Kimi no Na wa.

Makoto Shinkai is without a doubt THE most visionary and diligent Japanese animation director as of 2016. A statement like this is pretty much just a matter-of-fact at this point in time. The man is extraordinarily talented and has a knack for creating fleshed out characters, with compelling story and dialogue to boot. With every subsequent release his films build more anticipation and more hype.

Kudos to him, kudos for all those who enjoy this movie and will continue to enjoy this film, but Makoto Shinkai needs to go back to the drawing board. It seems with every release he gets closer and closer to perfecting ... his formula and style, and Kimi No Na Wa (your name), sadly was the exception to that trend. Although Shinkai is tweaking and refining all of the elements of his craft, It just left me asking the question "for what purpose? " The plot was more drawn out, and more convoluted, and even more crammed into a running time that it could not fit than any of his previous films.

The movie was not bad by any means. Shinkai has come to a point in his career where making a bad film for him would be a challenge. But, this movie has no focus, no direction, and barely any thematic cohesion.

For the sake of brevity I will leave you with this. Miyazaki, Oshii, Takahata,Shinichiro Watanabe, Satoshi Kon, while all of there movies had flaws, these guys knew how to craft a compelling story! Which is what made their films so memorable in the first place.

Do yourself a favor and watch one of Shinkai's stronger installments like 5 cm per second or The Place Promised in Our Early Days( if you haven't already) to fully understand my perspective.

I had the privilege to sit in the front row of the world premiere, and I can only describe this movie as utterly phenomenal. Makoto Shinkai has created a masterpiece. If you remember his Garden of Words, then imagine something that in my opinion is five times better (hyperbole, this will obviously vary from person to person). The movie is not simply an hour-thirty of pretty landscapes and slow burn drama-romance, like in the past. It's a masterpiece.

I never tired of the characters. They are well-developed and Shinkai does an amazing job on slowly and subtly revealing what kind of people the two main characters ... are. Voice actors also did an amazing job.

Something else I found enjoyable was the comedy. Which Shinkai's works usually lack. I was laughing right at the beginning and even during the parts where I thought were supposed to be serious. It is definitely his most light-hearted, feel-good work but still managed to get me crying shamefully.

The plot is quite fast-paced, something I found fresh considering how calm and quiet Shinkai's movies usually are. There were moments in the movie that felt like actually music videos, and once you watch, you will understand why. Plus, you can't really go wrong with the RADWIMPS, who created songs per Shinkai's request.

Makoto Shinkai has leaped over the successes of his previous films. He has shown us something new, and I would gladly say it's one of the best movies I have ever watched.

To those of you who skipped out on the premiere, what a tremendous shame. To those of you who are eagerly waiting, you won't be disappointed.

Kimi no na wa, or in english, "Your name", is one of the greatest pieces of Japanese works since the creation of sushi.

Before you read this review, I highly recommend you watch the preview and/or read the synopsis for this movie.

Kimi no na wa is a beautiful and incredible movie that seems to be successful in all categories; a movie which would interest even those who don't find the genre interesting. And while the plot idea may not excite some, the setting, characters, and the fantastic work of the director, Makoto Shinka, will cause you to experience a multitude of emotions.

Bittersweet, fascinating, humorous; there are ... too many words in the dictionary that can describe this movie for me to fit in this one review. Even if you haven't seen the works of Makoto Shinka, you will come to adore this director for his ability to bring his characters and story to life.

Whether or not you are watching the movie for enjoyment, or you find yourself more critical of the movie, this work will satisfy both. The characters are enjoyable to watch and they are charming in their own unique way, and while the supporting characters may not in the spotlight, their personalities shine as well.

As a weeab elitist, many ask me what I would pick as my one Japanese work to share or recommend to others, but many that pop into my head fall short in some kind of way. Kimi no na wa, however, is a work of art to remember and will have a lasting effect on the viewer indefinitely. This movie will be sure to stimulate your emotions, cause you to shed a tear or two, and, without a doubt, you will find yourself wearing a dumb smile while watching.

I give Kimi no Na wa a 9/10.

Now before you say anything the show itself was stunning, the animation, the drawing it was beautiful. But when we are talking about the story it's just bad. The story is very confusing and it's missing something it just feels incomplete. While the story is very original but it could be much better if it had more explanation or a longer movie. The ending really felt incomplete and empty, most of the story is just useless to the ending. I think the way the story was made is way too complicated and and too complex if the studio stuck to something simpler the movie could ... had been better in a lot of way.
Overall I think this movie is not worth watching for the story but the art is definitely a 10/10

QUICK REVIEW

Story : 1/10
Characters: 7/10
Art : 10/10
Music : 9/10
Overall : 4/10
The story needs better

Makoto Shinkai is a director that clearly loves the idea of "star-crossed lovers", "love at first sight" and the idea that once you fall in love, even as children, that you will be dedicated to that person forever even if circumstances change or the people in love change. In most of his previous films the characters fall in love instantly and we spend the rest of the film watching them pine over the other wishing that they could be together, even if decades have gone by without being in contact with each other. The clearest example of this is in 5cm Per Second where the ... protagonist simply cannot move on from a crush he had as a child on a close friend. Nevertheless, in The Garden of Words, there was a sense of growth in Shinkai as we get to actually see the main characters develop their relationship on screen. But, it still ends in the same way as the other Shinkai films with the protagonist pining for his lost love. I had hope that Shinkai would build on this growth with Your Name, to give even more depth and understanding of romance and love, however all this film gave me was disappointment.

Before delving into this disappointment, I want to mention the outstanding animation, backgrounds and sound design in Your Name. This is perhaps the cleanest looking film I've seen thus far. It is easy to be absorbed into the world of Your Name due to how well the film is presented. I would argue that Your Name is even better than 5cm Per Second in terms of visuals.

Now, while I could go on about the visuals, at the end of the day the purpose of these visuals is to tell a story, and here the story fails. On the surface, the initial plot to Your Name seems like it could work. The trailers covered the first half of the story, where the characters have to overcome their predicament of switching bodies every so often. Then comes the plot twist and from there, everything falls apart.

