Heat Seeker - Shinkai Trailer Causes Whiplash

SHINKAI TRAILER CAUSES WHIPLASH

It happened two months ago.  It was past midnight and I was peacefully surfing on my laptop when I came upon a 30 second Youtube video trailer of director Makoto Shinkai’s Children Who Chase Lost Voices Deep Below.  My jaw dropped so hard it broke my keyboard.

You see, I was a bit detached from all the Shinkai buzz for several months.

Besides, after 5 Centimeters Per Second, I wasn’t expecting his next opus to come out so soon.
(Only because I thought he’d have a hard time topping his 5 Centimeters Per Second)

 

Now, enough excuses.  So, Shinkai’s new trailer ended up on my laptop screen. As I played the video, the first thing I saw was his trademark backgrounds—rich with emotion-inducing detail.  In the first few seconds, I was able to pick up that the protagonist was a little girl in search of someone…oh wait, I read all that in the subtitles.  Anyway, with stunning scenes and the dramatic score, it simply felt like Makoto Shinkai all the way.  That was until the video hit 17 seconds on the counter.  And then it happened. 

The scene of a man with glasses talking to a woman surrounded by mystical waves came up.  A second later, I saw a scene of an armored man slashing armored giants with a blade.  After that, it was the heroin in a free-fall inside, what seemed to be, the ruins of a castle or fortress. As the shockwave of these images hit me, my neck muscles gave an involuntary and powerful jerk.  This caused my whiplash.  I was rendered unconscious for days. 

All that really happened.  It really did…in my mind, anyway. 

Fine, so I did do a double take. 

And that was only because Makoto Shinkai has been known for being the master of melancholy.  His stories have always played around the themes of unrequited love and of the pain vast distances bring to relationships.  He has executed all these themes in both slice-of-life and sci-fi settings. So, seeing the fantasy elements in the Shinkai trailer was indeed something new.

I’ve also come across some trailer reviews online where the plot is mentioned.  But even with their sources and speculations, I’m not quite sure what to make of Children Who Chase Lost Voices Deep Below.

Fantasy or not, one thing’s for sure. This film’s gonna hurt so good.

--Mori