A Look into the Works of Makoto Shinkai

Often called the "New Miyazaki," Makoto Shinkai has wowed many fans in the past decade with his films such as Voices of a Distant Star, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, and my favourite, 5 Centimeters Per Second.

His newest film, with the title Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below, or the shorter and more literal title, Children Who Chase Stars, is to be released next month.



According to Wikipedia, the film is basically about a girl who "... embarks on a journey of adventure to meet a boy again, and thus comes to know the cruelty and beauty of the world, as well as loss."

This sounds very similar to he basis of a Makoto Shinkai film.

Shinkai's films take place in multiple universes and genres from sci-fi to slice-of-life films, yet they all focus on two aspects. One, the fragility of human relationships and two, the fact that we are only human, and will be subject to the conditions that make our relationships so fragile. Even his commercials depict this.



Even if we're in space fighting an intergalactic war (Voices of a Distant Star), rescuing our friend from a world that doesn't even exist (The Place Promised in Our Early Days), or just thinking about that one person from our past as we grow older (5cm Per Second), our memories will always wear through time, our feelings will always waver, and there are external factors in our life that are beyond our control.

All of these contribute to the ever fluxuating existence of human relationships.

I think the beautiful thing about Shinkai's films is that no matter where they take place, the characters feel very real as they are all very relatable. Even if we are disappointed in the events that unravel to the characters and their relations to others, we understand why they would happen because it can very well happen in our own lives.

I look forward to seeing his new film and hope it will be just as lovely as his previous works.