Since its release in June, Japanese animation movie Kimi no Na wa (Your Name) has been stealing the world’s attention.
The movie has been an enormous success, even surpassing renowned animation studio Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke’s earnings, according to Inquirer.net.
Although director Makoto Shinkai described the movie as “incomplete”, the teenage body-swapping romance movie has not only raked in huge earnings, but also managed to take home awards from United States and Europe.
The movie has even been nominated for Oscars, Antara news agency reports.
However, despite being called the “next Ghibli” or “new Hayao Miyazaki”, Shinkai has recently stated that the popularity of the animation has begun to worry him. He even called it “unhealthy”.
“Of course I am happy when people mention Miyazaki’s and my name in the same breath. It feels like a dream. But I know that they are praising ‘Your Name’ too much because of course, I am not on a par with Miyazaki,” Shinkai commented.
The 43-years old director also said that he did not want Miyazaki, the man behind classical hits, such as Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and My Neighbor Totoro to see his movie, “Because he will see all its flaws”.
Shinkai explained that Your Name, the animation team of which was led by Miyazaki’s disciple Masahi Ando was created in two years and not without obstacles.
Aside from feeling that the time was not enough, the budget for the movie was also running out and had to be stopped.
However, he also said that he knew the movie was going to be a hit when he saw the audience’s reaction at a Los Angeles premiere.
He stated that the emotional flow, from laughing to sobbing matched his expectations.
With regard to the movie’s success, Shinkai stated that he was “obviously happy that it worked”, but at the same time “afraid that it worked too well”.
Your Name was released in Indonesia on December.