SPOILERS FROM HERE

Somehow, these characters are not only switching bodies, but they are also traveling through time. Yet, somehow they never realise they are traveling through time. This makes no sense at all. The characters would have picked up on this almost immediately through simply looking at their phones. But no, we're meant to believe that these characters are that stupid that they didn't realise what the date was every time they switched bodies. Both characters are then surprised when they try to find the other and notice the time difference. Mitsuha doesn't even question the idea that Taki is a few years younger in her timeline. This leads to the crisis where they need to change the past to save Mitsuha's town.

The rest of the film dealing with the evacuation of the town is ridiculous. At the very least they could have had a scene where Mitsuha opens up to her friends about the whole time travel thing to make things feel a bit more grounded, but instead they jump straight in to blowing up the power plant. The main conversation that is meant to convince the mayor to evacuate the town is done off screen, so we don't even get to see how Mitsuha has grown as a character in standing up to her father. Nevertheless, this is not as poorly handled as the main story of the film; the romance between our protagonists.

The biggest question I have for this film is this; at what point do these characters fall in love? During the first half of Your Name they are casually dealing with the body switching problem, then during the second half of the film they're in love. At no point do we get to see them doing anything that would lead to any romantic feelings developing. The only explanation we have is the usual for Shinkai; that they were destined to be in love even if they barely know each other. The worst part of this portrayal of romance is that when they finally get to have a discussion with each other, Taki just writes "I love you" on Mitsuha's hand instead of his god damn name so she can't even remember who he is. Then we're meant to assume that many years later, even after forgetting all the events that happened, that these two characters were waiting for each other to fall in love again. These people barely know each other, have almost no chemistry, and what they did learn about each other they forgot due to amnesia. It seems like Shinkai read Romeo and Juliet and assumed that's how a successful romantic relationship works and completely missed the point that its a tragedy about stupid teenagers making terrible decisions because they decided they are in love after barely knowing each other.

It seems that Shinkai still has no idea how relationships work. Your Name falls in to the same category as the rest of his films where the main characters are in love forever and we're meant to feel sad when they long for each other for years/decades. This view is simply too naive to be taken seriously. I can't recommend this to anyone unless you view love like Shinkai does.

Kimi No Na Wa is basically visual and audible chocolate to anybody interested in the elements of directing.

However like chocolate, it doesn't satisfy you at all and only gives you an amazing taste in your mouth for a brief period of time before eventually realize that you're still hungry, and you need something to satisfy you or you'll go hungry.

Kimi no Na Wa fails to give me a good reason to keep my suspension of disbelief because of the fact the plot was just so dreadful and dumb in my eyes, and not because of the fact they're switching bodies it's the reason why ... they switch bodies that just utterly baffles me because its just full of plot convenience and plot holes that makes me believe that the story was just an afterthought and not necessarily the core of the movie. And I don't want to discuss any more of my frustrations because that would mean I'd have to go into spoiler territory.

Now the only thing I thought was ok was the characters, Makoto Shinkai always does a great job establishing the atmosphere of each of the characters and does an amazing of contrasting the Urban and Rural lifestyles of the 2 character Taki and Mitsuha. And the way they react once they switch bodies was very charming and funny.

Overall the movie is impressive visually and musically however the failure for me to understand the emotional distraught that each of the characters faced because of the unbelievable plot conveniences and not to mention the very anti climatic ending was the reason I give this a 6/10

Visually stunning, masterfully written, and amazing performances in animation, sound, and voice acting, "Kimi no Na wa." ("Your Name." in English) is an absolute masterpiece. Makoto Shinkai has once again delivered a piece so beautiful, so heartwarming, so tear-inducing, and in no way less than what you can expect from him. As for those unfamiliar with the name Shinkai, this would be the movie I'd recommend first to watch from him.

I'll be honest that as I walked into the hall at AX to watch the world premier of the movie, my expectations of the film were different. Prior to watching, the supernatural element of the ... movie never really clicked to me, as I knew Shinkai more for his art of capturing the essence and beauty of a single moment in a slice-of-life setting. When you add supernatural elements in a story, an argument comes up where "mysticism" can become favored over "logic", and as a result you can make an audience lost over these eccentricities. However, Shinkai made it work. He used the supernatural as a way to amaze the audience and his art further created that mystifying feeling. I found myself so heavily invested in the movie, shaking in my seat as I and many others watched.

Makoto Shinkai is known as being incredibly talented at many things, one being his artwork. The production quality of his work is unparalleled, and as we've seen in the past his art alone is the most visually appealing in the industry. There is a reason why most of us have some sort of desktop wallpaper of Shinkai's works and it is because it truly is that breath-taking. "Your Name." may be less focused on art than his previous work "The Garden of Words", but that doesn't make it less fascinating than any other piece he created.

Big mentions have to go out to the other names that played a huge role in this movie's production. Masayoshi Tanaka (Toradora, Anohana, Anthem of the Heart) is the character designer of the film. His characters are all visually appealing. Prior to the premier I had no idea he was the character designer, but very quickly I recognized the aesthetics as something familiar. Tanaka's characters are beautiful and full of personality, a definite present for sore eyes no matter which series you watch. The two have collaborated in the past in "Cross Road" and I was hoping when I would see that combination again.

Masashi Andou (multiple Ghibli films) is the animation director for the film, and while it is difficult to find distinct characteristics of an animator, you can still see elements of Ghibli-esque animation in "Your Name.". The most notable would be when you notice a character open their mouth a lot wider than normal, something noticeable in Ghibli films. Aside from that there are some scenes where the animation quality is simply extraordinary: scenes where the use of panning or a hand-drawn 3D camera rotation are used in impressive fashion. It is truly captivating and engaging for the audience.

Radwimps did the music for the film, and while I'm not all too familiar with their music, their songs were exceptional in the movie. During the panel Shinkai mentioned he worked with them for about 2 years to produce the music in a back and forth exchange to fit the mood of the scenes in the movie. That shows massive dedication, and it definitely shows in the film. While you may recognize Tenmon's music direction in "5 Centimeters Per Second" best for being as emotionally engaging as it is, Radwimps provide their own craft in "Your Name.", and it fits the film well for its genre. If I were to give an example, think of Galileo Galilei's OP in "Anohana" and how it fits the theme of that series.

Overall, this is a must watch movie from Shinkai. And for anyone relatively new to his films it would be this that I would recommend first. It is incredibly beautiful, and a true masterpiece which is what you can expect from films with a name like Makoto Shinkai. You will find yourself laughing at its humor, mystified by its remarkable art, knees shaking at its high tension scenes, and most notably you will yell 2 particular directional words at the characters as your eyes water during the climax of romance scenes. I can only give the highest recommendation for this film as it is truly Makoto Shinkai's best yet.

