAKOTO SHINKAI'S PERSPECTIVE

Makoto Shinkai, known for his movies '5 Centimeters per Second', 'Kotonoha no Niwa' and now 'Kimi No Na Wa', revealed in an interview for Nippon.com the common theme that returns in all his movies.

Makoto Shinkai tells us that he gets his inspiration from his adolescence. The nature of a relation between himself and other individuals, pain and longing for a human being, are common themes in all of his work. In the interview he said: "Why do we fall in love with someone? Why doesn't that person we love, love us back? These were totally commonplace concerns, but to my adolescent self they were a vast mystery, like the very cosmos itself." This reflects on his movie 'Kimi No Na Wa'. The whole theme is based on two individuals, relying on faith to fill the emptiness in their hearts, that can only be filled by finding each other. 

He also visualises this central theme in the cinematographic elements. The movie has a colourful and energetic appearance. He creates a galactic aesthetic to refer to the mystery of the cosmos. In the interview he also mentioned that he can't draw fictional places. He has to draw locations he is personally connected to. That is why the setting of the movie was based on a place in the Koumi in Nagano, the town were Makato Shinkai grew up. We can see that he used this place as a reference and in combination with his fantasy, he created the fictional town Itomori. 

The characters / personas have a typical 'manga' appearance. This makes the movie joyful and easy to watch. Outside of Japan, Makato Shinkai is referred to as the new Miyazaki Hayao. Even though, they both use animation to tell stories, their styles are nothing alike. Abroad, they see Japanese animation, according to Makato Shinkai, as: "Miyazaki-san and everybody else." 

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