Reputed as "The New Miyazaki" of the Japanese anime industry, Makoto Shinkai has risen to fame almost overnight because of the success of his latest anime film Your Name .
Your Name tells the magical, yet romantic story between two young people, and has been acclaimed both at home and abroad. The Japan Times gave the film a rating of four out of five and praised the animation's "blend of gorgeous, realistic detail and emotionally grounded fantasy". The movie also attains a high score of 8.7 points on Douban, the Chinese version of IMDb, for the amazing drawing style, interesting and moving story plots, as well as provoking strong emotions among viewers.
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| A still from the movie Your Name (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn) |
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| Makoto Shinkai is renowned for his conscientious efforts in scenery drawing. Cloud, color, rays of light and open fields represent the four essential elements in his animation creation. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn) |
1. Five Centimeters Per Second: 8.4
Five Centimeters Per Second was finished at the start of 2007. The film consists of three segments including Cherry Blossom, Cosmonaut and Five Centimeters Per Second , running about an hour all together. The film was awarded Best Animated Feature Film at the 2007 Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
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| A still from the movie Five Centimeters Per Second (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn) |
2. Someone's Gaze: 8.3
Someone's Gaze is an animed short film that premiered in Japan in 2013. It is a slightly futuristic story about the maturation of a recently independent young woman and her changing relationship with her father. The story develops through scenes recalling their family life and the connections the girl and her father share with the family's cat.
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| A still from the movie Someone's Gaze (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn) |
3. She and Her Cat: 8.1
She and Her Cat is an independent 5-minute Japanese original video animation created in 1999. It is about the relationship between a male cat and his female owner from the cat's perspective.
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| A still from the movie She and Her Cat (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn) |
4. CrossRoad: 8.1
CrossRoad is an anime advertisement created by Makoto Shinkai that became a hit on the big screen in 2014. Centering on the theme of Japanese college entrance examinations, the anime focuses on an inspirational story between Shota and Hoifan. They live on a remote island without advanced educational resources. Both of them long to enter an ideal university and realize their own dreams.
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| A still from the movie CrossRoad (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn) |
5. Voices of a Distant Star: 8.3
Voices of a Distant Star premiered in Japan in February 2002. It chronicles a long-distance relationship between two close friends. One is a soldier, who attempts to communicate with his friend over the course of an interstellar war using text messages that take years to reach their recipient.
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| A still from the movie Voices of a Distant Star (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn) |
6. The Place Promised in Our Early Days: 7.9
The Place Promised in Our Early Days is a 90-minute Japanese anime film following the director's previous work Voices of a Distant Star .
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| A still from the movie The Place Promised in Our Early Days (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn) |
7. Children Who Ch ase Lost Voices: 7.2
Children Who Chase Lost Voices , known as Journey to Agartha in the UK, is a 2011 Japanese anime film. This film is the director's longest animation film to date and is described as a lively film with adventure, action, and romance centered on a cheerful and spirited girl on a journey to say farewell. The film was released in Japan in May, 2011.
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| A still from the movie Children Who Chase Lost Voices (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn) |
8. The Garden of Words: 8.2
The Garden of Words is a 2013 Japanese anime focusing on Takao Akizuki, a 15-year-old aspiring shoemaker, and Yukari Yukino, a mysterious 27-year-old woman he keeps meeting at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden on rainy mornings. While Takao is skipping his morning class to design shoes, Yukino is avoiding work due to personal problems in her professional life. Yukino tells Takao nothing about herself, including her name, while Takao opens up to her, sharing his passion for shoes by offering to make a pair for her.
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| A still from the movie The Garden of Words (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn) |
9. A Gathering of Cats: 8.7
Compared with other sad animations created by Makoto Shinkai, A Gathering of Cats is a funny and interesting anime. The story is told from the perspective of a cat called Chobi living in a normal family of four. Every morning, Chobi's tail is often stepped on by all family members and he is angry about that. The cat often plots his revenge against family members before dinner. However, the cat would give up the plan after taking some tasty food.
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| A still from the movie A Gathering of Cats ( P hoto provided to chinadaily.com.cn) |
10. Egao: 7.1
Many anime fans prefer to call Egao a music video rather than an anime because of its amazing soundtrack and short run time.
The story mainly tells a warm and moving story about a little girl and a hamster. Simple and sincere, they live in a comfortable state. "Many people often complain about their daily life and I think modern people are highly fickle. I just want to convey something positive in the anime to make people reflect on their past lives and move on happily," Makoto Shinkai said in an interview.
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| A still from the movie Egao (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn) |
