Makoto Shinkai reveals how the success of 'Your Name' shaped 'Weathering With You'

Makoto Shinkai has something to say.

The acclaimed Japanese filmmaker made waves around the world with his 2016 feature "Your Name." which, at a global box office tally of $357 million, is the highest-grossing anime film worldwide of all time.

Aftershocks from that film's impact can be felt throughout Shinkai's innovative, robust follow-up, "Weathering With You."

"The success of my last film, 'Your Name,' and the criticism that came with it, clarified within me on what kind of movie I want to make," Shinkai said via email. "I want to tell stories that touch individuals and not society."

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Released in the United States by GKIDS, "Weathering With You" — which will have fan preview screenings Wednesday, Jan. 15 and Thursday, Jan. 16 before opening in cinemas everywhere Friday, Jan 17 — is a painfully human saga that combines the fantastical and the personal in an act of starkly captured magic realism.

Set in rain-drenched Tokyo, the film revolves around the relationship between a poor teenage runaway Hokada, and Hina, a young girl with the power to clear the skies.

"When I thought, 'What kind of protagonist would be relatable to the current audience?' Naturally, someone like Hodaka, a boy who doesn’t have anything, came to mind," Shinkai explained.

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The constant rain, the filmmaker said, was inspired by persistent flood damage resulting from heavy rains in Japan. Shinkai said the current climate crisis helped create the character of Hina, whose gifts of nature are monetized and subject to human greed.

Released in Japan in July 2019, "Weathering With You" was that country's official submission for the Best International Feature category at the 92nd Academy Awards, and also screened as a special presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

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The film served as a reunion between Shinkai and Japanese pop-rock band RADWIMPS, which scored "Your Name."

Shinkai shared the first draft of the "Weathering With You" screenplay with RADWIMPS' singer, guitarist and pianist Yojiro Noda, and the collaboration that followed had a profound effect on the development of the film.

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"The discussions I had with RADWIMPS taught me what kind of emotions the characters carry deep inside: the intensity, freshness and pureness that is specific to adolescence," Shinkai said. "RADWIMPS provided the emotion that cannot be described in a script, and the drive that cannot be achieved just in the visuals."

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"Weathering With You" will have fan preview screenings via Fathom Events Wednesday, Jan. 15 and Thursday, Jan. 16 before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday, Jan. 17.

For more information, visit fathomevents.com/events/weathering-with-you or gkids.com/films/weathering-with-you.