A Review of “Your Name. (2016)”

 

Your name was one of the biggest Japanese animation movies to come out in the last decade. I am a huge fan of anime but I never really bothered to watch your name despite all the hype because of other commitments. The premise of the movie is “Two teenagers share a profound, magical connection upon discovering they are swapping bodies. But things become even more complicated when the boy and girl decide to meet in person”. I finally decided to watch this movie and wanted to see if this movie was deserving of its hype.

Firstly, the animation and art style is so beautiful. Every shot in this movie is visually striking and it is very clear that the director (Makoto Shinkai) and his team were thorough in the detail of Tokyo and the rural countryside. The setting of this movie is based on the real world but it is so gorgeous to look at, that it feels magical. Every little thing in this movie is just so visually pleasing from the skyscrapers to the forest to just the characters eating; it’s stunning. This movie was definitely robbed by the Oscar for not even nominating the movie.

The music is also done by a Japanese band call “Radwimps” and it is phenomenal. Their songs are perfectly utilised in the movie and perfectly represents and elevate the emotion of the scene. It’s surprising because using vocal pop songs are usually jarring but Your Name does it in such an effective way that the scene wouldn’t feel the same without it.

The story within this movie sounds cliche with the body-swapping but the way it is executed is so fundamentally different from anything Hollywoods done that it feels unique. Mitsuha is the girl who lives in the rural countryside and is a shrine maiden but wishes to live in Tokyo. Taki is the boy who lives in Tokyo who is a talented artist aspiring to be an architect. They both end up randomly swapping bodies which results in them having to discover why this is happening but also learning about each other along the way. The situation leads to them dealing with each other problems but also discovering more about themselves. Mitsuha and Taki wouldn’t interact normally but this event leads to them creating a bond where they both would be irreplaceable to one another.

Romance movies are not something I am fond of but Your Name kept me emotionally invested in what was going on. There is some laugh out loud moments that are expected of body-swapping but there are some serious, suspenseful and even genuinely heartwarming moments that tug at my heartstrings. The director masterfully inserts these clashing tones and makes it fit together to complement each other.  There are some twist and unconventional ways to body-swapping done in this movie that sets it apart from other romance or body-swapping movies. On top of that, the characters are absolutely loveable with their quirky personalities. There is also supporting characters who are the friends of Mitsuha and Taki who are just the best people in the world.

Overall, the movie is such a wild rollercoaster of emotions. There were so many moments where I was screaming internally because I was so invested in these characters and their situation. The constant message of searching for something or someone is the theme of the movie and it shouldn’t resonate but it does. All of this leads to a satisfying finale that by the end I’ve felt rewarded. I’ve never been so engaged in a romance movie until Your Name. The fantastically beautiful animation that is weaved together with a very human story with likeable characters leads to what may be the best animation movie in the last decade. This was a sensational experience that everyone should experience themselves.