"Your Name" was scheduled for release on May 1st. In fact, the production of this animated film had already been completed by mid-March. After its completion, it even participated in an animation film festival held overseas at the end of March.
It wasn't an early theatrical release abroad, but rather a screening at the animation film festival. Any attendee of that festival could watch the finished version of "Your Name" in advance.
The screenings of "Your Name" at that festival were almost sold out, receiving rave reviews, and it even won an award for Best Animated Film.
Naturally, the relevant news was reported back to Japan by some animation-related media, which further boosted the audience's confidence in "Your Name" and increased the hype surrounding the film.
"Attack on Titan," which began airing in early April, became an instant hit, making the production company, L.S.Produ, famous as well. This served as an additional boost to the hype for "Your Name."
Of course, what truly pushed the popularity to its peak was the overwhelming promotional campaign that began in late April.
To coordinate with the promotion, L.S.Produ released a new poster for "Your Name," featuring a key visual drawn by Lin Zhiyan himself, accompanied by relevant text.
Promotional posters were displayed all across Japan: at cinema entrances and inside theaters, at train stations, on trains, on large street screens, and in every possible location where promotional posters could be placed.
This was only the offline promotion; a significant amount of money was also spent on online promotion. Platforms such as N Station, YouTube, 2channel, and Twitter all featured advertisements for this anime.
Furthermore, not only were the promotional posters updated, but the promotional PVs were also refreshed. Building on the previous two, a third PV was released, revealing more information about the content.
Radio program promotion was, of course, essential, but even more effective was having the voice actors appear on variety shows for publicity. Since both the male and female leads were popular actors, this generated a relatively high level of buzz.
As the director of the animation and the person who took on various roles, Lin Zhiyan did not immediately consider a new animation project after completing "Your Name," but he was not idle either.
While the animation was being promoted with great enthusiasm, he accepted interviews from numerous animation-related media outlets and even appeared on television to personally advertise the film "Your Name."
"President Lin, congratulations. Your company's new anime 'Attack on Titan' has become a massive hit, further cementing the audience's recognition of your company's production prowess. Your new anime is also about to be released nationwide, and I'm sure it will achieve great success, as always," Fukuda Miyuki remarked with a touch of flattery.
As an anime media personality who had interviewed Lin Zhiyan many times before, she naturally wouldn't pass up this opportunity. Although Lin Zhiyan felt that Fukuda Miyuki was occasionally a bit "chuunibyou," she at least didn't talk nonsense and maintained a relatively friendly attitude. Additionally, the anime magazine Fukuda Miyuki represented had quite strong sales, so he didn't refuse, leading to this interview.
Hearing Fukuda Miyuki's words, Lin Zhiyan politely said, "Thank you."
The interview officially began.
Fukuda Miyuki first asked about the source of inspiration for "Your Name."
Lin Zhiyan certainly couldn't say it was inspired by "Cross Road," like Makoto Shinkai from another timeline, so he said:
"Those who know me well are aware that I usually switch genres for each new anime I work on. After finishing Shirobako, I thought for a long time about what my next project should be. I even sought advice from people around me before finally deciding on a romance anime. It's a classic genre, and truthfully, I had never done a show that was primarily a romance.
However, just an ordinary love story might appeal to some, but it wouldn't be interesting enough to gain widespread popularity. So, I racked my brain trying to figure out how to craft a truly engaging romance. To that end, I specifically pored over some works of literature.
In the Kokin Wakashū, there is a waka poem by Ono no Komachi: 'I fell asleep thinking of him, and he appeared to me. If I had known it was a dream, I would not have awakened. Even if we meet often in dreams, how can it compare to seeing each other for real?' And Torikaebaya Monogatari features the premise of 'a boy raised as a girl and a girl raised as a boy.'
I found these ideas intriguing and decided to build an anime around them. But I felt that alone wasn't quite interesting enough, so I referenced a few other works as well. I went through many revisions while writing the script, eventually shaping it into what is now Your Name."
"Cross Road" hadn't even been released yet, and besides, it wasn't Lin Zhiyan's work, so of course he couldn't mention that, but he could still mention other sources of inspiration.
For the most part, Lin Zhiyan stated the sources of inspiration exactly as they were in the original version.
Opposite him, Fukuda Miyuki listened intently, taking notes on important information and nodding from time to time.
After Lin Zhiyan finished speaking, she proceeded to the next question: "For this new animation, you invited Director Makoto Shinkai to cooperate in the production. Is there any special reason for this?"
"Well..."
Lin Zhiyan thought for a moment and replied: "After all, we worked together on '5 Centimeters Per Second' back in '06, and '5 Centimeters Per Second' could barely be considered a romance-themed animation, it's just that it tells the story of a first love that didn't have a happy ending. Although I have extensive experience with TV animation, I have never had experience with an original romance-themed animated film..."
He paused, then continued: "Since I had decided to make a romance-themed animated film, I naturally thought of inviting him to help out right away. However, his main task was to help oversee things, helping to determine the art style and the like; he wasn't deeply involved in the production of this animation."
"I see," Fukuda Miyuki said, looking as if she understood.
Soon she added, "As this is your first full-length original animated film, you must have poured a lot of heart and soul into it. What kind of results are you hoping for with this film?"
As for expected results, he naturally hoped to surpass the box office of "Your Name" from the other timeline. However, since Hayao Miyazaki's "The Wind Rises" would be released in late July, it was an expectation that would likely not be met.
Lin Zhiyan couldn't even say he expected to surpass ten billion yen, because at that time, no animated film other than Hayao Miyazaki's had ever exceeded ten billion yen at the box office. If he said that, he would only be considered too arrogant.
Even in front of Makoto Shinkai, he still had to use a joking tone; in front of the media, it was better not to say anything at all.
After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Before this animation began production, I set a small goal for myself: to take the box office championship for the year. Although it will be very difficult, I hope it can be achieved."
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