A New Dawn

Nostalgia and determination come together in a gorgeous anime from Makoto Shinkai's former art director.

Stubborn Keitaro, in his twenties, is desperately trying to keep his late father's firework factory going. His brother Chichi, who lives in Tokyo, enlists a childhood friend to help him accept the inevitable. As the three reminisce about their past, Keitaro hatches a plan.

For his feature debut, art director Yoshitoshi Shinomiya – who previously collaborated with Makoto Shinkai and other greats – completely ignored the trend for slick, polished anime. Instead, he painted all the backgrounds by hand and opted for lo-fi animation. The result is raw and poetic: some frames are pure art. A New Dawn revolves around family bonds and how to pit an old-fashioned business against encroaching gentrification. Flashbacks show the characters' close bond as children – a nostalgic atmosphere that contrasts with Keitaro's present-day determination.