Makoto Shinkai’s ‘Suzume’ Returns to Theaters in North America Today

On the other side of the door, was time in its entirety— Suzume 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.

© 2022 Suzume Film Partners

Makoto Shinkai is not a stranger to anime fans. While Shinkai has been involved in the animation space for decades, he is a creative who has also worked as a writer, producer, animator, editor, cinematographer, voice actor, manga artist and former graphic designer. His more recent films, Your Name (2016) and Weathering With You (2019), both of which have catapulted him as a leading animation filmmaker from Japan with international viewers. His films usually include the weather as a very prominent element in the storytelling as well as exploring issues of communications and the joys and burdens of young people, sometimes distanced from who and w…