Reviews

my first thought leaving the theatre was that this movie had the potential to become a classic, and also that i would have absolutely adored this movie as a 12-episode anime as well (travelling with souta and daijin across japan to close doors in an episodic way seems like it'd be so much fun to watch!). unfortunately, it does have some (very) minor plot points that didn't get tied neatly enough by the end of story and some honestly offensively bad cgi that i think make it hard for it to become an enduring piece.

the only movie i've watched previously of shinkai's was your name and, to be honest, while i don't remember the main story beats anymore, i did feel like suzume immediately felt a lot more grounded and connected than your name was.

contrary to what a lot of people seemed to take away from this movie, i thought that its main strength was actually that it WASN'T a romance, or even trying to be, at all. i think suzume no tojimari was about suzume's grief, her journey to process it, her desperation to cling to life (and not just her own) despite her acceptance of death, and how death and grief affects the people around you in deep-rooted ways. and DESPITE all of this, to still choose to live and tread on even when it doesn't seem to make sense to. i think her grief was beautifully tackled here, and i really liked how they dealt with souta as a character in relation to suzume (though i did think it was a waste of some absolutely gorgeous character design lol.)

while we should find ways to process grief and be gentle with our soft inner selves and acknowledge them, we must also cling to life with desperation and seek every seed of hope to hold on to it, and i think the beautiful narrative contrast here—suzume making peace with her mother's death and moving on, versus suzume literally running down the entirety of japan to bring souta back from the dead against all odds—illustrates that perfectly.

the tokyo earthquake scene was hair-raising, and i also thought the roadtrip segment was one of the best executed film moments i've seen in a while—it captured that perfect coming-of-age, on the run, searching for something, untangling rotted knots feeling to it all while accompanied by perfectly written comedic beats. and, oh, the moment you realize the person suzume saw in the ever-after was actually herself... such an EASY ploy and yet the TEARS I SHED because in every girl there is a smaller girl wanting to be held and comforted ;-;

i think this is a perfect summer movie to watch, so i'll revisit it once the weather becomes sunnier :)