As of the time of this review, this film here, "Your Name.", is Shinkai's magum opus.

Mod Edit: this review may contain spoilers.

I have adjectives galore for this movie. For those experienced in Makoto Shinkai filmography, the art and animation are par for the course, but heads and shoulders above what is the next most visually beautiful animated movie you’ve seen.

Had I watched Kimi no na Wa for the scenery, I’d likely have considered it a passable film by Shinkai’s standards (because frankly, Garden of Words was just so much more aesthetically pleasing). However, like Garden of Words, Kimi no na Wa’s characterization and plot range from potently bad to practically non existent.

5 Centimeters per second had a particular air of ... nostalgia and loss to it that was palpable and painfully relatable. Kimi no na Wa tries to build up on the same premise, but with more of a linear plot, only to fail miserably.

First half was actually tolerable, it worked out just like your typical body switch romcom, which is sad considering the kind of budget and effort that must have went into making the beautiful backdrops come to life. Second half. Oh, the second half!

Whatever semblance of logic that the movie had up until that point was mercilessly crushed and flushed out of the toilet. And then the movie decided to shove a typical sci fi time travel cum disaster prevention plot down our throat, when I thought it couldn’t get any worse.

Sooo, the final product was a body switch slash time travel slash romance slash metaphysical slash philosophical plot that gets zero explanations throughout the movie. Actually, it does; body switch, time goes out of sync, weird dreams, disaster, kids save the day, turns out this has been in the family because comet.

TL;DR, ridiculously overrated pretentious hogwash. Crap like nothing ever was. Don’t waste your time if you’re looking for a movie that makes sense, but by all means watch it if you’ve seen Shinkai’s drop dead gorgeous art and want more of it.

I, like countless others, have been hearing a fairly constant stream of praise and hype for Makoto Shinkai's supposed be-all-end-all of anime. I was never a huge Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood fan, but seeing a movie about teenage romance (at least, so far as I was aware at the time) surpass it handily for the #1 spot on MAL was still a bit of a shock. After that, it was record and awards out the gates for months without so much as a glimmer of the actual product.

Now, finally, I've had the chance to watch it. I went into it obviously expecting it to not be ... the be-all-end-all of anime, half because I find the concept ridiculous and half because anything that appeals so well to such a wide audience is unlikely to strike a very specific chord with me in particular. It's just hard to be universal and personal at the same time, and that's just dandy. Kimi no Na wa is a blockbuster and a family movie first and foremost, which is a tricky enough task in and of itself. Getting an emotional reaction out of millions of people is no easy task! So, here I am, both to try to halt the hype train a little bit and to give the movie the recognition that it very much does deserve.

Let's start with the hard truth. This isn't the greatest anime, movie, or anime movie ever made. The hype surrounding this work is borderline poisonous, and anyone who actually believes it is bound to be disappointed. Even from a technical standpoint, it isn't perfect. I appreciated the pacing of its individual scenes, but it could've afforded to add up to 20 minutes of content to the first half to better establish the status quo and a few of the characters. Almost all of the animation is creative and immersive, with spinning shots and dynamic scenes, but because of this the few deadpan scrolls present felt woefully out of place, like they belonged to a Pokemon showdown. The main characters are fundamentally likable but not especially complex, and most of the side characters feel like they exist primarily to support the movie's thematic objectives. This movie might change your life, but it definitely isn't going to change everyone's life and it isn't going to go down in the halls of film history as a masterpiece. I know many people who haven't seen it probably already suspect as much, but here's confirmation: Kimi no Na wa is remarkable, but it isn't mind-blowing. The anime community has a tendency to overreact. It happens.

There, that's out of the way. Let's move on to the positive part.

Kimi no Na wa is, I believe, an extremely important film in this day and age. In a world where the only internationally and even domestically respected anime comes from Studio Ghibli, a studio who's iconic creator Hayao Myazaki is in his twilight years no matter how many times he comes out of retirement, having a new, widely-successful film made by a new studio and a new director is fantastic. Sure, those of us deep in the rabbit hole have seen the wonderful works of Masaaki Yuasa or Satoshi Kon, but none of those ever made big enough waves worldwide to cement their creators as household names. Beyond this though, all of the aforementioned directors work(ed) in ways that oftentimes seem to differentiate themselves from what many anime viewers would consider "anime". Outside of a love for fantasy and sci-fi, few of the tropes and traits that in many ways help to define anime as a genre are found in Myazaki's films, much less Yuasa or Kon. Which brings us to my central point, and what I believe to be Kimi no Na wa's greatest triumph:

Kimi no Na wa is anime.

It's the anime you know and love (or hate with a burning passion). It's got the tropes, the character types, the insert songs, the OP, the fantasy elements, the tried-and-true rom-com elements and sex jokes and blushing and high school and little sisters and tender emotional moments. It has all the usual, but it presents them in a way that is tasteful and cohesive and well-executed, taking so much of the stuff you'd find in your 20-a-season grab-bag of anime goodies and turning it into something that you can actually sit down to watch with your family. As I briefly mentioned already, Shinkai has a sense of pacing and comedic timing that most anime either lack or sacrifice for the sake of filling an episode, and it shows. Purely on a scene-to-scene basis the movie is enjoyable to watch, because it's fast and snappy and it never points at its own jokes. Kimi no Na wa also has all the bizarre-ness of an anime storyline. What starts out as a pretty simple Freaky Friday premise evolves into something much grander and unexpected. I've always strongly believed that a great way to keep a movie engaging is for it to have two parts: the premise, or what gives the audience something to hold onto, and the turn, a half-way shift that draws a new conflict out of the original set-up and puts what's already happened into perspective. For example Howl's Moving Castle begins with Sophie getting transformed into an old lady and embarking on a journey to reverse her curse, but as the movie goes on the focus turns to the horrific war that Sophie learns is destroying her country. Kimi no Na wa does an impeccable job at implementing this technique--just when I was beginning to fall into a rhythm and started subconsciously solving the rest of the events of the movie, it pulled on a new face and kept me on my toes until the very end. It's a film that, despite its Hollywood structure and execution, isn't afraid to get its nose out of the books when it comes to the actual content. It's not just what the story is, either: the presentation is delightful, jumping forward when it chooses and filling in the details of events later for impact, a tactic that is so very anime.

