For the first time in 22 years (since Hayao Miyazaki’s “Princess Mononoke”), Japan has entered his anime as its International Film Oscar entry, while GKids has qualified it for Best Animated Feature. Now, with “Weathering With You” (another runaway hit in Japan), in which teen runaway Hodaka falls for orphan Hina, the Sunshine Girl, who possesses the power to make the perpetual rain stop falling on Tokyo, Shinkai has a double-dose of Academy Awards buzz. Abrams is even producing a live-action remake (scripted by “Arrival’s” Eric Heisserer). With 2016’s “Your Name,” Shinkai’s body-swapping anime breakthrough, he tapped into a special teen rite of passage/romance (smashing a box office record with nearly $358 million worldwide). Shinkai received a standing ovation from fans and aspiring animators alike, revealing why he’s taken animation by storm. When Japanese director Makoto Shinkai strode Friday night into the TCL Chinese 6 Theater in Hollywood after the Animation Is Film Festival’s screening of “ Weathering With You,” his follow-up to the phenomenal “Your Name,” he was treated like an animation rock star.
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