Suzume was originally planned to be a “romantic story about sisterhood”.
Kodoani.com – If you watched Suzume and was struck by how the male lead spends a large portion of the movie making chairs while the heroine hangs out with other female characters, it turns out there’s a reason behind it. In an interview with Looper, director Makoto Shinkai explained that he wanted to downplay romance, so Sōta turned into a chair.
In fact, Shinkai pointed out that he was tired of making male and female films in general. “I feel it on your behalf. , I [đã làm] everything is possible in terms of ‘boys and girls’ and ‘they’re going to meet, aren’t they, they’re going to meet,'” he said. “At first, I wanted to turn this story into a journey movie. show Suzume and another girl.” He added that he wanted to “turn to a more sisterly romance”, but his producer said he should stick with a romance story. romance is more in line with his previous work because even when Shinkai got sick of it, his audience loved it.
On the other hand, Shinkai says he’s not too concerned with LGBTQ commentary but more interested in telling a human story with universal themes. He said that the story of Suzume would be like that if the female lead was male or even non-binary. “It’s not necessarily a male/female setting; it’s about a human overcoming something.”
Looper also reported (based on a tweet by freelance journalist Mihoko Aoyagi last April) that Shinkai told members of the Japanese press last year that a producer thought it was “too early.” for an excursion movie about two girls.
The film opened at No. 1 in Japan on November 11. The film earned around US$5 million at the US box office in its opening weekend, where the film opened on the 14th. April.