Anyone who knows me knows that Makoto Shinkai is my favorite director in anime. So much so that I even took the time to review every single one of his works. There was a time that I thought he was done with creating movies. He seemed more interested in producing animated shorts, tv commercials, or slightly longer single episodes of anime. Then, late last year, it was announced that Makoto Shinkai was making a brand new feature film called
. I didn’t care what it was about, all I knew was that it was from my favorite director and I wanted to watch it. When the movie came out, it was received with high regards by the anime community at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, California. Then, it caught on like wildfire and earned some tremendous accolades (and continues to earn them even at the time this review is being written.)
As with any Makoto Shinkai/CoMix Wave production, I felt that it would be an injustice to watch this film in anything less than 1080p, but the hype and the pressure of waiting got to me and I watched the 480p DVD Hard Sub. Did
Where Can I Watch The Movie Kimi No Na Wa (your Name)?
Live up to the hype? Does it deserve all of the accolades it has gotten? Was it worth jumping the gun and watching this film in borderline potato quality? I’m about to answer all of those questions with this review!
The story seemed rather convoluted at first, but then I found a way to summarize it so that some who haven’t watched the movie can understand what they are getting into. If you have seen the American movie
By some strange cosmic event, involving the passing of Comet Tiamat, when these two go to sleep there is a random chance that they will switch bodies. At first, like anyone, they have no idea what is going on until, one day, Mitsuha, while in Taki’s body, discovers that he keeps a journal on his cell phone. She writes an entry in there and when they switch back, Taki realizes that this is how they can communicate with each other. Each time they swap, which is several times per week, they keep leaving each other messages in their phones. Sometimes they take liberties while in each other’s bodies and cause a bit of trouble, such as when Mitsuha set up a date for Taki with his co-worker, whom he’s had a crush on.
Kimi No Na Wa (your Name) Soundtrack
While this is the basis for the first half of the film, I dabbled in whether or not I should talk about the second half. Doing so would reveal HUGE spoilers for the film, but it’s the part of the film that draws out the biggest and deepest emotions from the viewer. I came to the conclusion that I don’t believe I would be happy with myself if I didn’t talk about the second half so I am going to do that. If you’ve seen the movie and wish to know my thoughts, then please continue on. For those who do not wish to be spoiled, skip past the section with the spoiler tags for my spoiler-free summary of the film. If you read between the tags and didn’t want to be spoiled, then all I can say is I gave you good warning.
The back half of the film has Taki wanting to meet Mitsuha. The only clues to her whereabouts is the scenery he remembers from when they switched bodies. Taki is a tremendous artist and he uses that talent to draw the town he saw when he stood on a ridge overlooking it. Miki Okudera, his crush, and Tsutomu Fujii, his co-worker and friend, accompany him on his search for Mitsuha. They ride train after train in hopes of finding a clue as to where Mitsuha lives. It isn’t until they stop at a diner when a chef recognizes the town that Taki drew. The town goes by the name Itomori and when he asked if it was far away from there, that’s when the bomb gets dropped on us.
Itomori was destroyed by a fragment of Comet Tiamat three years ago. 500 people, including Mitsuha, died in the impact. With this revelation, Taki has been switching bodies with Mitsuha three years in her past. This also causes Taki to begin to forget Mitsuha’s name with the only thing guiding him forward is a nagging impulse that he should be searching for someone. Taki remembers the shrine that he visited in Mitsuha’s body and rushes there to find the jug of sake that Mitsuha and her sister left there. He drinks the sake and experiences a flood of memories. This interaction, along with seeing a depiction of the comet in “cave art” on the ceiling causes him to fall into deep slumber.
Kimi No Na Wa Wallpaper By Tokio25 On Deviantart
Taki switches places with Mitsuha one last time on the day the comet is supposed to hit. While in control of Mitsuha, he does his best to warn everyone about the impending impact. The impact occurs and Taki loses all memories of Mitsuha once again. It leaves you wondering if she got out in time, if she survived the impact at all. Then the ending comes five years after the comet’s impact. Taki and Mitsuha are on opposite trains and just happen to catch a glance at each other. Even without remembering each other, they knew they had to meet. They both get off at their first stop and casually pass each other. Taki can’t take it anymore and turns around asking “have we met?” Mitsuha turns around and says she feels the same way. They both then end the movie with “Your name is…” then BAM… credits. I couldn’t think of a more perfect way to end the movie. It gives the viewer a vast understanding that things worked out in the end without giving us what we wanted to see… an embrace… a kiss… a simple remembrance of each other’s names. That is all left up to interpretation by the viewer, but it gives you an overwhelming nudge in the direction of satisfaction that it doesn’t even really matter that you didn’t get to see a concrete conclusion. It’s almost as if Makoto Shinkai said “Let’s leave this in the hands of the characters.” He does so with making you feel secure in knowing that things will work out.
