Suzume no Tojimari

“Suzume no Tojimari” is directed and written by Makoto Shinkai, and the film will be released in Mainland China on March 24, 2023. This marks the end of a three-year-long wait for the movie’s release. Soon, audiences will finally be able to savor the audio-visual masterpiece on the big screen.

The movie tells the story of a 17-year-old girl living in Kyushu, Japan, named Suzume. One day, she meets a young man who has set foot on a journey to find “door”s. Following the young man, Suzume arrives at an abandoned ruin in the mountains, where an old door stands quietly, as though it were the only remnant of the wreckage. As if drawn to something, Suzume raises her hand towards the door…and soon after, doors begin to open one by one all over Japan. It is said that an open door must be closed, or disaster will befall the present world from the other side of the door. The people and events she encounters on her journey give her a better understanding of family, friendship, and love, and allow her to heal and grow, while giving the audience the courage to start over in life.

It has nearly 2,000 shots, which is much more than in “Your Name”(about 1,600) and “Weathering with you” (about 1,700). Shinkai said the film took about twice as much energy to make compared to previous works.

In order to avoid having the audience be accidentally intimidated by the earthquake alarm in the film, Shinkai specifically designed the sound to be different from that used in reality.

This film marks the third collaboration between Shinkai and RADWIMPS. The movie’s soundtrack was co-produced by Makoto Shinkai, RADWIMPS and Kazuma Jinnouchi.

Yojiro Noda and Mr. Jinnouchi recorded the orchestration and other parts of the song together at Abbey Road Studios in London, England, making it the first Makoto Shinkai production with music recorded from overseas.

The beautiful and fresh images complement the warm and healing vocals. People exclaim that the familiar Makoto Shinkai is back with extraordinary music and stunning art, maintaining the same high level of visual and audio quality as before. This is a magnificent work that even surpasses “Your Name”.