Makoto Shinkai loves including romance in his movies. Your Name, The Garden of Words, and Weathering with You focused primarily on love, and even his latest movie, Suzume has a romantic plot involved. But somewhere along the way, it has been getting repetitive.

Suzume was an incredible movie whose theme was inspired by the disastrous 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. It was a box-office hit, with critics praising its brilliant animation, plot, and emotional impact. Yet, fans wish that the director could get out of his bubble, even though it is not entirely his fault.

Suzume was originally supposed to break away from Makoto Shinkai’s typical romance movies Suzume by Makoto Shinkai | Credits: CoMix Wave Films

Suzume primarily focuses on the 17-year-old titular protagonist who teams up with a stranger, Souta, to prevent disasters from striking Japan. Within the first quarter of the movie, Souta is turned into a chair,...