Shinkai's directing also does something important: we've all heard that the movie is drop-dead gorgeous, and it is, but even more important than that Shinkai demonstrates why this specific story should be an anime, and not live action. His repeated emphasis on closing doors, for example, is impactful due to the extreme exaggeration of the perspective. And his use of thought bubbles above character's heads, as if in a cartoon, is a choice afforded him only because of the medium. Shinkai also maximizes his use of human expressions, something that live footage cannot replicate due to the limitations of the human face. Because we often envision ourselves hyperbolically, watching characters make faces or strike poses that are legitimately impossible actually makes sense to us. Even the music is discernibly anime; a tag-team of touching instrumentals and empowering rock songs complement all the movie's significant moments, pulling on that fundamental hunger for fantastic animation set to catchy music that drives so many anime fans. And, as I mentioned earlier, there's even an OP, a la Rebellion style. Who doesn't love a good OP? There's nothing like vague plot-hints sowed together into a colorful two-minute music video to get me excited about what I'm about to watch, and I mean that with complete sincerity. And, if you weren't convinced by all of this, the movie even has the audacity to open with a boob gag. I haven't seen a move that bold since Bakemonogatari. Fortunately it actually managed to fit right into what the story was doing and not feel remotely voyeuristic, but the fact of the matter stands: only pure, unfiltered anime would open with a girl freaking out over her chest.

So why is it so important that Kimi no Na wa is anime? Well, regardless of its actual merits, I firmly believe that this movie marks a new era for the medium. Shinkai has shown that pure, well-crafted anime can turn heads internationally, and people across the world are seeing that perhaps anime has more to offer than just Disney-dubbed Myazaki movies. I see the film as a sort of bridge, a piece of work that enamors anime fans and average people alike without sacrificing any of the things that make anime what it is. I think it's also helping to remind a lot of people why they got into anime in the first place. In an era where people keep insisting that anime is dying, seeing the fundamentals executed so well in a brand-new way has to mean something. We may not get another End of Evangelion or Ghost in the Shell for a little while, but for me at least getting to watch two hours of the medium I fell in love with prove that it can produce something that is thoroughly and completely competent and enjoyable made me quite glad, and considering Shinkai's dismissal of his own work I find myself excited to see what he'll create next. An artist who's never content with that they create can go great places.

So yeah, at the end of it all, I'd say it's well-worth the watch. The movie is a spectacle, and you're unlikely to find yourself bored even if you don't find yourself particularly emotionally impacted (like myself.) I predict it will have a significant impact on the future of anime, I give it a hearty recommendation, and I hope that because of this review at least a few more people will go into with enough sensibility to fully enjoy it.

Story: 6/10
Character/Acting: 4/10
Art: 5/5
Sound: 4/5 (excluding the opening theme and mid-theme)
Enjoyment: 0/0 (Ridiculous - enjoyment is already implied in the above)
>Overall: 19/30 ~ 63% (63/100) ~ GPA Letter Grade = 'D'

I grade this film a D which is probably the fairest review you'll ever find on this website. If you'll humor me, I'd like to explain why.

I'm under the impression that the popular grading system here is fundamentally flawed; in that Art, Sound and 'Enjoyment' (wtf? this isn't even quantifiable) is equally as important as Story and Acting. Any professional/rational critic will tell you its just silly to allocate 50% of a film's ... success purely to sound and filmography as shown in this simple though exercise.

Is it not much easier to think of examples where good acting (characters) or Plot alone have created a film we would remember and love ... despite average music or filmography? But let us be honest now, sensational filmography and sound cannot create a masterpiece from mediocre plot. I think the essence of why quite unoriginal films like this can place #1 is because of this imbalance and dishonest grading system. Anyone who gave this film anything higher than a 7 has done so because
1. They don't care for artistic integrity or originality and aren't afraid to vote from emotional relief without justification. The 'Enjoyment' grading perfectly demonstrates how critically flawed grades are. What even the point of rating Story, Art, Sound and Character all of which can be quantified through stimulus ... but 'enjoyment' cannot and appeals only to mood which distorts your ratings accuracy. Enjoyment and Overall make one another redundant, and in this unspecific, but mandatory rating excess ... the entire rating becomes warped.
2. They haven't seen any one of the many highly identical films/characters.
Since when did the standard for top #1 fall so low that recycled characters and not too distant plots can win awards. I'd implore you to explore the tag-links within the Genre categorisation. Does a piano/violin and guitar music piece accompanied by above-standard (to TV series) art - really make it a recipient of such a high creative honor?
3. They think music and a few distracting moments of sweeping art (but mainly impressive editing) is just as/if not more important to plot.

Even if just one person reads this, I will feel graced. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for the power of rational and constructive criticism that constantly cleanse me of my stubborn ways.

With love,
Willowboy.

Join my wander, to a yonder.
In search of the meaning from mystery & wonder ...
And when tragedy finds us, and breaks our bodies
We'll find peace in one mind.

While the movie wasn't terrible, I was disappointed because I had high expectations for it. Most of the reviews seem to be overwhelming positive and it is ranked first so I guess most people enjoyed it. However for me, the story lacked alot while the art was outstanding (which is my opinion on most Makoto Shinkai's works).

STORY
I found the first half of the movie to be enjoyable and after the plot-twist, it kind of went downhill. The sci-fi element wasn't executed very well, alot of the times it felt as if happened all for plot convenience. The time travel and constant body-switching felt too ... much to me. I admit I was bored in the second half (which was pretty predictable). Also there is alot of inconsistencies which led to confusion.

ART AND SOUND
Art was amazing and sound was average (left no impression).

CHARACTERS
The two main characters aren't anything special. They are just your typical female and male lead who want to save everybody. There isn't too much to comment on them because there is nothing beyond them to analyse than what the show directly shows to you.

The female lead does get a little character development when she becomes more assertive to her father towards the end but honestly that's almost nothing. The minor characters were entertaining but also nothing special.

OVERALL
I think this movie is overrated. Yes, the art is amazing but in terms of plot is is average. For me, it left no impact or anything to think about or feel.

my opinion on “kimi no na wa” „your name”
i wont be making statements on what exactly happened in the
anime, as that would spoil everything.

watching this was like watching paint dry.


i watched this with my friend, but let me get to the point.

