Japanese director returns with new anime feature

Three years on from his runaway hit Your Name, Japanese director Makoto Shinkai returns to China with his latest anime feature Weathering With You, which opened across the Chinese mainland on Nov 1.

Still dominating Japan's 2019 box office charts with a whopping take of nearly 14 billion Japanese yen ($128 million) so far, the film has been selected to represent its native country and contend for the Best International Feature Film title at the 2020 Academy Awards.

The category, which was known as the Best Foreign Language Film until last year, will see Shinkai's effort up against the surprise Chinese blockbuster Ne Zha.