Suzume no Tojimari Movie 2022: Makoto Shinkai’s Latest Animation Film

Suzume no Tojimari, also known as Suzume, is the latest animation film directed by Makoto Shinkai. The movie tells the story of a schoolgirl and a mysterious boy who team up to prevent a disaster in Japan.

The plot begins with Suzume Iwato, who lives in a small coastal town in Kyushu, dreaming that her mother gave her a broken chair in a magical world. One day, she meets a young man who tells her about a search for an abandoned place in the area. He mentions an old onsen resort to Suzume.

Suzume then discovers an old door standing tall amidst the ruins, seemingly protected from any disaster that could happen and destroying its surroundings. Suzume is fascinated by the door and, as if drawn towards it, reaches for the doorknob.

The door begins to open one by one throughout Japan, causing destruction to anyone near it. This leads Suzume to close the portal to prevent a disaster. She later finds out that the door opened a world in her dream.

According to Makoto Shinkai, the entire story is inspired by haikyo, abandoned places due to a decline in population, while creating Suzume. “I wanted to make an adventure story, so I wondered where I could set it in Japan right now,” said Makoto Shinkai to Variety on Sunday (19/2).

“I put it in haikyo (ruins), places abandoned due to a decrease in population,” he continued. Shinkai believes that haikyo cannot be avoided as Japan’s population is declining rapidly. This, he said, has an impact on Japan’s economy, which is gradually declining.

Therefore, he wants to express his concerns through the film, although he realizes that the movie will not change the situation. “I want to depict that feeling in the movie, even though I think the task of animation is not to stop the decline in population or restore ruins,” said Shinkai.

Suzume is Makoto Shinkai’s latest animation film in almost three years after releasing Weathering with You (Tenki no Ko) in 2019. Shinkai directed and wrote the latest animation film.

Hokuto Matsumura and Nanoka Hara were chosen to play the two main characters of Makoto Shinkai’s latest anime film as Souta Munakata and Suzume Iwato. In addition, Eri Fukatsu, Shota Sometani, Kana Hanazawa, Sairi Ito, Kotone Hanase, and Matsumoto Koshiro IX also voiced the film’s characters.