Makoto Shinkai has been hailed previously as the “next Miyazaki”, and he seems determined to claim the title with his newest offering, Children Who Chase Lost Voices Deep Below. Some of the design choices and colour palette are very reminiscient of Tales from Earthsea, Nausicaa, or other Ghibli films. While his previous works have been absolutely ground-breaking in terms of visuals (Place Promised and 5cm per second were both absolutely stunning at the time of their release, and still are), I get the sense that the visual standard, as it were, has only increased with the last few years. Here’s hoping Shinkai has something interesting up his sleeve – the release is set for this May, but a DVD/BD release may still be a while away.
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May 4, 2011 at 6:49 am
Gorgeous, and definitely the designs evoke Miyazaki’s. I don’t know if I want to see Miyazaki’s designs in any other director’s work but it’s not like I’d mind this anyway.
However, there are a lot of character designers’ work I’d like to see in a Shinkai flick. Here’s two:
1. Mikimoto Haruhiko. Goddamn I wanna see a Minmay-looking character under those skies.
2. Sadamoto Yoshiyuki.
May 5, 2011 at 8:34 am
I haven’t seen ‘Place Promised’, but I loved ’5cm’. Granted, part of the appeal was definitely the jaw-dropping, lavish visuals, but even the most aesthetically pleasing show would bore the hell out of me if the story/characters didn’t work. One thing I like about his style is that he seems to favour quiet, understated moments and wistfulness, and the depiction of love is never cloying.
I’ll make sure to check out ‘Place Promised’ at some point.
May 7, 2011 at 9:25 pm
I’m very blown away by the visuals from the trailer. It’s so gorgeous. The details, the colors, the shading, the animation… Lovely~
Definitely going to check this out.