Makoto Shinkai became known within the anime community after he produced his first big hit, 5 Centimeters per Second (Byousoku 5 Centimeter). Due to the beautiful scenery in the film, it quickly became known within the internet anime community as 5 Wallpapers per Second. Shinkai went on to produce other movies, but then he took a step back, producing only anime shorts and television commercials. One began to wonder if Shinkai would return to producing full-length feature films. Late last year, that question was answered when it was announced that Makoto Shinkai would be producing a new full-length film called Your Name (Kimi no Na wa).
Fans of Shinkai were elated to find out that a new feature film would FINALLY be coming to Japanese theaters. The last full-length feature film he produced was Children Who Chase Lost Voices (Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo), back in 2011. While he did create The Garden of Words (Kotonoha no Niwa) in 2013, it was only 46 minutes in length and considered to be an extended anime episode more than a full-length film.
When Your Name was previewed at Los Angeles’ Anime Expo, the reviews were extremely positive. When it hit Japanese theaters, the numbers and accolades began to pile up and cement those positive reviews. What has Your Name accomplished in the first couple of months since it’s release?
- As of 10/26/16, it has earned over 16.41 billion Yen ($158 million)
- It is projected to earn over 20 billion Yen ($200 million)
- It is #1 at the box office in Japan for 9 consecutive weeks (as of 10/26/16)
- It is the first non-Hayao Miyzaki animated movie to earn more than 100 billion Yen
- It is the 4th highest grossing anime movie of all-time in Japan
- Only Studio Ghibli & Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Spirited Away are higher ranked
- The film out-earned James Cameron’s Avatar in Japan and dethroned the Shin Godzilla film as #1.
- It is the top grossing movie of 2016 in Japan
- It is the 9th highest grossing Japanese movie of all-time
- It won Best Animated Film at Spain’s Sitges Movie Awards
- It won Special Distinction Prize and Audience Prize at South Korea’s International Anime Film Festival
- It earned the equivalent of $2 million in 4 days in Taiwan
- It is the #1 movie in Taiwan, currently
- It is ranked as the #1 anime of all time on MyAnimeList.net, beating Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and Gintama.
- The novelization of the movie has already sold over 1 million copies.
As time goes on, we are sure the accolades will continue to pile up for this film, especially with a United Kingdom release coming soon. A review of the film will be posted on The Outerhaven once a 1080p Blu-ray copy of the movie can be obtained.
