Crunchyroll will be hosting a special UK screening for Suzume on March 1, 2023 with the anime movie‘s celebrated filmmaker attending to take part in a Q&A. The screening will take place at BFI Southbank with the director, Makato Shinkai, in attendance. Suzume goes on general release in the UK and Ireland from April 14, 2023.
The plot synopsis for Suzume is as follows; “As the skies turn red and the earth trembles, Japan stands on the brink of disaster. But one determined teenager, Suzume, sets out on a mission to save her country. Able to see the supernatural forces that others can’t, it’s up to her to close the mysterious doors spreading chaos across the land. A perilous journey awaits as the fate of the country rests on her shoulders.”
Award-winning creator, writer and director Makoto Shinkai has been a visionary in the animation space for decades. His most recent films – the romance anime Your Name (2016) and Weathering With You (2019) – have catapulted him to a status as a leading animation auteur with international viewers – perhaps the first to rival Studio Ghibli‘s Hayao Miyazaki in terms of international recognition for anime movie directors.
Weathering With You was selected as Japan’s entry for the best international feature film category of the 2020 Oscars and nominated in four categories in the 47th annual Annie Awards including Best Animated Independent Feature. Suzume will screen in Competition in the 2023 Berlinale.
“At its core, Suzume is based on the massive disaster that occurred in Japan twelve years ago,” said Shinkai. “I’m eager to see how this film translates to international audiences: what makes sense, what doesn’t, and what common ground we have across cultures. The film’s imminent international release will hopefully give me the answer to those questions.”
The disaster that Shinkai is referring to is the 2011 Tohoku earthquake (the fourth most powerful earthquake to happen in the world since records began in 1900), the tsunami that followed, and the subsequent Fukushima nuclear disaster (of the same severity as Chernobyl).
“I cannot thank our team members enough for their unprecedented talent and perseverance throughout the film’s production. On behalf of the entire team, I would also like to give thanks to all the fans who have cheered us on, making Suzume possible.”
Check out our guides to the best anime series and the new anime releases of February 2023.