Is kind of like that, but that’s the beauty of Shinkai’s stories. He keeps them simple and easy to understand, even when they are put into complex genres and situations. He does this to allow his characters and his dialogue to take you through an emotional roller coaster that grips you, hooks you and keeps you wanting more. The film did get off to a bit of a campy start that puts a smile on your face, but the back half of the film is where it REALLY gets good. It does a fantastic job of tying everything together and bringing emotion out of you. This film will make you happy, depressed, and it will leave you satisfied in the end. It’s a new spin on long distance relationships that seems a bit unorthodox, but it works and it works very well.
Is a bit different. The film focuses on Taki and Mitsuha, but we do get a bunch of supporting characters that all play their respective roles, no matter how small they are. Normally, I have graphics for each and every character, but I didn’t want to take ugly screenshots from the Chinese DVD rip and Google failed me with finding good art for most of the characters so Mitsuha and Taki get art and the rest get bold/italic names… for now. I will be sure to update this review when I get a better copy of the film.
Your Name: Where To Find Real Life Locations From The Hit Anime In Japan
Mitsuha dreams of, one day, leaving her back woods town and going to Tokyo. She’s sick of rural life and doesn’t want any part of it anymore. What makes matters worse is that her father is the mayor of the town so she’s always under a constant eye. Her father is your typical stern, strict, business-like father figure that you just cringe at every time you see. Mitsuha’s personality is quite mischievous and a bit tomboy-ish. She is definitely outgoing when she needs to be, but other times, she’s often reserved. Her personality differs depending on the situation, but when Taki invades her body, she takes on his temperament as well.
I really enjoyed the Mitsuha character. I thought she was easy to relate to and connect with. She had that girl next door vibe to her even though she is the daughter of someone in high standings. Oddly enough, her and her sister live with their grandmother for reasons that I will not disclose as I believe I’ve already spoiled enough in the story section, but those events do help build some extra connection with the character.
He is our other main protagonist and he is a bit of a softer person than Mitsuha. He’s often quiet, but he keeps good company in his
Look: This Guy Looked For Real Life Locations Of ‘kimi No Na Wa’ In Japan
Taki switches places with Mitsuha one last time on the day the comet is supposed to hit. While in control of Mitsuha, he does his best to warn everyone about the impending impact. The impact occurs and Taki loses all memories of Mitsuha once again. It leaves you wondering if she got out in time, if she survived the impact at all. Then the ending comes five years after the comet’s impact. Taki and Mitsuha are on opposite trains and just happen to catch a glance at each other. Even without remembering each other, they knew they had to meet. They both get off at their first stop and casually pass each other. Taki can’t take it anymore and turns around asking “have we met?” Mitsuha turns around and says she feels the same way. They both then end the movie with “Your name is…” then BAM… credits. I couldn’t think of a more perfect way to end the movie. It gives the viewer a vast understanding that things worked out in the end without giving us what we wanted to see… an embrace… a kiss… a simple remembrance of each other’s names. That is all left up to interpretation by the viewer, but it gives you an overwhelming nudge in the direction of satisfaction that it doesn’t even really matter that you didn’t get to see a concrete conclusion. It’s almost as if Makoto Shinkai said “Let’s leave this in the hands of the characters.” He does so with making you feel secure in knowing that things will work out.
Is kind of like that, but that’s the beauty of Shinkai’s stories. He keeps them simple and easy to understand, even when they are put into complex genres and situations. He does this to allow his characters and his dialogue to take you through an emotional roller coaster that grips you, hooks you and keeps you wanting more. The film did get off to a bit of a campy start that puts a smile on your face, but the back half of the film is where it REALLY gets good. It does a fantastic job of tying everything together and bringing emotion out of you. This film will make you happy, depressed, and it will leave you satisfied in the end. It’s a new spin on long distance relationships that seems a bit unorthodox, but it works and it works very well.
Is a bit different. The film focuses on Taki and Mitsuha, but we do get a bunch of supporting characters that all play their respective roles, no matter how small they are. Normally, I have graphics for each and every character, but I didn’t want to take ugly screenshots from the Chinese DVD rip and Google failed me with finding good art for most of the characters so Mitsuha and Taki get art and the rest get bold/italic names… for now. I will be sure to update this review when I get a better copy of the film.
Your Name: Where To Find Real Life Locations From The Hit Anime In Japan
Mitsuha dreams of, one day, leaving her back woods town and going to Tokyo. She’s sick of rural life and doesn’t want any part of it anymore. What makes matters worse is that her father is the mayor of the town so she’s always under a constant eye. Her father is your typical stern, strict, business-like father figure that you just cringe at every time you see. Mitsuha’s personality is quite mischievous and a bit tomboy-ish. She is definitely outgoing when she needs to be, but other times, she’s often reserved. Her personality differs depending on the situation, but when Taki invades her body, she takes on his temperament as well.
I really enjoyed the Mitsuha character. I thought she was easy to relate to and connect with. She had that girl next door vibe to her even though she is the daughter of someone in high standings. Oddly enough, her and her sister live with their grandmother for reasons that I will not disclose as I believe I’ve already spoiled enough in the story section, but those events do help build some extra connection with the character.
He is our other main protagonist and he is a bit of a softer person than Mitsuha. He’s often quiet, but he keeps good company in his
Look: This Guy Looked For Real Life Locations Of ‘kimi No Na Wa’ In Japan
