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Makoto Shinkai Says He's 'Vaguely Figured Out' His Next Work

your name. and Weathering With You film director Makoto Shinkai told The Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan-Web on Tuesday that he is thinking about his next work. "I've thought about it, and I've vaguely figured out the direction, but it's certainly not at the stage where I can talk about it yet. It's something I've been agonizing over," he said.

your name. debuted in 2016, while Weathering With You debuted in 2019. When asked whether he will be able to maintain a three-year release schedule, Shinkai said, "I do think that if we are able to make a film every three years, the audience will be able to keep up without giving up on me. The question is whether I'll be able to release something in three years, and I still don't know at this point. I'll do my best."

In the interview, Shinkai also discussed his feelings about Weathering With You half a year following its release in Japan. He said, "I'm glad that I was able to create a film that I felt I should create." He described it as an "incorrect story" about "a world that isn't saved." Although he was worried about whether audiences would be able to enjoy the film, but upon looking back, he was glad to have created a film that people were able to enjoy, even including the mixed receptions. He also said that he was ultimately thankful for the criticisms he received for your name., because it helped him figure out what kind of film he wanted to create for next time.

Weathering With You opened in 359 theaters and 448 screens in Japan last July, and is now the #7 highest-earning domestic film of all time in Japan and was the highest-grossing film in Japan in 2019. The film has earned 14.02 billion yen (about US$129 million) in Japan as of December 8. The film has earned approximately US$6.6 Million in the North American box office.

GKIDS describes the story:

The summer of his high school freshman year, Hodaka runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo, and quickly finds himself pushed to his financial and personal limits. The weather is unusually gloomy and rainy every day, as if to suggest his future. He lives his days in isolation, but finally finds work as a writer for a mysterious occult magazine. Then one day, Hodaka meets Hina on a busy street corner. This bright and strong­willed girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky...

The anime won the Audience Award at the Animation Is Film Festival in Los Angeles in October, and also won the Best Animated Feature Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Australia on November 21. The film received a nomination but did not win in the Best Animated Independent Feature category for the 47th Annual Annie Awards.

The film was submitted for consideration for both the Animated Feature Film category and the Best International Feature Film category for the 92nd Academy Awards, but it did not receive a nomination in either category. The film is also nominated for Animation of the Year for the Japan Academy Film Prize Association's 43rd annual awards this year.

Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan-Web