“Weathering With You” — Director Makoto Shinkai’s latest masterpiece, has been chosen as Japan’s entry for the best international feature film category at the 2020 Oscars. The film is the second animated feature put forward by Japan since Hayao Miyazaki’s “Princess Mononoke” in 1998.

Encore Films is organising the “Weathering With You” Singapore Premiere on Fri 6 Sept, 7.30pm at Capitol Theatre. Fans can get the chance to watch the movie before it opens on 12 Sept, and redeem exclusive movie premiums, i.e. transparent umbrella, notebook as seen in movie; A2 movie poster and invite card. Book tickets now via http://www.tiny.cc/zenubz!

Weathering with You: Synopsis

Three years after Your Name, Makoto Shinkai returns with his latest film, Weathering With You.

When small-town high schooler Hodaka Morishima makes a go at living on his own in Tokyo for the first time, it isn’t long before he finds steady work writing for a local magazine focused on all things strange and supernatural — but the most interesting thing happening in the boy’s life is the unusual weather. Rain’s common enough in the city that at first, no one makes much of the recent torrential showers that never seem to end, but unbeknownst to nearly everyone, a young girl named Hina Amano who has the ability to control the weather walks among them.

About Director Makoto Shinkai

Best known for directing Your Name, Makoto Shinkai was listed by Variety as one of 10 animators to watch in 2016.

Shinkai studied Japanese literature at Chuo University, where he was a member of juvenile literature club and drew picture books. After graduating from Chuo University in 1994, he got a job at Falcom, a video game company where he worked for 5 years making video clips for games and graphic design including web content. During this time he met musician Tenmon, who later scored many of his movies.

In June 2000, Shinkai was inspired to begin Voices of a Distant Star by drawing a picture of a girl in a cockpit grasping a cell phone. Sometime later, he was contacted by Manga Zoo, which offered to work with him, giving him a grant to turn his idea into an anime they could sell. In May 2001, he quit his job at Falcom and began to work on Voices.

Voices of a Distant Star was followed by the 90-minute The Place Promised in Our Early Days, which was critically acclaimed and won many honours.

In August 26, 2016, Shinkai released Your Name. The film received critical acclaim, was praised for its animation and emotional impact, and was also a commercial success, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time in Japan, and, as of January 16, 2017, the highest-grossing anime film of all time, overtaking Miyazaki’s Spirited Away.

About the Cast

Kotaro Daigo as Hodaka Morishima

After retiring from the junior high school soccer club, he applied to A-Light and became an actor. In the audition for Weathering With You, he was chosen from among 2,000 people to become the protagonist.

Nana Mori as Hina Amano

During her summer vacation in 2016, Nana was discovered by talent scouts while having dinner with her family. Shortly after, she was selected to audition for Nescafe’s web commercial. In 2018, her performance as a student recovering from bullying after a suicide attempt in NHK series School Lawyer was well-received. She was selected to play the role of Hina from more than 2,000 participants in the audition for Weathering With You. 

Yûki Kaji as Takai

Yûki has voiced many notable roles such as Eren Yeager in Attack on Titan and Todoroki Shōto in My Hero Academia. He is the first voice actor in Japan to win the Best Voice Actor Award two years consecutively in the 7th Seiyu Awards and 8th Seiyu Awards in 2013 and 2014.

Shun Oguri as Keisuke Suga

Shun started in small roles as extra in the works in which his father and brother worked. He began his official acting career at the age of 13 in the TV drama Hachidai Shogun Yoshimune (1995). With over 100 credits to his name, Oguri has an extensive Japanese filmography, which includes Lupin the 3rd, Crows Zero and Gintama.

Tsubasa Honda as Natsumi

In mid-2006, Honda entered the entertainment industry after being scouted by seven different people on the same day. She then debuted as an exclusive model for the magazine Seventeen in the same year. In November 2012, she made her film debut by starring in the film Fashion Story: Model. In The Rakugo Movie (2012), she played a girl who wants to be an author of novels. The film successfully and historically got ranked as the #1 bestseller DVD Movie in Japan by Oricon Inc.

Chieko Baisho as Tomi

Chieko is well known for her performance as Sakura in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series from 1969 until 1995. She has had a career as a singer since her debut with the song “Shitamachi no Taiyō” in 1962. She sometimes performs as a voice actress, such as the role of Sophie in Howl’s Moving Castle. She won the award for best actress at the 5th Hochi Film Award for A Distant Cry from Spring.

Weathering with You
天气之子

Rating: TBA
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English and Chinese
SG Release Date: 12 September 2019
Running Time: TBA
Voice Actors: Kotaro Daigo, Nana Mori, Yûki Kaji, Shun Oguri, Tsubasa Honda, Chieko Baishô, Sei Hiraizumi, Sakura Kiryu
Directed by: Makoto Shinkai
Screenplay by: Makoto Shinkai
Produced by: Kôichirô Itô, Noritaka Kawaguchi, Genki Kawamura