Makoto Shinkai’s next movie might be coming soon as he shares storyboard update

Filmmaker Makoto Shinkai has proven time and time again that he is nothing short of a force to be reckoned with as he consistently delivers anime films that not only touch the hearts of audiences everywhere but also leave the lives of viewers changed forever.

From the 2016 highly successful animated film Your Name to the absolutely breathtaking 2013 movie that is Garden of Words to even the hidden gem 2011 masterpiece Children Who Chase Lost Voices, Shinkai has been responsible for the creation and execution of numerous animated movies that seem to shake the world with every release.

His most recent project, Weathering with You, was certainly no exception to greatness as the movie also received rave reviews and reception including a near-perfect critic score of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes as well as an audience score of 96%.

With all of his successes in mind, it’s not a surprise that anime fans all across the globe are wondering when they will be blessed with yet another work of art from this talented filmmaker. Fortunately, it seems that fans are not going to have to wait that long as Makoto Shinkai may already have something extraordinary on the way.

Is Makoto Shinkai making another movie?

By the looks of Makoto Shinkai’s Twitter, this animator is, in fact, currently working on his next movie as he shares a picture of the current storyboard for the movie. In the tweet, he states that he desperately wants to make a ‘movie that fans can enjoy’ and notes that he has poured an immense amount of emotion into this project to ensure that it is absolutely perfect.

(See the tweet as well as the rough translation, down below.)

"Here’s what’s going on! I’ve been working on the storyboard of the new movie every day, crying (with great difficulty), and when it was finally finished, I asked many people to review it and they gave me many comments. Even now I’m still struggling while making the necessary corrections. It’s very difficult for me to do a storyboard, but I want to make a movie that everyone will definitely enjoy."

Based on the tweet above, it seems that this project is finally nearing its final stages after it was reported nearly two years ago that Shinkai began the project.

Anime Corner informed us that the Voices of a Distant Star director initially began writing the script for the film at the beginning of the pandemic which forced Japan to go into a sudden state of emergency. Here, he was able to not only conceptualize the art and characters for the new movie but also devise a rather intriguing plot with a post-apocalyptic theme.

“In a changed world, people nevertheless manage to find a bit of joy in their lives”, Shinkai expressed in an interview with TV Asahi, “In the midst of a changed world, what kind of adventures will play out? How will people get in touch with their feelings? […] I want to make a film that depicts the things that we have to confront after the end of the world.”

All things considered, it’s apparent that award-winning animator Makoto Shinkai is slated to make yet another film that will blow our minds and we absolutely can’t wait to see the final product.