Kimi no Na wa: Japanese Box Office Hit To Screen Worldwide

Makoto Shinkai's latest youth sci-fi film, Kimi no Na wa (Your Name) is a surprise box office hit. According to Crunchyroll, the animated film has ruled the weekend box office for over four weeks, having earned over 9.1 billion Yen ($89 million) since its premiere on August 26.

This is no mean feat. Anime News Network reports that Kimi no Na wa may be the first anime film to hit 10 billion Yen in sales since 2013. If it does so, it will also be the first non-Studio Ghibli film to do so. Kimi no Na wa is now the most successful non-studio Ghibli film, ranked as the 12th top-grossing film in Japanese film history.

The story centers around two high school students, Mitsuha Miyamizu and Taki Tachibana. Mitsuha is a high school girl in a small mountain town who dreams of making it in Tokyo. Taki is a high school boy in Tokyo who aspires to become an architect or artist. While these two have never met, they find themselves connected ... through their dreams.

The film also shows a character cameo from one of Shinkai's previous films. According to Yibada, Yukari Yukino from Shinkai's film Garden of Words, makes an appearance as Mitsuha's literature teacher.

For those who haven't watched the film, Garden of Words centers on an unlikely friendship between a 15 year old boy and a 27 year old woman (Yukino). At the end of the film, Yukino decides to leave her job in Tokyo and we see that she ends up in Mitsuha's town.

Kimi no Na wa previewed in the US on July 3, during Anime Expo. Funimation has acquired the rights to distribute the film in the US, and US release dates are expected to be out soon. The film is scheduled to show in Spain, Taiwan, UK, and Thailand.