Makoto Shinkai Reveals Suzume Initially Had 2 Female Leads

There is little doubt that people loved Suzume no Tojimari for the romance between a girl and a three-legged chair. However, Makoto Shinkai initially wanted to explore a story where there were two female leads instead of an exploration of love.

Makoto Shinkai recently spoke to Looper while promoting Suzume's international release. During the interview, the filmmaker confirmed he had different plans for the movie.

"At first, I wanted to turn this story into a movie about Suzume and another girl journeying," said Shinkai, "I wanted to pivot to a more sisterhood type of romantic story."

It's an interesting idea but Shinkai pointed out that his producer didn't agree by stating, "You may be tired of these romantic stories, but your audience loves it."

Makoto Shinkai continued by admitting that he had already explored the usual love story and was hoping to work on something different.

"I personally felt a little bit tired of telling the very traditional romance story," Shinkai said, adding that he did "everything that I possibly could in terms of 'boy meets girl' and 'will they, won't they, will they meet.'"

Although Shinkai ultimately accepted his producer's suggestion, he also chose to turn Suzume's love interest into a chair. In his opinion, it made sure that the film wasn't "too much of a romance."

Makoto Shinkai had previously explained that he turned Souta into a three-legged chair since Suzume's theme is a dark one. He stated that it was important to "lighten up the mood a little bit" and he had to introduce a "comical character to be Suzume’s sidekick."

"There might be a little bit, but in terms of why the chair is three legged… The first is I felt that that gave it a bit more comical, kind of funny feel," he continued. "I mean, you'd look at a three-legged chair, the off-balance sort of awkwardness, even watching the chair walking alone gives a comic relief to the film."

Suzume no Tojimari is now screening in theaters across North America.

Related: Suzume: Makoto Shinkai Explains Three-Legged Chair's Importance