The famous anime maestro who helmed ground breaking Voices of Distant Star alone interviewed in this article. He is hailed as new Miyazaki which I beg to differ. Miyazaki is very generalist anime director whereas Shinkai is very intimate and personal director. Miyazaki paint his work on big, big very public canvas with themes of pacifism and enviromental issues, Shinkai is more to personal feelings of loss, regret, love and nostalgia. He is more Pollock Jackson than Van Gogh in a way.
Shinkai seems to me though, obsessed with sky pans. I do wonder why.
Full interview here
Some sort of summary from Makoto Shinkai fan site here
Here is some select lines that interest me a lot.
Interviewer: Cats are recurring characters in your movies. Why?
Shinkai-san: During The Place[...] I had found a new-born kitten that I decided to take care of. Also, when I was young my family had a cat and during the movie, I have found 4 cats that I decided to keep. I live in Shinjuku and there are a lot of abandoned cats. Feeding the cats has helped the team to relax.
Interviewer: There are two recurring themes in your movies which are loosing touch and communication. Why?
Shinkai-san: I did not plan it as recurring, but yes indeed, it is. At the time of Voices[...] I had a girlfriend. In Japan, SMS had started but not much, nothing compared to now. When I was sending an SMS to her and she was not replying, I was worried and so times even jalous. We were living in the same city but sometimes it was feeling as a huge distance, as if we were around different stars.
Enjoy.
