You’ve heard of Walt Disney, the visionary animator whose tales of princes and princesses (and bestiality) adorned our childhood with fond memories. You’ve heard of Miyazaki Hayao, whose limitless imagination gave us the catbus, makkuro kurosuke plushies, and a proper non-Spanish usage of the word “Laputa”. You’ve heard of them, but have you heard of Makoto Shinkai, whose film Beyond the Clouds is featured at this year’s event?

It’s no surprise that many people haven’t - after all, Shinkai has only been around a few years with only several works to his name, most notably Hoshi no Koe (Voices of a Distant Star), Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho (Beyond the Clouds - The Place Promised In Our Early Days), and Byosoku 5cm (5 Centimeters Per Second) - but each one of these productions has been nothing short of revolutionary. The extra tinge of green in the clouds superimposing an aquamarine sky, faint reflections caramelizing a plastic subway station seat, sapphire light flares sapping the warmth from a cold warehouse - Shinkai’s exquisite attention to detail is a visual feast of augmented reality that brings out the beauty of otherwise normal landscapes with his unique use of color, reflections, and light.

Shinkai’s embracing of CG technology is a defining marker of his - after winning a CG award in 2000 for “Kanojou to Kanojou no Neko” (She and Her Cat), he caught the eye of Mangazoo, which funded him for his first major production, Hoshi no Koe, which he made at home by himself on his Mac G4, the voices done by himself and his wife.

 
As the experiences of Hollywood special effects have taught us, movies can look amazing, but visuals are just a method of conveying the story - while Hoshi no Koe was a visual masterpiece, it was its endearing story of distance and longing that allows us to remember it fondly. There’s not much of a plot to speak of - a girl is separated from her boyfriend to go fight an alien threat. As her battles take her further and further from earth, their only method of communication - text messages - takes long and longer to transmit. It’s a simple yet unique concept that’s wonderfully executed, as is as much of a Shinkai trademark as his art style, and ultimately what gives his works such memorability and lasting appeal. The visuals are secondary (if that were possible) to the raw emotion that propels the story, something Shinkai carried over into Kumo no Mukou, his first feature-length film.

 
Beyond the Clouds is the movie that’s being screened that this year’s KRAZY! event, and I implore all who are attending to go check it out. There’s not much to say about the plot - two guys are building a plane to fly to a distant tower, and their friend Sayuri falls into some sort of inexplicable coma which has something to do with the tower - and while the plot does take a more definitive role here than it does with Hoshi no Koe, it still takes a back seat to the overwhelming sense of emotion, of the tireless sense of desperation that drives them to save her. Shinkai’s ability to tell a story through emotions is in full force here, and is visualized so brilliantly with an increased budget and a team to help him. It’s this marriage of old-school storytelling and new-school CG that really allows Beyond the Clouds to shine, making it a triumphant landmark in modern animation.

 
Shinkai’s latest work, Byousoku 5cm, is a collection of short stories centered around Takaki and his childhood friend Akari, and is mostly devoid of any science fiction aspects that were so prevalent in his prior work. Takaki and Akari share a quiet love, a complete comfort with each other - soulmates, in every sense of the word - but are never given the chance to continue because their parents are frequently moving. As time passes, their hearts drift apart, but Takaki has never quite been able to let go, and it saps his vitality from him and prevents him from allowing anybody else in. Never before have I seen an animated work that so succinctly captures true love in its purest sense, and together with the dazzling visuals that top even Beyond the Clouds, is an absolute beauty to experience.

I should also point out the lesser-mentioned aspects of Shinkai’s work - the music and voice acting - both of which are effortless in their performance and so perfectly fit with the rest of the movie. The music in all of Shinkai’s works are composed by Tenmon, and has a light and innocent yet expressive quality to it; the voice acting I find exceptional in particular because of their raw, realistic sound - the soft and quiet tone of their voices goes hand in hand with the themes Shinkai conveys.

If there was ever a reason to rebuke Hayao Miyazaki’s distaste for CG - Makoto Shikai would be it. Shinkai’s mastery of the visual arts, together with his immense storytelling ability is what has made him one of the most celebrated animators of our time. And to see the vast amount of improvement that he has made in less than ten years is an amazing sight to witness - one can’t help but wonder what kind of work we may see from him in the future. The next Hayao Miyazaki?

No, I think he’s capable of much, much more.