The long awaited character details of Shinkai’s upcoming film, Suzume No Tojimari, has been finally revealed on the official website. The characters, their profile, and their names are as follows:

Suzume Iwato

Suzume, the protagonist of the film is a 17 year old girl highschool student, who lives with her Aunt in a quite town Kyushu. She often has mysterious dreams in which her young self wanders in the vast ruins of a meadow.

Souta Munakata

The name of the young mysterious man with the long hair has been finally revealed. Souta Munakata is a young man who travels around Japan in search of doors that appear all over the country. On such a journey is when he encounters Suzume.

Daijin

Dajin is an adorable mysterious white cat that can speak human language. It appears at the place where the door opens and plays tricks on Suzume and her friends.

Yellow Chair

The yellow chair belonged to Suzume when she was a child. It is missing one leg. After a certain incident, the chair starts to move on three legs.

Shinkai had announced his movie, Suzume no Tojimari, in a press conference on Dec 15, 2021. It is set to release in theatres across Japan on Nov 11, 2022. The movie is also getting adapted into a novel, with Shinkai himself penning the work. The novel will release in Japan on Aug 24, 2022.

Crunchyroll also announced on May 19, 2022, that it will distribute Makoto Shinkai’s latest anime movie, Suzume no Tojimari, worldwide (excluding Asia) from early 2023.

The currently announced staff members for Suzume no Tojimari include:

• Character design: Masayoshi Tanaka
• Animation director: Kenichi Tsuchiya
• Art director: Takumi Tanji
• Studio: CoMix Wave Film
• Production producer: STORY inc.
• Distribution: Toho Animation

Shinkai is directing and writing the screenplay for the film. He’s also the author of the original story. The characters are designed by Masayoshi Tanaka. The animation director is Kenichi Tsuchiya. The art director is Takumi Tanji. The film is produced by CoMix Wave Films and Story Inc. The film will be distributed by TOHO.

Shinkai tweeted about the announcement, commenting that  Suzume no Tojimari is a “modern adventure story” with action elements of Suzume traveling across Japan. He said that “It should be a fun movie.”

The officially announced story of Suzume no Tojimari is described as:

Suzume is a 17-year-old, who lives in a quiet town in Kyushu. One day, she meets a traveling young man who is looking for a “door.” Suzume decides to follow him and discovers an old door in the ruins in the mountains. As if drawn by something, Suzume reaches out for the door… What follows is Suzume’s liberation and growth as she closes the “doors” that cause misfortune in abandoned places around Japan.

Source: Suzume No Tojimari Official Website