your name. The Official Visual Guide

by Makoto Shinkai

This story guide for Makoto Shinkai's hit your name. features beautiful scenes from the film, along with background art, character and concept art, storyboards, and a variety of exclusive interviews from the people who brought Mitsuha and Taki's story to life!

Genres: Manga, Art, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 4, 2019

About the author

SHINKAI Makoto
Name (in native language): 新海 誠
Associated Names:
СИНКАЙ Макото
Makoto Shinkai


Makoto Shinkai (新海 誠 Shinkai Makoto?), born as Makoto Niitsu (新津 誠 Niitsu Makoto?, February 9, 1973) is a Japanese director of anime and former graphic designer. A native of the Nagano Prefecture, Shinkai studied Japanese literature at Chuo University where he was a member of juvenile literature club where he drew picture books. He traces his passion for creation to the manga, anime, and novels he was exposed to while in middle school. His favorite anime is Castle in the Sky by Hayao Miyazaki. Shinkai has been called "The New Miyazaki" in several reviews including Anime Advocates and ActiveAnime, comparisons which he calls an "overestimation".

Reviews

[Ariadna Álvarez · Rating 1 out of 5]

Una guía visual con poco material. La mitad (o más) del libro está compuesta por fotogramas de la película junto a descripciones y diálogo. La otra mitad son entrevistas y material escaso propio de un artbook. Con el término visual guide han dado pie a un libro que resume la película y aporta cuatro pinceladas sobre cómo se hizo. Ni siquiera las entrevistas me parecieron especialmente interesantes. Es más un objeto de merchandising que un libro útil.

[Scythe Rowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nettes Buch, jedoch hätte es meiner Meinung nach nicht unbedingt eine Zusammenfassung der Handlung des Filmes gebraucht. Wer zu diesem Buch greift, hat Your Name sicherlich längst schon gesehen und wer den Film noch nicht kennt, wird wahrscheinlich kein Interesse haben, mehr über dessen Entstehung zu erfahren.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

your name. must be one the best anime of all time, right? Right. Which is why I just couldn't resist and had to buy The Official Visual Guide that goes with it as well. It's 125 pages of background information on the film. First, there's a scene-by-scene construction of the film itself, with hundreds of stills and some notes that go with them. The end part are all kinds of pre-production designs (character and stuff) with also numerous interesting parts.

The main reason why this book is such a treat, though, is the middle part, which features over 20 pages of interviews with not just Makoto Shinkai himself, but also some of the other most important crew members and the main voice actors. The (cross) interviews really delve deep into the matter.

Is it absolutely necessary to have this book on your shelf, even if you are a your name. fan? No. Is it a fine extra. Absolutely!

7.8/10

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting something different, I guess. Seeing as it was a visual guide I thought it'd be close to an "art of" book (which, now that I think about it, I do have Makoto Shinkai's artbook) and instead there are a loooot of interviews and more technical details about the film than artwork. The characters section is really interesting but the designer's choice of emulating lined paper made it more difficult to see and understand, the pencil lines and sketches would have worked so much better on a simple white page.
Still, a detailed recollection of how the film was made and an interesting read for us fans.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the movie so how could I not love reading and seeing the beautiful illustrations and how they came about. It also included interviews from all those who worked on the movie which was really fascinating!

[Ignacio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Presupone que eres un amante de la película para introducirse en su proceso creativo. Narrado a través de entrevistas, con una parte final dedicada a bocetos, storyboards y arte.

[Noiiya · Rating 3 out of 5]

The arts so pretty I want to eat it

[emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for fans of the movie and who want the behind the scenes with storyboards, art/character design and interviews with the people who made it!

[Shinya]

閉店するブックセンターいとう星ヶ丘店にて、注文票入りの新品？を200円で購入。イラスト集コーナーなんてほとんど見ることないのに、探してみるものだ。 スパークルの劇場版バージョンが急遽採用された話と「『幸せになりなさい』ラストが訴えかけるもの」の節がとても面白かった。

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only missing star is for English translation though I got it Japanese. Would be perfect for international fans around the world to know this.