Shinkai Makoto Returns With YOUR NAME

While Hosoda Mamoru has pretty resoundingly answered the question of who will take up the mantle of Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki Hayao as the world's leading purveyor of smart, emotional resonant animation - hint: it's him - there was a time not so long ago when a great many people thought the answer to that question may very well prove to be Shinkai Makoto.

The director of Voices Of A Distant Star and 5cm Per Second, Shinkai's great strength is his ability to deliver heartfelt emotional tales that capture the transition out of youth. They're not coming of age tales, per se, because Shinkai typically spares very little thought for what his creations are transitioning to, instead focusing on the bittersweet taste of leaving youth itself behind.

And Shinkai returns to the big screen in 2016 with his latest effort, Your Name. The Anime News Network sums up the story this way:

Mitsuha is a female high school student who lives in a rural town nestled deep in the mountains. Her father is the mayor and isn't at home much, and she lives with her elementary school-aged little sister and her grandmother. Mitsuha has an honest personality, but she doesn't like the customs of her family's Shinto shrine, nor does she like her father participating in an election campaign. She laments that she lives in a confined rural town, and yearns for the wonderful lifestyle of living in Tokyo. Taki is a male high school student who lives in central Tokyo. He spends time with his friends, works part-time at an Italian restaurant, and is interested in architecture and fine arts. One day, Mitsuha has a dream where she is a young man. Taki also has a dream where he is a female high school student in a town in the mountains that he has never been to. What is the secret to their dreams of personal experience?

The first teaser for this one is freshly arrived. Take a look below.