Suzume Passes Weathering With You to be 8th Highest-Grossing Anime Film in Japan
Makoto Shinkai is already having a great day with Suzume entering the anime worldwide top 10 at ninth place, but in the anime film’s home country of Japan, Suzume has also moved up the box office all-time charts, passing Shinkai’s previous anime film Weathering With You.
As of March 26, Suzume has made 14.31 billion yen (US$107.06 million) in Japan, making it now the eighth highest-grossing anime film of all time in Japan and the 14th-highest-grossing film released in the country, passing Weathering With You’s 14.23 billion yen from back in 2019 over the last week.
Suzume has a large hill to climb to now pass the next film on both lists—Hayao Miyazaki’s 2008 anime film Ponyo at 15.50 billion yen—such that unless there is a major push in Japan, this is where the film will sit.
Suzume is directed by Makoto Shinkai, who also penned the screenplay for the film alongside Masayoshi Tanaka as the character designer, Kenichi Tsuchiya as the animation director and Takumi Tanji as the art director with animation production at CoMix Wave Films.
Suzume was released in Japan on November 11 with Crunchyroll teaming up with Sony Pictures and Wild Bunch International to bring the feature to global audiences outside of Asia starting April 12, 2023.
Synopsis:
On the other side of the door, was time in its entirety—
“Suzume no Tojimari” is a coming-of-age story for the 17-year-old protagonist, Suzume, set in various disaster-stricken locations across Japan, where she must close the doors causing devastation.
Suzume’s journey begins in a quiet town in Kyushu (located in southwestern Japan) when she encounters a young man who tells her, “I’m looking for a door.” What Suzume finds is a single weathered door standing upright in the midst of ruins as though it was shielded from whatever catastrophe struck. Seemingly drawn by its power, Suzume reaches for the knob… Doors begin to open one after another all across Japan, unleashing destruction upon any who are near. Suzume must close these portals to prevent further disaster.
—The stars, then sunset, and the morning sky.
Within that realm, it was as though all time had melted together in the sky…
Never-before-seen scenery, encounters and farewells… A myriad of challenges await her on her journey. Despite all the obstacles in her way, Suzume’s adventure shines a ray of hope upon our own struggles against the toughest roads of anxiety and constraints that make up everyday life. This story of closing doors that connect our past to the present and future will leave a lasting impression upon all of our hearts.
Drawn in by these mysterious doors, Suzume’s journey is about to begin.
Source: Kogyo Tsushin
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Daryl Harding is a Senior Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.
