Kimi no Na wa (lit. your name.) is easily the best anime film in 2016- if not one of the best anime films of all time. Created, directed and written by Makoto Shinkai -the same creator of "5 Centimeters per Second" and "Garden of Words"- and produced by CoMix Wave Films, Kimi no Na wa is a beautifully animated, thought-provoking and for some, tear-inducing film. Though this film is not perfect in every aspect, it is still a masterpiece in its own right.
Before I start, there's something special about the film Kimi no Na wa compared to other Makoto Shinkai films that I have noticed. Kimi no Na wa runs for a total time of 106 minutes- more than 2 times than that of other films done by him. The extra 40-60 minutes are actually essential to the plot and without it, Kimi no Na wa might have become a TRAINwreck with bad pacing- but it is good that this was not the case.
The story starts off with what you see in the description- Taki, our quick-tempered male protagonist who lives in the city of Tokyo, finds himself in the body of Mitsuha, our shy female protagonist who lives in the rural village of Itomori. Later, he finds out that Mitsuha had also found herself in his body and soon, they find out a way to indirectly communicate with each other whilst keeping the other party's lifestyle in check. For normal anime these days, this type of plot has the potential to deviate into a more... ecchi based plotline. But, fortunately, this is not the case for Kimi no Na wa and this movie actually manages to achieve excellence without much fanservice. However, the story is not completely based around body-swapping and the plot soon thickens into mystery and heartbreak. I will not spoil too much about the actual plotline, but the main story of Kimi no Na wa revolves around searching. Searching for different things- places, friendship, people, romance and even names. The protagonists are always, always constantly searching for something, even if it might not make much sense to them or the audience at that moment, even until the end of the movie. The true beauty about this movie are the moments in which they manage to uncover and truly find the "thing" they are looking for, while the heart-breaking moments are the times where they find that "thing" after a long and arduous journey, only for it to slip from their grasp and disappear, turning the emotions of both the protagonists and the audience from initial happiness and relief to gloom and despair. There are many moments in this movie that shook me a little, and though I didn't tear up, it was guaranteed that someone else did. Emotional parts aside, Kimi no Na wa's story also allows for some thought-provoking moments, and mind me now when I say this, but the most important parts of the story usually come from the Japanese words said in the story, namely かたわれ時 (kataware-doki) and むすび (musubi). It is amazing how a whole, coherent story and be created from just these two words alone. The only problem I had with the story is that there were some Deus Ex Machina. That aside, though the story of Kimi no Na wa has some flaws, it still does make for a compelling story. And for that, I like it.
As for the animation, it can't really be summed in just a few words alone. Heck, this film has allowed me to see the most beautiful art and animation in my entire time watching anime. Even ufotable can't even get close to this level of beauty and detail. Some people might say that its expected because of Makoto Shinkai, but I have to say that the studio CoMix Wave Films deserve a big hand for Kimi no Na wa. Every frame is crafted intricately and painstakingly, close to that of tapestry but closer to that of an excellent painting. Considering that this is a movie that seems to run at a higher framerate, the amount of effort put into the animation and art must be enormous. Each scenery in the movie is breath-taking and vibrant, and this isn't even exaggeration. The scenes taken in the city displays Tokyo perfectly as a bustling city, and there is so much detail that it could actually be considered a photograph of the city in real life, if not for the equally well-animated anime characters walking around. The scenes taken in the village gives off a peaceful and serene vibe as well, while the scenes taken in rainy weather seems somewhat melancholic. The animation of the weather in Kimi no Na wa manages to match the characters' feelings as well- rainy in times of sadness and hardship, sunny in times of light-hearted joy and the evening sunset in times of seriousness. But what scenery or is completely lively without sound?
The music and sound of Kimi no Na wa is outstanding as well. Not just the background soundtrack for individual scenes, but the other sounds such as birds chirping and such. For some particular reason, the detailed animation coupled with the realistic sound does pull you into the show, and for a moment you will be completely oblivious of your surroundings while immersed in the realism of this movie. The music does make everything seem more realistic, even compared to other anime, but what really stands out is Radwimps' insert songs at each individual part of the movie. If I'm correct, the songs are Yumetourou, Zen Zen Zense, Sparkle and Nandemonaiya. The songs really does manage to capture the moment at times with a feeling I honestly and regrettably cannot really describe. It's all going into my YouTube playlist. Definitely. The OST for the movie is also very good, especially the piano pieces in my opinion. The music complements the mood of certain moments in the movie perfectly and appropriately, but in this movie there are certain parts that are void of music, and are for the most part important scenes that require your full attention. As such, I can say that the music and sound of Kimi no Na wa is outstanding and close to flawless. If you have time to spend, go to YouTube to listen to the soundtrack and songs- whether you're studying, relaxing or on the way to or from the workplace, these songs will help to lift your mood.
Lastly, the characters and the cast of Kimi no Na wa- namely the two MCs, Miyamizu Mitsuha and Tachibana Taki (both alliterations, if you notice) are believable, likeable and relatable characters. However, their personalities only manage to show so much due to what I think is the curse of anime films. Because of anime films' short running time, there is the tendency for the characters to have little character development. Though Kimi no Na wa can be considered one of the longer anime films, it is an original and a standalone movie that doesn't have any prequels or foundation to back up the characters. This movie being one of the first few 'original' anime films I've watched, this might be something that just applies to me, but I feel that this fact still requires mentioning. I also have one additional problem with the characters- or more exactly, the side characters who are the friends of the MCs. Since some characters such as Tsukasa didn't get much development, sometimes it is hard to understand why they would go so far for the MCs, both literally and metaphorically. They usually show little to no resistance when told to do something, even if that 'something' is a very serious deed that actually requires some form of consideration. All that being said, I still find the characters of Kimi no Na wa much to my liking- they are portrayed very realistically through their individuality, their simple uncomplicated relationships with each other and their individual hopes and dreams of their own.
