Kimi No Na Wa/ Your Name (2016)

Runtime: 1 hour 47 Minutes

Director and Screenplay: Makoto Shinkai

Production Studio: CoMix Wave

Soundtrack: Radwimps

From the cult anime film director Makoto Shinkai, known for movies such as ‘5 centimeters per second’ and ‘Garden of Words’, comes a new promising film ‘Your Name’ or its Japanese title ‘Kimi No Na Wa’. Makoto Shinkai is known for depicting realistic missed connections of human relationship in his movies, often with the hard truth in life that not all stories end with a happy ever after. He’s also very well known for his gorgeous, breathtaking animation which incorporates real life locations and objects into his animation.

After its Japanese release, there were already some online low-quality versions of the movie leaking to some of the streaming websites. However, I was already determined to very patiently wait for the official theater release as I think it’d be a shame to view something that is being highly praised without seeing the best version possible. Despite my hype surrounding the movie (I’d even bought an official artbook of the movie before seeing it), I came into the theater completely blind other than seeing some of the trailers, and I can say that was a very good decision on my part.

High expectations can sometimes ruin something that you’re looking forward to, as it may not match those expectations. ‘Your Name’ however, managed to deliver, and even exceed my original expectations for the movie. I enjoyed it so much, I went to see it twice within the span of two days to completely take it all in.

Plot

‘Your Name’ is a story about two teenagers living a different, yet somewhat similar life. Taki, a high schooler boy from the city and Mitsuha, a high schooler girl from the countryside. Due to some bizarre supernatural occurrences, they’re able to switch places with each other every time they sleep. This occurrence keeps on happening randomly and they have to communicate with each other by leaving notes and messages in order to adjust to this new lifestyle of living in someone else’s body.

The movie is very well paced and structured, there is a clear line between the important acts of the story. I especially liked how they do the transition from the funny and lighthearted tone into the serious one in the second act. Some may argue that the transition is a bit jarring since it is very sudden, but I think that’s what the movie wants you to feel, that time will not wait for you to be ready. The transition between the acts is quite unique as well. It does the transition with a music video-like montage with songs from the band Radwimps. The beginning, middle, and ending of the movie has this music video-like transition. I think it’s quite an original way of setting the tone of what’s about to happen next in the movie. Radwimps’s pop-like youthful sound is also very appropriate for the movie.

After my second viewing, I noticed that there are various hints throughout the movie in regards to what’s going to happen in the second and third act. Of course, I’m not going to mention them but it goes to show how detailed and well-crafted the whole movie is.

The movie is very heavily focused on dichotomy as well. It shows how everything that is on the opposite side of the coin is connected someway or another -male and female, city and countryside, modern and traditional. The movie is capturing that feeling when we have a desire for something that we think we know what that is, but somehow we don’t. The feeling of uncertainty in our youth when we think of the future. The feeling of loving someone that you’re perfectly aware of being unattainable, yet it also shows how true love can transcend physical connections.

While the overall plot is what I would call original, some of the storytelling styles of the movie can be very cliche as well. Although I have to give credit that they managed to take what is cliche and in some way overdone into something that is very refreshing and enjoyable. I really liked the plot and I think the story of the movie is absolutely enjoyable.

The real highlight of the movie, however, is the second act where the problems that the characters is going to have to face is revealed, and the third act where the epic climax and conclusion of the movie happen. These parts are absolutely amazing and I actually cried real tears in the theater when I was watching it, and so was everyone else in the theater.

The movie managed to be funny, relatable, heart-wrenchingly sad, and epic at the same time.

Characters

The male and female lead, Taki and Mitsuha is absolutely wonderful in the movie. They managed to be relatable and unique in their own way at the same time. I find myself being very attached to these two characters throughout the movie, wanting them to meet each other very badly. The character development, however, is a bit lacking I think, there are moments where they acted very differently than how I would think the character would act at that moment. But overall the two main characters is a joy to watch.

The side characters are also great, while the story is focused on the two main leads, the supporting characters have their own motivation and role in the movie as well. While their backgrounds are not really properly mentioned, it’s not to the point of them being not necessary for the story to progress either so I can say I enjoy the side characters.

The voice acting is really good as well, while nothing too special or memorable can be seen from the voice acting, I think they did a really good job of giving life to these characters so they feel like a real person. The humor is very Japanese, but I think that what makes it even better as it is appropriate for the story. There are moments where I and the whole audience laughed out loud from some of the jokes.

The characters behavior can be weird to people who are not used to the Japanese melodramatic way of acting, but the movie wouldn’t feel the same way without it, it wouldn’t feel as epic and heart wrenching in some parts of the climax.

Visuals

Oh boy. The animation is absolutely one of the best parts of the movie. It is, hands down, one of the most gorgeous animations I’d ever seen. Shinkai is known for tracing real-life locations into his movie’s background, and it works really well in all of his movies, including ‘Your Name’.

Every animation in the movie is very detailed. The scenery is jaw-droppingly beautiful, the colors are vibrant and pleasing to the eyes. I would argue that the animation for the movie plays a huge role in the storytelling, and the story wouldn’t be able to be as good in any other medium such as live-action.

Like the dichotomy focus of the movie, the twilight of the sun rising and setting is also a big thing in the movie, as it is what separate night and day, and it also had a huge role in the story’s progression, as to what that role is you’ll have to see for yourselves.

There is one scene in the movie where the animation transitioned into what appears to be hand-drawn paintings stitched together and it is one of the most beautiful animations I’d ever seen as well.

One little nitpick is the 3D CGI animation for the vehicles in the movie , it seemed awfully jarring compared to the other beautiful 2D animation of the movie, although thankfully they didn’t show too much of it.

I really like how the movie will have an impact on the real life locations used in the movie as well. These locations can be found if you go to Japan and there’s probably going to be a lot of tourists (including me) who will visit these locations and therefore also helping the local economy.

Soundtrack

I was quite skeptical about the choice of using Radwimps for the movie at first. I know that they’re a great Japanese rock band and I don’t have anything against them, but I wondered how they would be able to fit their songs into the movie.

I can gladly say that I was wrong. The soundtrack for the movie is phenomenal and the movie wouldn’t be the same without it. The poppy songs by Radwimps and the beautiful instrumentals fit the movie perfectly. It felt very appropriate to the youthful theme of the movie, but also at the same time managing to be an absolute joy to hear.

I LOVED the soundtrack and I’m still listening to it regularly.

Verdict

‘Your Name’ exceeded all my initial expectations. It has a great plot, characters, soundtrack. And it’s one of the rare movies which left me crying and emotional. It’s definitely one of the best-animated movie this year, or just movies in general.

The movie left a very deep impression on me, and It probably changed the way I view my own personal life. It’s not without flaws, and if I would strictly rate the movie based on its intrinsic values it may have gotten a lower score. However, I don’t think that’s the point of what the movie is. I think a spectacular movie is one where it doesn’t only leave an impression on you based on how great the movie is, but also manages to make you evaluate your real life as well, so I’m considering that an extra point for this movie.

Final Score

9.5/10

A Spectacular Movie Hitting All The Right Notes