So, do I start with the movie's complacency in the face of climate catastrophe or with its obnoxious brat of a lead Hodaka? Both are intertwined in their misguidedness. Obviously, the prospect of entire cities getting flooded in the not-so-far future is a terrifying one, one that we're all going to have to prepare for by upgrading our infrastructure, healing our ecosystems, and stop pumping fossil fuels into the atmosphere to at least stem the damage and make the former two things, among others, possible to do. Turning it into a maudlin Titanic-esque love story is as myopic a take as to be expected from the movie industry. That being said, there is a bit of nuance that may be lost on people not aware of Tokyo's history as it references how Japan drained the waters of a city that used to look like Venice. With this in mind, the ending does have a relevant ecological message (in a sense, making the entire movie's premise the product of Tokyo's founders' original sin) and isn't about climate denial as some people have misinterpreted it to be.
Hodaka is still a dick, though. An impulsive brat who constantly puts himself and others in danger, even before his final decision, but it's okay because he loves a girl! Said girl, Hina, is a cliched self-sacrificing Kushi-inada-hime archetype that already exists in countless Japanese fiction stories. I guess she works as a metaphor for how the older generation has sacrificed their childrens' futures in pursuit of profit at the expense of the ecosystem, but she doesn't have much of a distinctive personality outside of that. It's obvious these two are capitalizing on the popularity of Your Name, but lighting doesn't strike twice this time. Though if it hit Hodaka....
In short, this movie represents the worst aspects of blockbuster movie melodrama, and once and for all proves Shinkai is not Miyazaki (a comparison that should never have been made in the first place as their movie styles are totally different beasts). Go pick up Nausicaa or Mononoke if you want actually thoughtful, relevant stories related to the ecological crisis.