- to be honest people might hate me for this, but this anime was very bad.
... the animation and art is good, but the storyline is so bad, its so confusing-
and its also boring, and it didnt even make me cry, nor sad. i did laughing
more than actually being upset.

the ending was okay i guess.
what ill never understand is how this is sad in any form of way.

i don’t understand all the hype over this overrated anime, its really really
terrible, and so random, everything happened too quickly too. both me,
and my friend both regret this and share the same opinions, its way too
overrated.

Kimi no Na wa, or Your Name, is a film directed by Shinkai Makoto who is often called the “next Miyazaki”. The movie itself is about destiny and fate, focusing on Mitsuha, a girl living in a small town, and Taki, a boy living in Tokyo. The two begin swapping bodies and the movie continues with, bringing in themes of time travel and love along with a large amount of tacky plot conveniences. Despite its obvious and many shortcomings, I believe that Kimi no Na wa is an anime everyone should consider watching at least once.

Story (4/10)
Kimi no Na wa is 1 hour ... 46 minutes long and I feel it was, in the first half, unnecessarily prolonged. The introduction of Kimi no Na wa, though it introduces vital components that become important later on, drags on for an extended period of time making this anime feel like a slice of life akin to the likes of K-On. This movie continues with its snail-like pacing until after the climax end and then suddenly the film feels very rushed as the pace rapidly picks up and leads to a less than satisfying conclusion (though it is a conclusion nonetheless). The beginning of the show is very disconnected from the actual plot of the show and, despite a few moments of foreshadowing, really avoids giving any hints as to what will happen later on in the movie when everything really goes downhill.

In the second half of Kimi no Na wa, the movie feels a lot different in both theme and pacing when compared to the first half as the actual meat of the story is fed to the audience at a much more rapid pace. Even though certain points in the second half are just as slow as they were in the first half, the second half begins throwing large amounts of information at the audience that is all relevant to the plot. I began to feel that the first half of the film was meant to do nothing except introduce the simple characters that populated the world along with a few key things that you will miss as they feel irrelevant to the actual plot. The one thing I will commend Kimi no Na wa for doing is making it so the information is easily understood despite being thrown at the audience in large portions, allowing everyone to continue to understand most of what is occurring.

In the second half of Kimi no Na wa, the movie also begins to throw new, plot convenient devices at the audience, such as time travel, and forces them to swallow these plot devices, making the story feel more and more forced. I don’t want to say to much on this topic as I’d like too refrain from spoiling as much of the show as possible, but I really do feel there were a lot of unnecessary and complicated themes thrown into the film for plot convenience that do nothing but hinder its value.

The final thing I’d like to cover in this section of my review is how well the movie evokes numerous emotions from you. Though some might argue that these heart wrenching scenes are forced and pointless, I do feel they serve a purpose as they are successful at pulling the intended emotions from within you. I’ve heard that, while directing this film, Makoto had a board on which he would write what he wanted the audience to be feeling at certain points and I feel he nailed it. The presentation of these countless emotional scenes along with the stunning visuals and soundtrack evoke the intended emotions out of a majority of the audience and are able to continue doing so no matter how many times you watch the movie.

Art/Animation (10/10)
I feel that visually, Kimi no Na wa is one of the best anime I’ve seen to date. Its wonderful animations paired with its vivid colors and it's beautifully detailed backgrounds make it very aesthetically pleasing to the viewer and there’s really nothing negative I feel I can say about this aspect of the movie.

Sounds (9/10)
Though it’s not the best soundtrack I’ve ever heard, Kimi no Na wa’s music was still above that of the average animated movie. Almost any song can become extremely effective when placed at the right moment in the right anime and I feel this is something that Kimi no Na wa accomplished almost perfectly. Each song was perfectly inserted at the right moment and is heavily involved in the emotions you feel during the movie. Most of the major songs are also enjoyable to listen to outside of the movie and, in some cases, without any prior knowledge on it.

Characters (3/10)
The two main characters, Taki and Mitsuha act as most of us most likely would if we switched bodies. At first they believed it was a dream and once they realized it was reality they freaked out and began demanding the other not do certain things. Though these characters are written at a lower level than they should be considering the production value, they are still passable (even if barely) and I believe that, though their motives are weak, being a mostly distant feeling of love, they are still somewhat acceptable to the current teen population that this movie was trying to reach.

However, aside from the passable main characters, the audience is also introduced to a vast array of side characters who are poorly written. Despite their friendship with the characters, they never seem to worry or recognize the vast difference in personality the two have and never question obvious actions that the character, had they been themselves, never would have done. These side characters are never really explored and almost nothing is learned about them except the fact they’re friends with the main protagonists. The motives for their actions are left to our imagination and they do some of these actions on a whim despite the substantial consequences that come with said actions.

These side characters did, however, have plenty of opportunity to be developed. This includes Mitsuha’s father, the mayor, who has a poor relationship with his daughter and Katsuhiko Teshigawara (or Tessie) who makes a comment about how hard his life is in the movie. As I said before, Kimi no Na wa seems to want to focus on what seems like irrelevant information and never really develops the side characters, barred the audience from properly connecting with them. I will say, however, that the audience can connect to the main characters and said characters are able to elicit empathy from the audience.

Enjoyment (10/10)
Kimi no Na wa is something that I had the pleasure to see in theaters 3 times and it’s something I didn’t regret. Despite being boring and slow at points, the show manages to draw you in with its amazing music and visuals, making each moment memorable. It’s an anime that I have taken several different people to see in theaters and something I plan to show many more on my TV. This anime was very enjoyable despite obviously lacking in many departments and was something I was able to sit through multiple times despite not being able to sit through other movies that are, in a critical sense, better than this one. This movie keeps me coming back and it continues to make me feel what it wants me to feel like a puppet and that’s something I feel is much more important than any critical review of a show.

Overall (7/10)
Though critically I know and agree it’s not the best anime, Kimi no Na wa kept me coming back and kept me entertained. I understand why people might give it a 10/10 but unfortunately I just can’t while looking at this show critically without bias.

