Makoto Shinkai - the acclaimed director of The Place Promised In Our Early Days and Voices Of A Distant Star - returns to Japanese screens in May with his latest effort, Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below. Shinkai's signature style has always revolved around the fusion of simple, heartfelt emotional stories with science fiction and fantasy tinged settings and it would appear that approach is very much in effect with Children Who Chase Lost Voices, only moreso.
A sort of coming of age story involving young love and mysterious music coming from a crystal radio left as a memento by an absent father - music that leads the young heroine deep into a hidden world - this appears to be the largest scale Shinkai production yet, with a more expansive world, more action and more over fantasy than we have seen from him in the past. And yet it loses none of the intimacy that makes Shinkai so special.
We ran the first teaser for this a while back and now the full trailer has arrived. It is flat out gorgeous and you can see it below.