Konichiwa!” Makoto Shinkai greets us as we barely make it in time for the interview. The Japanese director and animator of Suzume, which released on April 21, chuckles at our flailing attempt at saying something in Japanese. Shinkai, best known for the highest-grossing anime movie in Japan, Weathering With You (2019),  has released his latest movie in India and is in the city to spread the word.

Dressed in all black, right up to the frame of his spectacles, the 50-year-old director’s childlike enthusiasm about the art of animation and manga is palpable. He answers us in an unassuming, but excited manner, as his translator makes it easy for us. Suzume, also the name of the lead character of the movie, is the story of a 17-year-old girl affected by the 2011 earthquake, the biggest ever seen in Japan. The disaster left a trail of devastation behind, including the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. We ask him if he struggled to treat the tragedy with sensitivity, even as he made a movie to entertain, and he delivers a matter of fact answer. “As an animation director, I knew my responsibility. I cannot just convey a straight serious message. It’s not just about a girl who loses her mother during the earthquake—that won’t do justice to anyone. So I began to think how I can present something about that dark period, but make it joyful and also provide hope. That is why we came up with tools like the three-legged chair, the door and the actions scenes, as well a bit of humour, so that the experience is more fulfilling for movie goers. It explains what it means to live through a disaster like this.”