“Shinkai Makoto Ten” will be held at Hankyu Umeda Honten 9F Hankyu Umeda Gallery on the 14^th of March. The exhibition will be held in the Kansai Area for the first time.

Shinkai Makoto is a movie director who has been creating high quality animation works featuring stories of peoples’ encounters and farewells.

The animation movie released in 2016 “Your Name (Kimi no Na wa)” gained much popularity for its beautiful illustrations, touching story and memorable words/theme song. The box-office sales of the movie exceeded 25 billion yen.

The model sheet of each character, storyboard, background illustrations and making-video will be exhibited. Sculptures related to the movie will be exhibited too.

Also, more than 100 kinds of limited goods will be sold at the art stage. Many goods related to the movie will be sold too.

Moreover, an audio guide by Kamiki Ryunosuke who played the part of the main character in the movie, can be enjoyed. Kamiki is known as a big fan of Shinkai Makoto’s works.

Why not visit the exhibit and enjoy the world the Shinkai Makoto’s beautiful and touching stories.

The "Exhibition of Shinkai Makoto" is currently being held at The National Art Center in Roppongi, Tokyo to commemorate 15 years of Shinkai Makoto's career as an animated film director. Today, Ren Koseki, an openly declared fan of Shinkai's body of work, takes us on a tour of this highly praised exhibition to give us the full scope. You can be certain that you will 100% enjoy the exhibition by reading this report.

Shinkai Makoto made his industry debut back in 2002 with the release of "Voices of a Distant Star." He was responsible for much of the film's creation, acting as the director, writer, storyboarder, cinematographer, character designer, and more. Upon its release, the animated film won many awards at the first Tokyo International Anime Fair 21 (now Tokyo International Anime Fair), as well as a string of other awards, allowing the world to know Shinkai Makoto's name.

This exhibition documents the works of every Shinkai Makoto feature to date, including storyboards, photographs, setting materials and documents, and more. It is a valuable must-see display for both fans and newcomers to Shinkai's world alike.

Pictured above is concept art by Takumi Tanji, the art director for "Children Who Chase Lost Voices" (2011). Ren-chan is observing Shinkai Makoto's artistic feat of merging illustrations with photography. She was absorbed in the displays showcasing backgrounds for the films.

Another unmissable highlight of the exhibition was the abundance of artwork you will find not only on the walls, but hanging from the ceiling too.

The exhibition showcases a wide range of Shinkai's productions, from his animated movies to his work in commercials. Each display has a description for the concept of the work, so be sure to take your time in reading them all.

Shinkai's films that have been internationally critically acclaimed were also on show, including the phenomenon "Your Name" for which a Hollywood live-action adaptation has been announced. Film posters for the movies from countries all around the world are on displays, you you can enjoy comparing each one.

You can get all the inside information from the official illustrated book at the exhibition which includes the works on display as well as interviews with those involved in their productions. It's a big book and features beautiful cuts from various scenes, all the way to the corners.

To bring Shinkai's world to life even more, there are also special little pieces on display from his works. Ren-chan was particularly interested in the shoes from "The Garden of Words" which Takao made for Yukino. They're an important item even in the movie.

There's a life-sized drawing of the characters from "Your Name." Although they're anime characters and not real people, you can feel the height balance between them, giving it a sense of reality.

One of the most impressive aspects of Shinkai's works are the breathtaking environments. At the exhibition, you can appreciate the work that goes into making the life-like backgrounds by seeing each layer piece by piece. Ren-chan was also incredibly impressed. Be sure to check out the film's scenic environments if you go to visit, all the way from the front to the back!

This piece pictured above is from "5 Centimeters per Second" and shows the amazing work production that goes into creating the backgrounds. They are separated into small layers, with both big and fine details being added, to finally create the shading of that one, certain gorgeous light.

One special highlight to draw attention to are the original key frames drawn by Shinkai himself. You can see little instructions on his original illustrations and how the entire film eventually came to be.

Both digital and analog storyboarding was used for "Your Name." Whichever one you look at, you can see how much work went into the shading and shadowing of the light. Ren-chan expressed her love for how good Shinkai's work is in writing two characters that miss each other. She was ecstatic in how well this was captured when looking at the storyboards.

