Makoto Shinkai’s modern work is defined by its immediate circumstances to a larger degree than most people realize, be it the themes he decides to tackle or the finesse in the delivery that depends on the whims of the industry. This is how they affected Your Name, Weathering with You, and even his new film Suzume no Tojimari.
Our animation awards continue with the aesthetics that have impacted fans and industry members the most: the most inspired art direction and color design, the animation designs that fulfill their goals the best, and most striking compositing to bring it all together!
We attended a meeting with the producer of Makoto Shinkai’s new film Tenki no Ko / Weathering With You and checked out the situation behind the scenes as well, so we can provide you an extensive summary of what to expect – thematically, visually, and production-wise too!
Spurned on by the passing of the company that birthed it, today we’ll be turning back the clock a whole decade to take a look at ef – a fairy tale of the two. Not just its fondly remembered anime adaptations, but also how its visual identity had already been shaped by a certain renowned creator.
Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name achieved unprecedented success, and that warrants an extended look at the film – what it represents for his own career, as well as the industry as a whole.
Since Your Name has finally seen its bluray release in Japan, we’re going to give a thorough look at the neat details hidden in the film, the artists who made it all possible and their personal approach, as well as the usual notes about who animated what. There’s an essay on the film coming up as well, but for now this already should be a huge treat for fans of the film!
Studio Ghibli’s announcement that they were halting regular operations in 2014 hit mainstream sources as hard as any piece of anime news ever could. It was such a big deal that the discourse understandably revolved around what this would mean for the industry as a whole, but that also means a smaller scale issue was mostly overlooked: Miyazaki was retiring and Takahata on his way out, but what about everyone else at the studio?