Go behind-the-scenes of Makoto Shinkai’s critically-acclaimed anime, about a young boy who runs away from home and befriends an orphan girl who can manipulate weather, as the art director discusses environments and design.
With Makoto Shinkai’s new animated film, Weathering With You, now available on Digital, Blu-Ray / DVD and SteelBook formats from GKIDS and Shout! Factory (a limited-edition Collector's Set will also be released in November), AWN readers can now take a glimpse behind-the-scenes with the film’s art director, Hiroshi Takiguchi, as he talks about worldbuilding and environment design.
Check out this exclusive clip:
On Weathering With You, Shinkai collaborated with the creative team, including producer Genki Kawamura, behind the critically-acclaimed hit, Your Name. Featuring music from the hit band RADWIMPS, and backed by an all-star voice cast including Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Hobbit Trilogy), Alison Brie (GLOW, The Lego Movie franchise), and Riz Ahmed (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Venom), the film is another stunning example of Shinkai’s talent at bringing incredible beauty and a powerful story together in an animated feature film.
The film follows the story of Hodaka, who in the summer of his high school freshman year, 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 strong-willed girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky…
Check out the film’s new subtitled trailer:
Japan’s Official Submission for Best International Feature at the 92nd Academy Awards, and a
Toronto International Film Festival Official Selection, this magical tale’s awe-inspiring beauty thrilled audiences when the film hit North American theaters in early 2020.
Source: Shout! Factory
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
