Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume No Tojimari movie collaborated with KDDI’s mobile brand au and released a new commercial.

The collaboration took place due to au’s “Traveling with Suzume in Japan” project which aims to engage in regional co-creation with local partners.

In the movie also, the protagonist, Suzume, travels around Japan to finish the mission and her dialogues in the commercial also translate to “Toward an interesting future together with local communities,” “No matter where you are in Japan, May there will be no more disconnections.”

There was also a message from Makoto Shinkai himself:

We live our daily lives repeating “Ittekimasu” and “Itterasshai” countless times. How precious are these ordinary days. How miraculous it is to be able to say “Okaerinasai” every day. KDDI-san gave me the opportunity to think about these things and express them. I am very happy to be able to show this commercial in many people’s everyday lives that they take for granted.

The official website of Suzume No Tojimari dropped a new trailer and additional cast details for the film on Sep 29, 2022. Voice of Suzume, Souta and Dajin, as well as the interaction between them have been revealed in the video.

The website also unveiled a poster visual for the film.

Newly announced cast includes:

• Eri Fukatsu as Tamaki Iwato, Suzume’s aunt
• Matsumoto Hakuō II as Hitsujirō Munakata, Sota’s grandfather
• Shōta Sometani as Minoru Okabe, Tamaki’s colleague
• Sairi Itō as Rumi Ninomiya, Single mother raising twins, who Suzume encounters in Kobe
• Kotone Hanase as Chika Amabe, a lively girl of the same age as Suzume, whom she meets in Ehime
• Kana Hanazawa as Tsubame Iwato, Suzume’s mother

It was previously revealed that Nanoha Hara will voice Suzume and Hokuto Matsumura will voice Souta Munakata.

RADWIMPS and Kazuma Jinnouchi will be in charge of composing the music for the upcoming film, with Tik tok famed Toaka performing the theme song, “Suzume”.

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.”

Suzume No Tojimari is set to release in theatres across Japan on Nov 11, 2022. The movie also got adapted into a novel, with Shinkai himself penning the work. The novel released in Japan on Aug 24, 2022.

A manga adaptation for the film will be published in the December issue of the Monthly Afternoon magazine, which will release on Oct 25, 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 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: Crunchyroll