(mild spoilers ahead)
It’s interesting to see how simultaneously similar and different Your Name is to Makoto Shinkai’s previous works. It used many of the same foundational elements, but it is also antithetical to his “relationship (particularly long-distance one) sucks and often doesn’t work” theme. This one is unapologetically romantic, much sweeter and more appealing to the mass. It also has a staggering number of fantastical narrative devices: body switch shenanigan, parallel timeline, natural apocalypse, sci-fi phenomenon, and spiritual journey. In retrospect, it’s a minor miracle how Shinkai can pack all of these in relatively lean running time and prevent the movie from turning into a mess, which is a testament to his remarkable adeptness at visual story-telling (honestly, I'd love to see him branch out into other themes and narratives in the future).
This film is obviously pretty, but there is a lot of craft to appreciate beyond just digitized eye candy. Establishing shots are frequently used to highlight the contrast between the two main characters’ hometown, the science and supernatural, and the physical and ethereal realm. There are remarkable details on the real life landscapes brought to the screen, as well as on the interior shots depicting the characters’ private room. The latter is a particularly nifty way to visualize the characters’ personality and interests, even more so in a feature length movie that lacks the time to flesh out the characters. The movie is expertly storyboarded and edited in general, making it easy for the audience to intuitively figure out the multiple timelines and chronological transition in due time (without having to rely on textual marker such as ‘three years later..’).
Perhaps even more so than the visual, the music really makes the movie. They knocked it out of the park with their choice of band, Radwimps, who contributed an album’s worth of songs for the movie. The vocalist’s silky voice, sweet rock melody, and evocative lyric combine for a handful of perfectly timed songs, and instrumental piano-driven tunes also build the mood of many given scenes. Further, many props to the two lead voice actors, each of them tasked to portray two different characters and carry many of the film’s emotional moments, which they did with aplomb.
Thing is, once you strip away the technical and aesthetic elements, it’s just a generic story with fantastical cliches and underdeveloped characters.
I like the early sequence depicting the life of the main female character, but most other things that happen afterward are less interesting, funny, and authentic. Characters end up not being defined and developed enough that I can say I really know, understand, or empathize with them. There’s a certain point where character development completely gives way to the plot, and again, it’s a plot that you’ve probably seen elsewhere in many forms. The ending alone is basically a textbook Korean Drama Ending, while the conflict that leads up to the climax (boy rewind time to save girl he loves) is a popular narrative trend that can be seen in a bunch of anime shows and other narrative media that came out this recent years.
Then again, a familiar story can still be made compelling through powerful sensory execution, and that’s exactly what happened here. I personally don’t rate this film that highly, or even among the best of anime films that recently came out—Anthem of The Heart is thematically stronger and paints teenage relationship in more nuanced and authentic manner, and as pretty as Your Name is, it still doesn’t come close to the transcendental beauty of Tale of Princess Kaguya. However, I also can’t disagree that it’s such a well-presented product that had moved the heart of countless people worldwide, and there’s genuine value in that.
