Makoto Shinkai: Weathering With You
“I felt like I needed to make a movie that would make my critics feel even more strongly about me. The hatred surrounding ‘Your Name’ actually helped me realize what I wanted to do as a creator.”
Japan Times, 2019
Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Hidetoshi Nishijima: Drive My Car
“On set, we didn’t stop and start; we played the scenes from beginning to end. In that sense, the things happening between the actors were simply captured by the camera.”
Screen International, 2021
The push to go digital opens new doors for anime
The COVID-19 pandemic, now entering its third year, has done to the Japanese animation industry the same thing it has done to many others — pushed trends that were already unfolding into warp speed.
Japan Times, 2022
Composer Joe Hisaishi opens up to streaming
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the only travel the 69-year-old Hisaishi has been doing is within his neighborhood. During his daily walks, he wears a face mask for protection against a mysterious, deadly disease — not unlike the titular protagonist of “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind,” the 1984 animated classic that paired Hisaishi with director Hayao Miyazaki for the first time.
Interview: Gakuryu Ishii / インタビュー：石井岳龍
Some make punk rock with guitars. Others use cameras.