A Review of “Weathering with You (2019)”

 

After watching the amazing Japanese animation movie “Your Name”, I’ve wanted to watch director Makoto Shinkai’s next work. The premise is simple and it’s about “A boy runs away to Tokyo and befriends a girl who appears to be able to manipulate the weather”. So is the movie another hit from the director or a flop?

Let’s get obvious out the way but the animation and art style is still absolutely gorgeous. There are so many shots in this movie that are visually stunning and is done with meticulous detail. The animation team somehow made the rain looks dazzling in different ways, sometimes foreboding and sometimes elegant, it’s quite exceptional. There are a lot more supernatural elements in this movie compared to “Your Name” and these elements are magnificent to look at. Radwimps returns to do the music and it is still phenomenal here as well and the director utilises these Jpop songs at the right time and they hit the right notes.

The characters are all great as well. The main leads are Hodaka who is a 16-year-old boy that ran away from home and moved to Tokyo, Hina who is a girl who takes part-time jobs to support her family after her mother’s death and can control the weather. They meet each other by coincidence but end up tangled in each other lives. They are both lovable characters and the chemistry between each other is strong which leads to the strongest moments in the movie. I enjoyed watching both of them and following alongside them.  The supporting characters are also great and also a lot more relevant and developed compared to “Your Name” making them stand out more. They are all distinct with their quirks and their struggles making them more memorable.

So everything good in “Your Name” is good here but is the story still good? Yes, it is. There is a profound mystery ongoing throughout the movie about the constant rain happening in Tokyo, the weird “fish jelly water” floating around and Hina’s weather power. However, the emotional core of the movie is the relationship between Hodaka and Hina which is what keeps the audience so engaged with the story. There are some very dramatic and heartwarming moments throughout that are genuinely touching. Additionally, the use of Japanese rituals and Shinto beliefs gives the movie it’s own flavor that will set it apart from American romance movies.

So is the movie masterpiece? Unfortunately, no as the biggest flaw of this movie is that it feels too similar to “Your Name” and not as good. It’s difficult to not compare it to “Your Name” when that was his last movie before this. Weathering with You follows too many similar beats to that of “Your Name” with how similar the acts and structure are. It doesn’t help that the movie also a romance movie and also has the same Jpop band singing within the movie. It probably would have been better if this movie was something completely different as people can’t avoid comparing it to the masterpiece “Your Name”.

The movie also has some pacing issues as I feel it drags at times which is most prominent in the middle act. The movie could have cut around 5 to 10 minutes worth of stuff to improve the pacing so it feels more cohesive. It also uses a lot of cliches and cheesiness that are seen in romance movies especially in the final act which make the movie feel not as unique. Furthermore, there are a lot of plot threads still dangling that I feel should be answered such as why Hodaka ran away from home?, how Hina got her own house despite being young or why she has weather manipulation powers? and did Natsumi (a supporting character) get a job or not? It’s weird to mention Natsumi is going through countless job interviews but failing and show it, only to not even bother to resolve it. Likewise, it’s weird they don’t elaborate much on the backstory of the main leads.

Overall, it’s a good movie but it just feels too similar to “Your Name”. An interesting tidbit I’ve found about Makoto is that he wasn’t exactly fond of the massive hype of “Your Name” as it made it difficult for him to live up to that hype for the next movie. Sadly, what he feared happened. I think it would’ve been better if Makoto did something a bit more drastically different and then comparing it wouldn’t be so problematic. However, Weathering with You is still a visual glory with a narratively engaging story and likeable characters. Despite the lack of backstory for our main leads, we the audience will still have no trouble in rooting for them and wanting them to be together. It may not be as good as “Your Name” but it still went down a storm with me and I believe it would for you as well.