It is one of those typical cases of the internet, they are talking very well, it should be great, sure will be great, 2 hours later ... ???????
How so this is greatly overestimatedBeginning of the story very complicated you take to get the essence, only after a few tens of minutes watching you can distinguish between Mitsuha and Taki, the story would have a legal outcome, I thought they could overcome the barrier of time, but I was sure That it would not be like this, had high expectations, I was very distressed watching this movie, I must say because they take so long to ... meet, it's a movie you have few minutes or hours to give an end to the story, now have an end like The one in which the character meets her and ends at the apex of the "flag" I think it was slutty, well I can say I liked the movie, but not that I was satisfied can watch and enjoy the movie, I even recommend however if you have anxiety That would not be a good idea...
I must also emphasize that this is my own opinion, now I must "take my hat" to the design of the characters, the art and also the soundtrack that are great
Certainly worth it in aspects ...
Well I did not get much benefit from having high expectations for people's feedback, but I think it was a bit overrated, but if you're looking for something to watch with romance and drama and a good choice, because I'm not much of a fan of romance, but History holds you, makes you accompany every moment in ecstasy and also agunstiar with waiting for the damn encounter!

Story: Only a few tens of minutes for you to understand, and also know who is in the body of who

Art: Just wonderful

Sound: Voices of the actors have been well chosen, the soundtrack is contagious

Character: They do not seem so natural, the co-stars can play a better role than the protagonist. It came to be somewhat forced such changes, without any explanation
There were times when I asked where I was.
*where I am?*

Enjoyment: I watched with a friend who has little knowledge, I had to stop the movie at all times to try to explain what I understood of the scene, there were moments that I was lost.
Also because I did not understand what was happening at the moment *SIGH*

Overall:In my opinion just O V E R R A T E D

Since this movie is currently sitting at the number 1 spot for all time top rated anime on this website, I assumed a large portion of you had already seen this movie, so this review will contain spoilers.
Now that I got that out of the way, let’s just jump right into it.

Kimi no na wa is Makoto Shinkai’s latest movie, the story follows a guy named Taki and a girl named Mitsuha begins to switch bodies because, well, reasons. The first half of the movie is just your typical Slice of Life comedy that involves characters switching bodies. For the most part, it was ... harmless, until they tries to be something else in the second half.

The huge plot twist of this movie is that apparently Taki is not just switching bodies with mitsuha, but he’s apparently went 3 years back in time before Itomori (the village that mitsuha’s living in) got destroyed by a comet.
Now now now, where do I even begin with all of this nonsense. So, apparently Taki was time travelling back in time the whole time yet, he didn’t realize that he was actually sent back to 3 years before the present? Hello? Am I the only one who noticed how stupid it was?

How could Taki didn’t notice that he was time travelling back in time despite the fact that he was using mitsuha’s phone to write a diary? Uhm, I’m sorry but as far as I know every fucking phone in this entire goddamn planet tells you the current date and time AT THE TOP ON ITS FUCKING SCREEN, HOW DOES TAKI AND MITSUHA DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE THE SIMPLEST THING SUCH AS THAT?

Oh yeah I get it, because if they actually realized it right away the whole thing where Taki goes to meet mitsuha in person and found that she was actually dead long time ago wouldn’t be as dramatic as it would be if they didn’t realize it. Once again, anime is treating its viewers like some kind of retard, not so suprising eh?

I don’t really mind about how they didn’t explain the whole body switching works. But to completely ignore logic just for the sake of being dramatic is beyond unforgivable.

Well aside from the incoherent plot this movie excels at the presentation. Its really gorgeous and the colours are vivid. The show composition were great but that doesn’t hide the fact that the story was a complete mess. If I'd to rate this movie solely because of the Presentation alone, it would be 8 or higher, sadly, the plot is a huge turn off for me that not even pretty colours could change my opinion about the movie.

As for the characters they’re completely forgettable and there’s nothing really stand out about them. The one thing that I don’t get is Taki and Mitsuha’s relationship. Just because you swapped bodies doesn’t mean that you have to fall in love with each other, their relationship has literally no chemistry whatsoever, even Taki and his coworker relationship makes more sense than him being with Mitsuha.

There are more things to cover about this movie but I think this would be enough.

In short, Kimi no na wa is far from what you can call a “Masterpiece”. But if you can ignore everything and just literally “turn your brain off” I can see why someone would like it. But as for me, I could not just overlook how stupid this movie is.

Story: 8
Art: 10
Sound: 9
Character: 7
Enjoyment: 9
Overall: 8

TL DR review: Solid all around romance movie. Not Shinkai's best but comes a close second. A Must watch.

Section wise review:
... Story:
Its a Shinkai film, meaning there will be a love story with a twist. 5cm/second had themes of love and effect distance can have over it. Garden of words had love between a student and his teacher while in Place promised, childhood friends took different paths as time progressed but were drawn back by a promise made during their early years.

Here we have a love story which starts off with body swapping but eventually becomes across different time periods. Its told in a sort of a non-linear way. The closest film I can think of with a similar plot is the Sandra Bullock starring Premonition.

Art:
It's a Shinkai film. That really should be certificate enough. The scenes are dripping with detail. Shinkai has a knack of taking everyday, normal stuff and making them seem magical. A simple train ride can be made to appear to be out of a fantasy setting and here it is no different. There is a section in the story called "Kuchikamizake Trip" which is hauntingly beautiful. Like "making of cyborg"/parade scene in GITS/Innocence or the classroom destruction scene from Aku no hana, the scene stays with you long after you have seen the film.

Sound:
The music was an eye-opener. Music in other Shinkai's works hadnt really impressed me and I always thought of it as a weak link. No more, the songs here are truly breathtaking. Some of these songs, I will add to my playlist. My fav songs are Kuchikamizake Trip and Kataware Doki.

Character:
Here is where I feel the movie could have slightly been improved. Bear in mind that these are mostly nitpicks on my side. I feel Mitsuha got a better character arc than Taki. Taki was just some guy in Tokyo who had a crush on his sempai from work. His family status, his friends and other details about him were generally left open for interpretation. Mitsuha got a good character arc but towards the ending the entire confrontation with her father curiosly occurred off-screen. We were just told that Mitsuha's father finally believed her and got the villagers to safety. Kind of a cop-out IMO. It wasnt organic.

Enjoyment:
Nothing to complain here. Strangely I even liked the usually jarring j-pop songs Shinkai uses in his films.

Overall:
It doesnt approach the greatness of subtle storytelling that 5cm/second employed but in terms of Shinkai's works, it is a very, very close second.

