Today, 27 May 2023, is the 198th and final day that Suzume is showing in Japan. There was also a stage event held in Hibiya featuring director Shinkai Makoto, Suzume's voice actress Hara Nanoka, and Sota's voice actor Matsumura Hokuto. This stage event was broadcast live to 344 cinemas in Japan.
Getting a ticket for the live broadcast was not as difficult as the in-person event last week. The screen at my local cinema had 418 seats, and about 75% booked. About two-thirds of the viewers were female.
The message postcard was given being handed out.
The stage event took place after the screening of the movie. In most places, this would be the final screening of Suzume.
As usual, the lady from Toho in charge of the movie's promotion served to drive the event. Soon, director Shinkai Makoto, Hara Nanoka, and Matsumura Hokuto came onto the stage, which had a replica of the iconic door right in the center. The three of them then proceeded to introduce themselves, but I guess it isn't really needed. They again showed the short video clip about the movie's box office achievements.
The three of them last appeared for Suzume stage event on 28 November 2022. However, director Shinkai said that he actually met Hokuto last week at a preview screening of another movie (怪物), after which they had a meal together. The director's last meeting with Nanoka was when they went to South Korea for a Suzume event, though. So far, there has been a total of 79 stage events in 25 prefectures held in Japan, while the director has been to 13 cities in 9 countries for Suzume events too (with Nanoka for Berlin and South Korea; Berlin was Nanoka's first overseas event as an actress).
Nanoka asked about the number of times the audience at Hibiya has watched the movie. Well, to my surprise, there were a few who were watching it for the first time. I really wonder how they even got their tickets for this... you need to be a really hardcore fan to log in at a very precise time to book a ticket. The audience was also asked about their favorite character in the movie. It was quite spread out, with a small number who like Suzume, and about the same number liking Sota and Serizawa, and also people who like Tamaki, one who like Minoru, and Daijin having the largest number.
Director Shinkai also mentioned that, a year ago in May 2022, he and Hokuto met with Nanoka to let her know that she was getting the part for Suzume. A year ago, they haven't even started the voice recording. But now, a year later, the movie has been showing on the big screen for 198 days. Wow!
This was followed by questions (submitted online by fans beforehand) for the three of them. Due to time, only two questions were asked. The first was a question about what they felt most happy about regarding this movie. For Nanoka, it was when people said, "Ah, it's Suzume!" when she walked into the room for an audition. For Hokuto, it was seeing his name in various languages on Suzume's movie poster in different countries. For director Shinkai, it is when he was told by the distributor in South Korea that it has become a trend in South Korea to use Daijin's words (すずめ好きSuzume suki お前ジャマOmae jama) when they drink a toast.
The second question was from a fan in the first year of junior high, who was inspired to become a voice actor in the future after watching the movie. The question asked the three what they find enjoyable about voice acting. Nanoka said that she watched Your Name. when she was in her first year of junior high and felt moved that so many people were involved to make that movie and wanted to be part of such an undertaking some day. She apologised for not being able to give a more concrete answer. Director Shinkai added that his daughter right now is 13 years old and in her first year of junior high too. Hokuto said that voice acting is interesting because it is not limited by form, appearance, or age. Director Shinkai then mentioned again that, for him, selecting the voice actors was not so much a selection process. Rather, it is his own work, and his work is like his children, so during the auditions, it was like trying to pick up his own children's voices. (He previously said this during the all-Japan stage greeting event.)
This was followed by the announcement of the Blu-Ray/DVD, which will go on sale from 20 September 2023. It will include a visual commentary by Hara Nanoka and Matsumura Hokuto, as well as the video storyboard that director Shinkai Makoto made. More details can be found here. Director Shinkai commented that the timing of September also coincides with the setting of the story, since he had set the story in early September 2023. (Based on my analysis, though, the story should have taken place from 25 to 30 September 2023.)
Then, there was a short voice acting session. Director Shinkai wrote a short scene after Suzume and Sota came back and met up with Tamaki and Serizawa. The dialogue was between Suzume, Sota, and Serizawa (voiced by director Shinkai). It was a bit inconsistent with the main story, since this new dialogue included Sota telling Serizawa that it is Sota who lent Serizawa money, and it was 40,000 yen, not 20,000 yen. (In the main story, at the end, Serizawa told Tamaki that it was Serizawa who owed Sota money and asked her not to mention it to Sota.)
This was the last part of the event. The three of them thanked everyone, and director Shinkai said that he felt ready to move on to the next work too.
🚪🗝━━━━━━━━━━━━
— 映画『すずめの戸締まり』公式 (@suzume_tojimari) May 29, 2023
#すずめの戸締まり 終映記念
5/27 最後の戸締まり上映
舞台挨拶のきろく
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🚪🗝#新海誠 監督#原菜乃華 さん#松村北斗 さんによる生アフレコも披露！
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有難うございました！✨ pic.twitter.com/yr3fdvi7Tt
Update 30 May 2023: Official report (in Japanese)
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