Makoto Shinkai, born as Makoto Niitsu, is a well-regarded Japanese filmmaker and novelist, renowned for his anime feature films produced with studio CoMix Wave Films. Shinkai's career started as a video game animator with Nihon Falcom in 1996, however, he quickly gained recognition with the release of the original video animation (OVA) She and Her Cat in 1999. Not long after, Shinkai gained major acclaim for his science-fiction OVA Voices of a Distant Star in 2002, which was his first feature with CoMix Wave. His debut feature film followed, The Place Promised in Our Early Days in 2004. With consistently positive reviews for his work, he quickly established himself as one of Japan's most commercially successful filmmakers. His three most recent films, Your Name (2016), Weathering with You (2019), and Suzume (2022), ranked among the highest-grossing Japanese films both domestically and worldwide at their time of release. Shinkai's creative passion sources back to his middle school days where he was immersed in manga, anime, and novels. His love for anime films, such as Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Nausicaä, and The Castle of Cagliostro by Hayao Miyazaki, clearly influenced Shinkai's cinematic style and storytelling. Post his university graduation, he started his journey with Falcom, where he worked for 5 years, creating video clips for games, graphic designing, and web content. He began his independent animation journey in 1999 with She and Her Cat and continued to pique viewer appreciation with successful back to back releases. His latest film, Suzume, released in 2022, continues to resonate with critics and audiences alike.