If you watch this movie the same way you watch any other anime series you're definitely gonna be disappointed, as it verges on the surreal, sweet, onniric atmoshpere it creates, rather than giving a full-fledeged explanation of the characters and the plot. Watching Kimi No Na Wa the same way you'd watch Fate is not only pointless but also detrimental for your own entertainment.

In Kimi No Na Wa the two main characters Mitsuha and Taki, find themselves intermittently living one the life of the other. A life they've been dreaming of for years as Taki, asphyxiated by Tokyo's frenetic lifestyle, wishes he could take a ... breath in some small countryside village, which Mitsuha is trying to escape from, looking for a more lively and modern lifestyle.
For no apparent reason every few days they wake up in the body of their counterpart, in a completely different environment to what they're used to, and everytime they get back to their respective bodies, they feel like it was a dream they struggle to recall.
This way they both get to discover the lifestyle they've been dreaming about for a long time, while facing the challenge of "becoming" the other so that they don't ruin each other's reputation.
By communicating using the notes on their respective phones they start to get used to this constant swapping and, in a way, they start to know each other. They feel connected to their counterpart, by an unexplicable bond represented by a red string she symbolically lends to him.
Inevitably they start looking for each other and in doing so, they realize their feelings for each other.

Characters: 9/10
I've seen a lot of reviews saying that the characters are kind of the weak point of Kimi No Na Wa and I wholeheartedly disagree on this take. Taki and Mitsuha are one of the best example of "plain board" characters I can think of. They're made to let the a wide range of viewers relate to them, but it doesn't mean they lack personality and characterization. Taki and Mitsuha have very realistic personalities in my opinion, they seem "simplistic" on the surface because we're used to having stereotypes as our characters but here they are just real people, with dreams and goals and complex personalities that we only see a small part of, just like in real life. They manage to have a nice chemistry even though we really never see them together and the romance feels earned. For example Taki has a crush on her senpai at the restaurant but he soon realizes he just likes how he sees her from afar, and basically doesn't have anything in common with her. While with Mitsuha he is genuinely fascinated by her and her life. These characters are a work of expertise in writing and it's kind of sad how many people missed their charm.

Plot: 8/10
If I could follow my heart instead of my brain I'd give a 10 to the story but it would kinda be dishonest. Many people complain about the plotholes, and yes, there are some. This said, I think they don't have as big of an impact on the story as people tend to say, especially if you are fully absorbed into the dream-like atmosphere, where it's not clear what makes sense and what not. These “plotholes” I don’t think are errors but rather deliberate choices make the viewer as confused as the characters are about the events. This kind of confusion reminds me of the feeling of waking up after a very vivid dream and struggling to understand the actual borders of reality, which is the core of Your Name.
The chronological order of the events is all weird and jumbled and it's understandable it doesn't cut it for everyone.
The judgment of this aspect of Kimi No Na Wa really boils down to personal preference and I think it also determines your overall enjoyment of the movie.

Art: 10/10
Now here I think nobody has any complaints. Makoto Shinkai has done some of the most aesthetically stunning movies I've ever seen and Your Name is nothing short of a masterpiece in this regard. The visuals, the animations, the design of the characters and the locations are just so remarkable and detailed. On par with every other of Shinkai’s works (except maybe Kotonoha No Niwa which takes it even a step further).

Sound: 10/10
I rarely find myself going back to listening to anime OST in my free time. Well after seeing Kimi No Na Wa I listened to its soundtrack for weeks. RADWIMPS did an incredible job at giving this dream-like surreal vibe to each one of their tunes, while always making them sweet and memorable. After seeing Your Name every time you'll hear RADWIMP’s music you’ll be taken back to the atmosphere of every scene. Just phenomenal.

Enjoyment 10/10:
It’s very easy for me to give an enjoyment score to this movie, but it’s very hard to explain why without going into personal details. Everyone has that thing that just “hits” right and this was it for me.
The perfect balance between grounded and onniric is something I would have never thought was possible hadn’t I watched this movie. If your suspension of disbelief doesn’t fail you and manage to not focus on “plotholes” this movie is an incredible experience.

Overall: 9/10
As I said, I would give it a 10 but I don’t want you to think my bias obfuscated my judgment. I know this movie has some minor flaws but really if that’s what you really find yourself thinking about when done watching it, you probably missed a lot of what it was trying to tell you. I would have more to say about this movie but I’ll just keep it for the conversations with my friends I guess.

A disappointment. Shinkai has never failed to not impress me. With characters as flat as cardboard and a story that could have been mastered by a five year old, Your name has positive ratings and that fact has baffled me to no end. I shall now proceed with my review, but I advise you to be cautious as my thoughts might offend you greatly.


Story:

An absolutely wonderful story (sarcasm) filled with so many plotholes and contradictions you might feel your head burst, not to mention the constant avoidance of explaining even the most bizarre occurances, leaving many to just say, "Well, it's magic!" Where ... shall I begin?

1) A huge meteorite is going past earth. A chunk of it breaks and hurtles towards Earth. If one takes basic science into consideration, this comet ought to have disintegrated upon entering the Earth's atmosphere, but it didn't and the movie left us cursing the japanese government merely because of the fact that it wont take a genius to at least be AWARE of a giant meteorite that can't be burned down (We're in the twenty first century. Are you implying that you have no sorts of telescopes to at least observe a comets size and determine whether it's gonna burn up or not?) can be a huge threat. Apparently, this comet can cause a body switching to occur. We have no explanation to why this happens, it's just because of magic.

2. Two people switch bodies with eachother and have not at least attempted to check their surroundings (Because body switching is not suspicious.) They continue disrupting eachothers lives while ignoring the possibilities and danger, as shown by the mere fact the boy does not even know where the girl lives for fucks sake (He needed to use his scetches to determine where she lived). No one tries to bother checking the year and none of them even notice the year by newspapers, articles, calenders or even fucking cellphones.

3. After the timetravel happens, we have a brief flash of Mitsuha remembering the comet that hit her. We have no explanation as to why she remembered all of a sudden but it just happened. Magic! ! !

