With the announcement of Shinkai Makoto’s upcoming 2019 animated film “Tenki no Ko” (Weathering With You), I figured why not blog about the “Exhibition of Shinkai Makoto” which I attended in Roppongi at the National Art Center – Tokyo.
Just the mere mention of Shinkai’s name and fans of his work go crazy.
The former Falcom graphic designer, who took the anime industry by storm back in 2001 when he released his anime OVA titled “Voices of a Distant Star”, which he created on his Power Mac G4 and using several software and voice acted by he and his wife Miko and music provided by his friend Tenmon.
The OVA inspired many for the fact it was independent, created on a small budget but looked significantly better than some major anime series by well-known animation studios.
Suffice to say, the person who grew up inspired by Miyazaki films was now given a chance to create more animated films and he would eventually achieve success with “The Place Promised in Our Early Days” (2004), “5 Centimeters Per Second” (2007), “Children Who Chase Lost Voices (“Hoshi o Ou Kodomo”) (2011), “Kotonoha no Miwa” (The Garden of Words) (2013) and “Your Name” (2016).
His films are well-loved, his work is critically acclaimed and the quality of his animated films are noticeable and equally captivating.
I happen to be a huge fan of Shinkai’s work, so attending the “Exhibition of Shinkai Makoto” was important for me, but yet I haven’t blogged about it for nearly a year because aside from the posters outside of the location, only one part of the entire exhibition is where one can take photos and literally there wasn’t much to post on the blog.
But I’ll post what people can see outside the National Art Center – Tokyo and whatever I was able to get photos at the exhibition.
I got my tickets, now time to go to the exhibit, which I’ll have to describe because photos weren’t allowed.
The exhibition featured Shinkai’s work beginning from his earlier work and a video screen is presented. We can see the actual hardware that Shinkai used and then as you see his work, you see photos that were used and inspired scenes in his animated films.
The area that myself and many people just stood watching was Shinkai’s “5 Centimeters Per Second” ending theme, “One More Time One More Chance” by Yamazaki Masayoshi. This song alone just brought memories of the film and so many of us were standing there, not wanting to move and just watching the video.
And the way this film ended, it affected me. But watching “Your Name”, it made me even enjoy it even more.
While you finish the “Your Name” portion, you are then taken to another room, where now you can take photos…and this is all I can show you, because it’s all there is.
Once you leave this room, you are now in the merchandise room, where many Shinkai Makoto works are presented on postcards, there is an exhibition book and calendar which I purchased. And I believe the exhibition book which was about the artwork of Shinkai Makoto, was released in the US as an art book titled, “A Sky Longing for Memories: The Art of Makoto Shinkai”.
There is such an emotional connection that viewers have to Shinkai’s films. And why people love his films, they are simply well-made, visually stunning, well-animated and they really strike a chord within you.
While I was unable to show much from the exhibition due to the strict photo policy, as a Shinkai Makoto fan, attending this exhibition was so worth it!
