GKIDS Acquires N. American Rights to 4 Titles by Makoto Shinkai

GKIDS announced on Thursday that it has acquired North American rights to the following four titles by director Makoto Shinkai: Voices of a Distant Star, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, 5 Centimeters Per Second, and Children Who Chase Lost Voices. GKIDS will release the anime later this year on home entertainment platforms in Japanese with English subtitles and with English dubs.

Voices of a Distant Star debuted in Japan in 2002. ADV Films released the anime in English.

The Place Promised in Our Early Days debuted in 2004. ADV Films originally released the film theatrically in the United States and later on DVD in 2005.

5 Centimeters Per Second opened in Japan in 2007. The film is split into three individual segments, and it premiered in Japan in 2007. Crunchyroll previously released 5 Centimeters Per Second (Byōsoku 5 Centimeter - a chain of short stories about their distance.) on DVD in 2011 with the help of Bandai Entertainment. Discotek released a reissue of that version with new cover art.

Children Who Chase Lost Voices (pictured above right) opened in Japan in May 2011. Sentai Filmworks previously licensed and released the film in English.

Shinkai's new anime film Suzume no Tojimari (literally, Suzume's Door-Locking) will open in Japan in fall 2022.

Shinkai's most recent film, Weathering With You, opened in Japan in July 2019. The film became the #7 highest-earning domestic film of all time in Japan (now #8 after Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train), and was the highest-grossing film in Japan in 2019.

Shinkai's your name. film opened in Japan in August 2016, and has become the fifth highest-grossing film of all time in Japan, the third highest-grossing Japanese film, and the third highest-grossing anime film.

Shinkai's other works include She and Her Cat and The Garden of Words.

Source: Press release