Every Makoto Shinkai Movie, Ranked (According To IMDb)

Anime director Makoto Shinkai has had an interesting career, to say the least. His work in the industry began with some impressive, almost entirely self-produced animated shorts. These passion projects are commendable on their own, but they become even more significant when viewed within the context of the director’s later work.

It’s inspiring to see that from self-started beginnings, Shinkai went on to direct some of the greatest anime films of all time, specifically Your Name. The huge distinction in production between his early and late works is important, as are the thematic links between both periods in his career. As such, context is important to each of Shinkai’s films, because even those that aren’t well-remembered have tangible and important relationships with those that are.

7 The Place Promised In Our Early Days (7.0)

The Place Promised In Our Early Days is Shinkai’s first feature-length film. Set in an alternate history version of Japan with a number of fantasy and sci-fi twists, three students work together to build an aircraft that they plan to use to visit a mysterious tower on the other side of an uncrossable border. With lofty romance and an abundance of supernatural twists, audiences can begin to see the elements that would become common in Shinkai’s later works starting to take shape here.

Being an earlier work, it isn’t quite as effective as some of its successors. The animation is notably more rough than the slick, high-budget work one can see in something like Your Name, and the backgrounds and art direction aren’t quite as arresting as those in 5 Centimeters Per Second. Although it’s interesting as an early work in Shinkai’s filmography, it does feel somewhat underdeveloped compared to some of his more successful films.

6 Voices Of A Distant Star (7.2)

Voices of a Distant Star is usually referred to as Shinkai’s first major anime, given that he had only worked on very short projects before it. Although Voices of a Distant Star is itself a short anime, coming in at only 25 minutes, the project is on a totally different level of production compared to Shinkai’s prior work.

Present here are Shinkai’s typical pet themes of lovers separated by seemingly insurmountable distances, this time with one of our love interests off fighting aliens in an interstellar war, with her messages taking longer and longer to reach her partner as she gets further from Earth. Setting narrative aside, this film is interesting in that it was largely self-produced by Shinkai. Writing, direction, animation, and even voice acting were all carried out by him, making this an impressive passion project in the director’s early career. Being an independently produced work, it lacks the polish of some later films, but it’s very interesting as the starting point in Shinkai’s filmography.

5 Children Who Chase Lost Voices (7.2)

Children Who Chase Lost Voices is one of Shinkai’s most overtly fantastical films. Although much of his work deals with supernatural elements, such as those present in Your Name and Weathering With You, the surreal flair is usually moderated with an urban realism that grounds the setting. That element is missing from Children Who Chase Lost Voices, giving it the air of a fantasy coming-of-age story, the likes of which might be found in a Studio Ghibli movie, especially those from Hayao Miyazaki.

Indeed, the Ghibli comparison has been made frequently by critics discussing Children Who ChaseLost Voices, and usually not to the film’s credit. Critics and fans likening Shinkai’s films to Miyazaki’s would become even more frequent with the release of Your Name, but at the end of the day, nobody can do Miyazaki better than Miyazaki can. The notable similarities between this film and the Ghibli classic Laputa: Castle In The Sky have made it one of the less well-remembered entries in Shinkai’s filmography.

4 Weathering With You (7.5)

Weathering With You is Shinkai’s most recent film, and a spiritual successor of sorts to the 2016 mega-hit Your Name. Comparisons between the two films are frequent, largely on account of their similar aesthetics, themes, and optimistic tones. Perhaps because of their similarity, Weathering With You didn’t enjoy the same degree of critical and commercial success as its predecessor did. Despite being successful and well-liked in its own right, following up the phenomenon that was Your Name was inevitably going to be a challenge.

That aside, Weathering With You is still an excellent film, as well as one that has some important advantages over its predecessor that have led some to consider Weathering With You a better movie than Your Name. Comparisons are inevitable, of course, and while Weathering might not have the sweeping drama and exciting twists that its predecessor delivers, it does offer a more intimate, and occasionally more effective, portrait of its main characters.

3 The Garden Of Words (7.5)

The Garden of Words is a short love story situated between 5 Centimeters Per Second and Your Name. Its shorter runtime doesn’t allow it to have quite the dramatic ambition that some other fan-favorites do, but the anime’s availability on Netflix has given it more exposure than it probably would have received otherwise. It works nicely despite being a smaller-scale story, and the two main characters who grow closer across chance meetings feel well-realized and heartfelt.

It should go without saying but the artwork and animation in The Garden of Words are, once again, nothing short of jaw-dropping. The audience only gets to see a handful of locations thanks to the short runtime, but each is rendered with such beauty and detail that the film commands an impressive sense of setting. The character drama is detailed here as well, which is refreshing since some of Shinkai’s other films have a tendency to paint the characters in fairly broad strokes.

2 5 Centimeters Per Second (7.6)

For most people, 5 Centimeters Per Second is the movie that put Shinkai on the radar of the world’s anime fans. Clearly the product of a more experienced filmmaker, 5 Centimeters Per Second is far more competent and confidently produced than the director’s previous works. Shinkai’s trademark background art gets to truly shine for the first time, character designs and animation are more polished, and the familiar thematic beats and longing, separated lovers are covered with more grace and thematic nuance than they had been before.

In a way, The Place Promised In Our Early days and Voices of a Distant Star feel like stepping stones towards 5 Centimeters Per Second. This is the movie Shinkai had been striving to make for much of his early career, and it remains one of his most resonant and internationally recognized works. Furthermore, this is still one of his best-looking movies. The moodier color choices and atmospheric settings instantly set it apart from the more energetic, brightly colored Your Name, which is suitable for the movie’s lonely, melancholic tone.

1 Your Name (8.4)

2016’s Your Name became a worldwide phenomenon. Winning nearly universal critical acclaim, the movie dominated the Japanese box office, rapidly rising to become one of the best-performing anime films in the history of Japanese cinema. Its international success was remarkable as well, with English-speaking critics showering Shinkai with praise, suggesting that Your Name was the work of the “next Miyazaki”.

Although Shinkai’s previous works had been fairly well-received, Your Name was on an entirely different level. The film’s success earned him international interest, ensuring that fans and critics alike would be paying close attention to whatever he would work on next. It’s not hard to see why the film was so successful, either. Exceptionally well-executed emotional beats, a twist that keeps the plot moving ahead at a brisk pace, and arresting visuals and music make Your Name probably the most purely entertaining entry in Shinkai’s filmography.

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