Makoto Shinkai revealed the source ofSuzume no Tojimari‘s inspiration after the box office triumph of his most recent masterpiece at the BFI Southbank Q&A session, which was held on March 1, 2023. Even though he acknowledged Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli as his inspirations, he voiced irritation at being referred to as “the next Miyazaki.”
He discussed all of this in interviews, while digging into his own past and Japanese roots. There, Shinkai discussed the origins of Japanese culture, his own life, and the cultural influences that have shaped his professional approach. The well-known director also made fun of the movie’s multiple Easter eggs that honoured his hero.
Makoto Shinkai credits Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli behind the success of his filmography, especially Suzume
The fact that Ghibli had a great impact on Suzume will hardly come as a surprise to fans, especially since Shinkai and Miyazaki are commonly regarded as two of the greatest anime filmmakers both inside Japan and beyond. Their names are often spoken of in the same breath, and Shinkai’s films even pay homage to Miyazaki’s filmography.
Opening up about his work, Shinkai said that the effect of Miyazaki is not unique to Suzume itself:
“A large part of why I became an animation director is because of what Studio Ghibli has achieved over the years.”
He added that whether conscious or subconscious, the studio had a great impact on his work. He pointed towards how, while Suzume is travelling in the car, there’s a cleverly concealed Easter egg to a Ghibli form in the form of a song. This music happened to be the same theme song that the titular character had listened to during the opening of Kiki’s Delivery Service.
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Moreover, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake is a particularly challenging subject that the people in the film are dealing with. It happened in real life as well as in Suzume‘s universe. By including these Easter eggs in the narrative, the director hoped to virtually extend the audience’s own reality into Suzume’s universe.
In his opinion, the majority of Japanese people, if not all of them, and small children in particular, have watched Ghibli films. Therefore, they would have viewed Kiki’s Delivery Service in the same manner as Suzume did in the movie. Suzume’s world is considerably more relatable and lot closer to our own reality when it is said that Ghibli exists there.
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According to Shinkai, the boy-meets-girl cliché used in the film served not as a vehicle for a conventional romance but rather as a way to examine the anguish connected with a world on the brink of catastrophe, as represented by the Great Earthquake. As per the filmmaker, Suzume’s aunt was the character he identified with the most because of how these imaginary characters’ relationships made him miss his 12-year-old daughter.
The film’s stunning animation, compelling plot, and funny moments interspersed throughout to lighten the sombre and frequently realistic tones are all to thank for its success on a global scale. Do you think Shinkai deserves the title ‘next Miyazaki’? Have you found any other Easter Eggs that we might have missed? Let us know in the comments!