4. How can Taki and Mitsuha not even remember their names after they've met eachother before twilight? (the part where Mitsuha has to evacuate everybody and has gone to the ruins to find Taki.) I posted this on reddit a few hours ago and many comments refuted me and claimed that they were in a dreamlike state (I have realised never to share opinions on reddit, but that's another story.) However, we can clearly see that Taki has a perfect and detailed memory of Itomori, as shown in his drawings. Was remembering Mitsuha's name such a difficulty for him? Why? And why did he forget it on that exact moment?

5) When Mitsuha goes to the train at 2013, why hadn't she noticed the fact that Taki was younger? Considering that both had vivid memories (as displayed by Taki's art), why can't she at least not see that he's different? She was able to find him familiar at the end of the movie, despite having nearly all of her memories about him lost (She could not even remember his fucking name). For someone her age it would not be a huge feat to realise that something is wrong with her boyfriend. Speaking of boyfriends....


Characters

So far the only things I can say about Mitsuha and Taki is that Taki is boyish and full of anger (I needed to know this by the waitress' remarks) while Mitsuha is girly and cares for everyone. You might argue that the movie had a limited screentime but that theory was refuted many times as displayed by Disney's Lion King, Mulan, Frozen and Miyazaki's Howl Moving castle (Though the only characters who I thought deserved the title of well round and interesting was the Witch and Calcifer.) The romance between them is quite forced as shown by the mere fact that none of them even know where they live. A body switching is not sufficient enough to cause such a deep attraction, and while the attraction would be understandable if both characters had amazing qualities that would make anyone love them, having a normal and boring past is not going to do much.


Animation

The art style was wonderful. The animation? Not so much. It starts of smooth and compelling and ends up so rigid in a matter of seconds that one would feel cheated just by looking at it. I appreciate the part where Mitsuha's mother is looking at her newborn but other than that not a single moment deserved a shoutout. The animation was average at best.


Music:

The music was not that great either. A generic soudtrack to be honest. I found it quite annoying that they placed a song in several crucial moments, like when Mitsuha is trying to evacuate everyone and a generic love songs pops up. Your character is on the verge of dying and the fate of everyone is in her hands, everyone in the movie theater is holding their breaths, what do you do? Pop a singer here.



Atmosphere

The moments between Taki and Mitsuha were awkward, and a bunch of unnecessary moments were stuffed in here and there. An example could include the part where Taki in Mitsuha's body is racing towards the cliff and the camera shows the back view of Mitsuha's skin as the skirt flies up and down. Not the best moment when you're trying to save everyone. Not to mention the sudden tantrum Taki had just because he forgot Mitsuha's name, or Mitsuha falling down while running towards her father's office (Note, this is the part where the meteorite is hurtling toward Earth) only to stare at her hand and sob as she forgets Takis name. I was extremely pissed when they build a lot of suspense for the final confrontation between Mitsuha and her father only to cut it off and forget about it.


Enjoyment:

It's quite a feat for such a simple movie to crush people's attention and cause such misconception. The explanation of what is going on is tossed here and there, leaving the viewer confused and baffled. It might be due to the contradiction, as shown above (Having vivid memories at one moment but then forgetting names at the other) or merely the language barrier but nevertheless I was not compelled to rewatch this monstrosity. I would have rated this movie a bit lower had I not been entertained for the 20 minutes after the first hour but the ending made me check my watch due to how slow it was. Speaking of slow, the movie has a habit of dragging on and on and when something does happen it feels so rushed one can bearly make out what they're saying.

A 4/10

I shall now end this review with the generic statement almost every other reviewer has used once in their lifetime: Do not watch this.

I went into this movie with expectations too high as it is highest grossing,#1 on MAL,but in the end it was nothing but disappointment.

The plot is in a total mess throughout the movie.It is like you have to switch off your brain while watching it otherwise you will be questioning about many things happening in the movie probably ruining the experience which happened with me. Both the Characters were mundane.The animation and soundtrack was amazing no doubt.

In the first half itself it was clear that this thing is overrated but it looked like it will be atmost an enjoyable slice of life.
But the ... second half was so bad that I totally lost interest in the movie and ended up waiting for this movie to finish.

So it was not surprising at this getting snubbed at Oscars and the director of the movie himself saying that movie was incomplete and unbalanced.

[Spoiler Warning]

Kimi no Na wa is Makoto Shinkai's latest work that has been well-received so far to the point of being over-hyped. While I don't see this as a masterpiece, it has a lot of strong points and at the same time has weak points as well. First off, the premise is not that original yet it still tries to grab the viewer's interest. I like how the body-switching gimmick is handled with a sense of realism in it. For example, an individual's natural curiosity towards the opposite sex and also how the voice actors of the protagonists handle the role of a person trapped ... inside a body of an opposite sex very well. As the story progress the two protagonists know that they must set ways to deal with the problematic situation such as leaving notes before they switch back to normal which I find quite creative. Accompanied with the Shinkai standard visuals and soundtrack, the overall atmosphere of the movie is lighthearted.

On the weaker side of things, the movie takes a blow by the introduction of time-travel elements in the second half of the story. The lighthearted atmosphere gradually grow intensely into an emotional rollercoaster. I like plots that tend to be intense and emotional but the way the movie transitions the atmosphere is kinda off-putting. As the movie absorbs you into its change of atmosphere, there is a noticeable inconsistency in pacing. It's probably because the time-travel makes it sort of convoluting. The flow of time and memory begins to distort. There are plot points that, while emotionally packed, are hard to take seriously. It takes a while for the suspension of disbelief to sink in at the idea of switching not only with bodies but also with timelines.

Now why the score of 8 out of 10 when I've been addressing quite the heavy complaint? While the second half starts to crumble the strong start the movie has, I still enjoy and love the movie overall. The ending is satisfactory that, despite having traces of forcefulness to it, is a good change of storytelling in comparison to his previous works such as 5 Centimeters Per Second where there is no definite resolution like a happy ending. I do think that the movie deserves credit for trying to do more with its story despite being partly a failure and a success. Unlike Shinkai's previous films that tend to be overwhelmingly melancholic and distant, Kimi no Na wa assimilates the feeling of a passionate youth which I really like and find beautiful. I like the contrast of the two settings albeit I hoped for a better world-building. I kind of blame myself for having a soft spot for these kinds of coming-of-age stories. The production is great from the gorgeous visuals to the heartwarming soundtrack. I believe that Shinkai can still put out better projects given that his story writing ability has more consistency and substance to it. Whatever the consensus is, this movie will definitely leave an impact to the curious viewer.