Though the characters are well-written but are slightly flawed, they are not exactly Kimi no Na wa's strong point and would be much better if more time were spent on it. It is, however, definitely an improvement from 5 Centimetres per Second, in which some characters were incomprehensible. For the characters in Kimi no Na wa, there is definitely room for improvement.
Did I enjoy Kimi no Na wa? I'm sure I did. Time and time again, I was pushed to the edge of my seat while watching it. The humour made me laugh at times (especially the statements made by Yotsuha) and the touching scenes made me realise that I had a heart. My eyes were constantly glued to the screen- and believe me, when watching Kimi no Na wa, toilets and full bladders won't matter! I think I also enjoyed this film because of the unexpected but essential sci-fi elements that were introduced into the movie, which were also much to my liking.
Lest I forget, I also want to give an additional shout-out to the voice actors, especially the ones playing the MCs. After doing a little bit more research, I found out that the seiyuu are pretty new to the voice acting industry, with the girl voicing Mitsuha only 18 years old! The voice actors have done a superb job at voicing the characters, and never have I heard other voice actors voice their characters with that degree of emotion. Furthermore, because of the gender-swapping phenomenon that happens, the voice actor also has to start altering their voice a little, and that was also well-done. It was fun watching certain parts in which the seiyuu of the MCs had to act a little bit more like the opposite sex because of the phenomenon. I've to say that the other voice actors and actresses of the side characters also performed well, especially those voicing the other members of the Miyamizu family.
Overall, Kimi no Na wa is a masterpiece with excellent voice acting, great story, exceedingly outstanding art and sound and good character. Everyone who watches this film will definitely enjoy it to some extent, and some might even shed a tear or two. Personally, this film has exceeded my expectations and is currently the best film I have watched so far. I sincerely hope that Makoto Shinkai's next film will be equally as good or better, and I hope that his next film might be the first anime to make me tear up. This is a weird wish...
Edit: Having rewatched the film in its entirety again, I noticed a few more things in the movie. Rewatching the film makes it lose its "magic", and since I already knew what would happen I could pay attention to plot details I missed on my previous watch. This made me realise that even though the movie is mostly understandable, the main aim of the movie is to be like a nakige- to mess up your emotions. As a result, since the second run didn't give me much feels and my judgement was not impaired, it could be seen that some plot elements were not very well explained, which still made the movie slightly confusing even after watching it again. However, I still think that this is still the best anime film I've watched so far this year.
I still have not watched Koe no Katachi yet as of this time.
Second edit: Having watched the film for the third time in its entirety (yes, I'm that crazy but the film was just released in my country and I felt like watching it in the cinema in high definition and surround sound instead of kissanime's current native 480p resolution) I yet again realised a few more things, SPOILERS AHEAD.
Many people might ask, why did Taki and Mitsuha forget about each other? It seemed more like a plot device to keep the plot going and emotions flowing. Though I can't really argue with that, the reason for this is also because of the concept introduced (which is pretty true in fact) that dreams fade after you wake up. Everyone always had that one morning when you wake up and think "Hey, I just had a dream but I just can't seem to recall what I was dreaming about." The 'dream' in the movie was attributed to the body switching, and after the 'waking up' was triggered (the grandma asking Taki if he was dreaming) it is only right for the memories of the 'dream' to linger around only for a short while before disappearing. Even so, certain triggers in memory might lead you to remember part of the dream and feel a certain sense of déjà vu. Keeping that in mind, you might still retain a part of the memory of the dream for a while, though that memory is fated to eventually be forgotten, which is exactly what happened in Kimi no Na wa.
Additionally, the fact that Taki was able to challenge impossible odds and travel back in time to become Mitsuha again and save Itomori could be interpreted as nothing short of a Deus Ex Machina- which similarly to my previous analysis is in fact a Deus Ex Machina but has a deeper meaning to it. 'Musubi ' is the reason. This 'musubi' is supposed to be a concept of 'connections' in a certain sense, or as the characters would say, something that unravels, intertwine and connects together again. Because of this concept, I am able to interpret it as this : though their timelines weren't in step, Taki was able to change the past because of the shrine god's power (musubi) and this effectively allowed 'the timeline Taki was in' connected to 'the timeline where Mitsuha died' to unravel and reconnect again instead to the morning of 'Itomori's final day in which Mitsuha was still alive and had time to do something about the impending disaster.' This is how it makes sense to me and this is how I interpret it, after a second rewatch.
-SPOILER END-
SUMMARY = 45/50 or 9/10 (Personally, I feel like giving it a ten though)
+ Good story with interesting concept
+ SUPERB art, voice acting and sound
+ Character all have black hair. Finally. And they're pretty realistic.
- Not enough character development for some, due to movie duration.
- 1 or 2 Deus Ex Machina
- Though mostly understandable, some plot elements are not completely explained or not explained enough, which might make the film quite confusing for first-time viewers
+- Not good for the heart, because of the feeling of emptiness that comes after you watch it.
Oh, and Yukari from Kotonoha no Niwa makes a cameo here.
