"I WANTED TO CREATE A CENTERPIECE OF ENTERTAINMENT THAT EVERYONE COULD ENJOY."
This is the mission statement of Director Makoto Shinkai, a rising star in anime who shot into another stratum in 2016. As of this writing, his latest film, Your Name, is the highest-grossing anime feature ever, having just usurped Spirited Away's number one spot, and it's the fourth highest-grossing film overall at Japan's box office. For a sense of how dramatic his jump to the blockbuster club is, Shinkai's last feature, the Garden of Words, opened in just 23 theaters. Now, he's deflecting suggestions from the press that he may be "the next Miyazaki."