‘Your Name’ Director Addresses Alternate Ending Rumors

If you are not familiar with Your Name, then you have every reason to get familiar with the feature. The film debuted in 2016 before launching to the states early last year. Makoto Shinkai‘s feature has since gone on to become the highest-grossing anime film to date, but a persistent rumor has followed Your Name since it premiered.

Now, the director is addressing reports about the film and its so-called alternate ending by saying they are fake.

Taking to Twitter, Shinkai posted a photo on Twitter to squash rumors about Your Name having its original ending altered (via CrunchyRoll). The director shared a screenshot of the plot he wrote up back in 2014 for the film, and it matches up with what fans saw in Your Name‘s theatrical cut.

“‘Kimi no Na wa.’ was finally aired on TV and I have received many impressions again. Thank you very much,” Shinkai wrote after Your Name aired on cable in Japan.

“An unexpectedly noticeable one is that the film was originally planned to end after Taki and Mitsuha passing each other and the company ordered me to change it to a happy ending. It is a misunderstanding. The ending was decided in the original plot even before the screenplay was written.”

Fans have long wondered if Shinkai was forced to change how Your Name ended. Within the anime fandom, rumors about the alteration claimed the movie intended for its protagonists to have an unhappy ending. Mitsuha Miyamizu and Taki Tachibana were never meant to find one another or even recognize the other after meeting on the street. The rumors speculated that Toho told Shinkai to make a happier ending to appease general audiences, but it seems the director was all for the couple reuniting from the start. So, if you have always thought the two characters deserved their happily ever after, then you should know you are not the only one.

If you are not familiar with Your Name, then you should know the film is the most successful anime feature of all-time. The movie made its debut last year in Japan and quickly became an phenomenon as it earned more money than any of Studio Ghibli’s iconic films. Your Namemanaged to overcome Spirited Away at the box-office to become the highest-grossing anime feature at the worldwide market, and Paramount Pictures has made a deal with creator Makoto Shinkai to bring the film to life.

Are you glad Your Name ended the way it did? Hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to let me know and talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!