Stellagate

Stellagate (Japanese: ステラゲート, Hepburn: Suteragēto) is a 2024 Japanese animated fantasy adventure film, written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, produced by CoMix Wave Films and distributed by Toho.

The film follows Yuki Hoshino, a 16-year-old girl who discovers a strange arch known as the "Stellagate" that leads to a the entrance to the Dimensions of Stars with her friend Jun Ishizaka in order to escape catastrophic events and reveal her true childhood memories from a long time ago. The film was inspired by the frequency of catastrophic events in Japan.

Stellagate was theatrically released in conventional, IMAX, Dolby Atmos, 4DX, MX4D, and ScreenX theaters in Japan on December 5, 2024; it was released internationally across 2025.

Plot
In February 2025, A 16-year old high school girl named Yuki Hoshino who is met by her childhood friend named Jun Ishizaka, discovers a mysterious portal in an abandoned building in Tokyo known as the "Stellagate" that escapes from disasters and reveal childhood memories when entering. Yuki and Jun both tried to enter the portal but they can't. They then trip over a piece of a key to the Stellagate, which seems like it is shattered after years. Yuki decided to keep the key piece for reassembling the key to the portal and she returns back home at the night.

The next morning, Yuki woke up for school, with her childhood friend, Jun and studied about the shattered pieces of a key that scattered around Japan. Suddenly a giant monster appears to be flying, and they're causing earthquakes, and new heard about the earthquake that the monster caused. Yuki and Jun both tried to stop the Flying Serpent from flying through the air and cause earthquakes but the serpent fled and the earthquake ended afterwards, dropping a key piece.

Yuki reunited with her aunt and uncle for a trip to Shizuoka in her aunt's car with her friend, and explore around the city. Suddenly the Flying Serpent reappears and caused another earthquake, causing a tall building to slowly collapse, Yuki called the rescue teams and her companions to save the building. The key piece drops afterwards then Yuki and her companions celebrate at the cafeteria.

Yuki and her companions took a bus to Kagoshima, hoping to find the fourth key piece, and explored Kagoshima before an unexpected event happened: the volcano and the earthquakes started happening as everything was scorching and rumbling. This was caused by the Flying Serpent, and Yuki and her companions found a way to stop the chaos by saving the people in the buildings. The eruption and the earthquake stopped, and the key piece was dropped.

Yuki and her companions took trains to Fukuoka and they went to the inn to spend some time for a little while before they have to find the last piece in this city. A huge earthquake happens and the Flying Serpent is flying around the city and Yuki and her companions decided to find the last key piece while trying to avoid the event, she eventually got the final piece before returning to Tokyo by train.

Yuki, her friend, and her family went to the train to Tokyo but the Flying Serpent suddenly destroyed the tracks in half, causing the train to fall. Yuki decided to pick her companions up and rush quickly to the station in Tokyo and rush back to the abandoned building that she remembered, and found the portal again. Yuki then unlocked and the portal is eventually opened, the key disappears and Yuki and her companions enter the portal.

Yuki then entered the Dimensions of Stars, and she found that it looked strange. Yuki then stared at one of the islands in this dimension. The Flying Serpent begins breaking into the dimension, and Yuki decides to rush to the center island with her companions. Yuki and her companions collected the Star Pieces from the center island and began assembling them into a Wish Star for Yuki. The Flying Serpent then caught and wrapped Yuki's childhood friend, Jun, asking her for help. Yuki decides to save him by defeating the serpent. Yuki then charges with full power and uses the Wish Star to defeat the Flying Serpent. The Flying Serpent is eventually defeated, creating a massive blast.

Yuki saved Jun from falling after the Flying Serpent was defeated, and Yuki's aunt and uncle were proud of her. Yuki and Jun had their true childhood memories revealed for a long time, and Yuki and Jun both found their past selves. Yuki and Jun were playing in the playground until they were reunited with the present. Yuki and Jun wished to solve the problem from its root and reconstruct the mess that the Flying Serpent made.

Yuki, her friend, her aunt, and her uncle decide to return from the portal to Tokyo, and everything in Tokyo is normal this time. Yuki waved goodbye to the three, and her uncle and aunt then returned to their home while Jun returned to school. Yuki reunites with her mother, and she tells her everything about what she and her friends did on this amazing Trip to Fukuoka and about all the friendships that she built.

Yuki then woke up in the next morning, meeting future versions of Weathering with You characters, Hodaka Morishima and Hina Amano. She is going to help them in some way for a new journey.

Production
TBA

Music
TBA

Marketing
TBA

Release
Stellagate was released in Japan at December 5, 2024 by its distributor Toho across the country through regular, IMAX, Dolby Atmos, 4DX, MX4D, and ScreenX screenings.

In Asia, the film began screening continent-wide on January 30, 2025. Encore Films handled distribution in Southeast Asia with the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia releases were co-distributed through Warner Bros. Pictures. In the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and numerous countries in Europe, an English-language dub was screened along with the original Japanese version. The film began its general screening on February to March 2025.

Box office
As of 2025, Stellagate has grossed over $550.9 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing anime and Japanese film of all time, dethroning Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train.

Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 200 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 9.3/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average of 100 out of 100 based on 50 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Trivia

 * This movie is currently the most expensive animated film ever made in the world.