Always been a fan of Makato Shinkai. His artwork is beyond glorious, Garden of Words having the most incredible rain animation ever and 5 cm per Second gaining the title of 5Wallpaper/s it was no doubt that once you add a story that a majority of people will enjoy rather than romance fanatic who won't get bored of slow paced romance, it'll be a huge hit. Haven't seen the movie myself but from what I heard the plot was above and beyond his other works while retaining his known force of production quality.

If you dare watch the bootleg though, shame on you, this deserves to be seen in glorious 1080P atleast.