Makoto Shinkai's Suzume no Tojimari changes history in the Indian Anime Community

Makoto Shinkai's Suzume no Tojimari broke records worldwide and quickly took its place amongst the top highest-grossing anime films of all time. Of particular significance was the film's popularity among Indian otakus, with people flocking to the theaters to enjoy it on the big screen.

The film's popularity was accentuated by the fact that Makoto Shinkai, the director himself, had arrived in India earlier in April to promote his new film. Ahead of the premiere, the director attended a press conference and a Q&A session. As such, the film has and will continue to change the history of the Indian anime and manga community.

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Suzume no Tojimari makes history as fans flock to theatres across various Indian cities

Guwahati in Northeast India recently witnessed a historic event on April 21, 2023, when Suzume No Tojimari was screened for the first time in Assam. The screening, which was free of cost, took place at Cinepolis Cinema Hall, where about 250 anime fans gathered to watch the film.

Besides that, the film witnessed a large turnout in all the major metropolises. Japanese Film Festival India asked Denki Amashima, the mangaka of the Suzume manga, to offer a workshop and lecture at Rachana Sansad College as part of the Suzume no Tojimari movie's India premiere. The college students responded enthusiastically to the interactive session.

On Friday, April 21, the movie had its Hindi and Japanese premieres in Indian theatres with English subtitles. On April 9, PVR Cinemas held early preview screenings of the movie in Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Gurgaon, and Noida. On April 16, it held a second round of advance screenings for fans in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, and Kolkata.

In its first weekend in India, SUZUME by Makoto Shinkai made a gross collection of 3.79 crores and a net collection of 3.05 crores. Fans went on to relate their experiences of witnessing the love story of a boy and girl set in a magically realistic world on screen. One of them spoke of the first-time experience of watching anime in theatres:

Fans are grateful for bringing this Suzume no Tojimari film to India. Over the last 10 years, anime has enjoyed a surge of popularity in the country, with films like Demon Slayer and Your Name scoring highly at the box office.

Some fans are expressing their love for this narrative but claim the same is not surprising as it is characteristic of a Makoto Shinkai masterpiece.

The popularity of the Suzume no Tojimari film has even led to a Hindi dub with the following cast members:

1. Suzume is portrayed by Dipinti Anil Bhobaskar and Palvi Shetye.
2. Tamaki is played by Surbhi Srivastva
3. Souta is played by Rajesh Shukla
4. Daijin is played by Pauravi Pandya
5. Minoru is played by Shubham Mullick
6. Chika is played by Ayushi
7. Rumi is played by Sanwari Ajnik
8. Serizawa is played by Sparsh Korde
9. Munakata played by Mahendra Bhatnagar

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Makoto Shinkai's arrival

On April 19, a press conference for Makoto Shinkai's Suzume no Tojimari was held in Mumbai, where the Joint Managing Director of PVR Ltd., Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, moderated the event. Divishth Pancholi, who founded the original petition to bring Tenki No Ko to India, tweeted:

Shinkai, in turn, praised Indian cinema and performance at the Oscars, stating:

"One day I want to make a film like RRR, watching it was a very unique experience and I loved it. I want to make films that will make Japanese viewers become Indian viewers, and where they will be able to come with friends and cheer out loud for the movie."

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Suzume no Tojimari centers on Suzume Iwato and Souta Munakata, two high school students who work together to avert a string of tragedies across Japan inspired by a famous earthquake in the country.