You won't get to see this anywhere else. Just for the exhibition, Shinkai's work spaces were reconstructed! You can really get a feel for the time spent working on the production of his works as well as the different computers used over the years and changes in his digital environment.

People are not allowed to film or take photos at the exhibition, but they have prepared one particular spot where you're allowed to take photos. Try taking a photo copying a scene from "Your Name." like above and post it.

There's also a photo spot that uses augmented reality to make it look like you are inside the world of "The Garden of Words." This will be a moving spot for fans taking a photo as you become one of the characters to appear in the story's world!

The exhibition also has a guided audio tour, something that has become the norm at museums. The narrator for this particular audio tour is actor and voice actor Ryunosuke Kamiki, a public fan of Shinkai and the voice of Taki Tachibana, the lead male character in "Your Name." In his dialogue with the director, he expresses his wonder as a fan, talking about the exhibition and how you can take the time to enjoy the transition of the works as well as the beauty of the films themselves.

There are too many awe-inspiring highlights of Shinkai Makoto's exhibition that we can't cover them all in this one article. They are screening Shinkai's films at the event, so if you've missed any then what better place to catch up! The schedule can be found on the official exhibition page (English), so be sure to check it out. Winter may be approaching making you want to stay indoors, but the Exhibition of Shinkai Makoto is the one reason you must persevere and get out there!

Source: HARAJUKU KAWAii!! STYLE

Your Name.—the romantic comedy anime movie that took the world by storm has so far raked in 25.03 billion yen (as of July 25, 2017) in the Japanese box office. The movie broke countless records upon its release and it currently holds the position of highest-grossing anime film worldwide.

Its popularity set new box office records as a Japanese film within one week of its release around Asia, ranking number one in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, China, South Korea, and Vietnam. It was released on April 7th, 2017 in North America where it has earned $5 million in the US box office.

The internationally acclaimed film was just released on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan on July 26th. To celebrate its release, Ryunosuke Kamiki who voices Taki and Mone Kamishiraishi who voices Mitsuha took part in a new promotional video which was also released today.

■Taki version

■Mitsuha version

Both videos are a must-watch for "Your Name." fans out there, who get to hear the voices of their favourite characters once more! There are two versions with each character, so be sure to check them both out.

---

Related Article：A part of the amenity video of the collector’s edition of “Kimi no Na wa” will be released!

Related Article：Admire the Night Sky of “Your Name.” With New Homestar Planetarium!

The Blu-ray and DVD of“Kimi no Na wa” which recorded more than 19 million in movie attendance, earned 24.9 billion yen and won the 2^nd place in box-office sales. The movie recorded the first place in seven Asian countries and is loved the world over.

The 5-set collector’s edition includes more than 9 hours of amenity video and the 3-set Blu-ray special edition also includes 6 hours of amenity video. The videos cannot be seen anywhere else.

The “VideoContinuity” produced by director, Makoto Shinkai, the “making video” of the movie, the “unused voice clips,” and secret stories behind the recording and music making will be included.

In addition, “visual commentary” in which Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi and the members of RADWIMPS talk about secret episodes while watching the movie will also be included.

In the run up to the release of the Blu-ray and DVD, a video more than 10 minutes long from the amenity video (amenity disc 1~3) which will be included in the collector’s edition was released. The video includes the making documentary, video continuity, the video of Makoto Shinkai’s pageant and the video world premium held at Animation Expo 2016.

In the making documentary, Makoto Shinkai talks about the original idea of the movie and a part of the project book is shown. Moreover, the making documentary includes the meeting RE screen of dancing miko (female attendant), the video of RADWIMPS recording their tune and Ryunosuke Kamiki and Mone Kamishiraishi recording their voices. The scenes where Makoto Shinkai cheers up the audience of the world premium Animation Expo 2016 and RADWIMPS’surprise appearance are also must-see.

This time, a ten-minute long video was released ahead of the release of the Blu-ray and DVD but the collector’s edition includes 516 minutes of video and the special edition includes 312 minutes of video.

 Let’s purchase the products and check out the contents.

Related Article：Explore The World Of Explore The World Of “Your Name.” With Street View!

Related Article：Yojiro Noda of RADWIMPS Releases New Artwork for His Solo Project “illion”