Review of Your Name. (2016) by Chevy C — 07 Apr 2017

Your Name. (Kimi no NaWa.) Review [Spoiler Free].

By: Sebastian Canino.

"Your Name." (Kimi no NaWa.), is directed by the legendary Makoto Shinkai, known for visually stunning and emotional slices of life stories and overall professional tearjerker. Shinkai has had a lot of successful films released over the past years that left a huge impression on the anime community, but not in a general mainstream sense, as most, if not all of his films were independent successes. "Your Name." Serves as Shinkai's very first fully mainstream film and while the jump from independent to mainstream may turn off a lot of people, true talent knows no such limits and this film is proof of that. I've been keeping tabs on this movie since 2016 when it came out in Japan, researching more about it while waiting for its inevitable US release, and even went as far as to create a petition for it to get released where I live, in Puerto Rico, which sadly failed despite the support it got. I didn't let that stop me however from experiencing this landmark masterpiece in theaters and I made it my New Year's resolution to see it in theaters. Well, I traveled from Puerto Rico to the US and finally saw the film on opening night and while this review will not contain spoilers, I can summarize the whole film in one word: Perfect!

Story and Plot:

"Your Name." Tells the story of Taki and Mitsuha, two teenagers from two different sides of Japan who have dreams of one another despite not knowing who the other person is. In a bizarre turn of events, the two find that they start to unexpected wake up in the other person's body, and have no choice, but to live life in the other person's shoes, while incidentally, getting to slowly, and surely, know the other person in more ways than anyone close to them possibly could. This movie's story may have elements from existing films that other people might look at and find laughable in theory, but after seeing this movie, witnessing the struggle that these two had story go through while living another person's life, I've never thought I would ever find myself touched and emotionally moved by such an unexpected gem such as this one. Without giving a single thing away, this movie is in many ways, a long distance love story between two people who fell for one another without getting the chance to meet normally like normal people would.

What Shinkai accomplished with this story was something that I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined was possible: creating a beautiful story between two star crossed lovers who had plenty the chemistry and development together, despite not being physically next to one another. They're relationship as demonstrated in this film, is a reminder of just how powerful the bond between two people can be and how we are never truly far away from each other, no matter the distance. As someone with a similar relationship myself, I completely understand the outlook this movie was trying to give. Shinkai is a man who knows how to ground a story in reality while providing the best and worst that life has to offer, but with this movie, he created something that even films with similar ideas and concepts failed to perfect. Cobble this up with a lovely slice of Japanese culture presented on screen, some of which is crucial to the plot itself, a horrifying twist that catches the viewer on edge wondering how the conclusion will turn out and an ending that will leave many in happy tears, "Your Name." is a landmark in storytelling both in anime, and film in general.

Cast and Characters:

A story as perfect as "Your Name." Wouldn't be possible without the many amazing characters this film possesses and before getting to the main characters, I wanna talk about the supporting cast. First we have Katsuhiko and Sayaka (voiced by Kyle Hebert and Cassandra Morris in the English dub which I saw), Mitsuha's best friends who share very wonderful friendly chemistry with her as much as they do with each other, and even when Mitsuha herself gets in over her head, they're always on her side ready to show their support. Alongside Mitsuha is her sister Yotsuha (voiced by Catie Harvey), who loves her sister unconditionally despite finding her crazy and occasionally teasing her for constantly fondling her breasts (which was all Taki's doing since he can't help himself) and her grandmother Hitoha (voiced by Glynis Ellis) who takes care of both Yotsuha and Mitsuha after their mother passes away years beforehand. On the other side, we have Taki's friends Tsukasa and Shinta (voiced by Ben Pronsky and Ray Chase), who despite making jokes at his expense, show how much they truly care for their friend, even going as far as to travel with him, or even cover his shift at work when the situation calls for it. Along his friends, there's also the lovely Ms. Okudera (voiced by the equally lovely Laura Post), Taki's workmate whom he has a crush on, and who shows her support for him, despite their past history with each other.

All of these characters are voiced beautifully by the lovely voice cast courtesy of Funimation, who also distributed this wonderful film theatrically all over the states, and every character was given a unique level of charm and wit fitting for said character capable only by the actors voicing them. Finishing up this wonderful cast, are the leads of the film, Taki Tachibana and Mitsuha Miyamizu (voiced by Michael Sinterniklass and Stephanie Sheh). Taki is a high schooler living in Tokyo who spends his time working in an Italian restaurant, which I'm genuinely surprised that there would be one there to begin with, and Mitsuha lives in a rural town in Japan where she finds herself wishing to live in Tokyo instead, as she dislikes the life she currently lives, mainly due to how boring and monotonous it is, but also because of the bad relationship she has with her father, whom she also dislikes because of how controlling and strict he is. Both of these characters are good enough on their own, but together, they form one of the greatest pairings that I've ever seen in a movie, and what makes them more compelling is just how fantastic they're voiced. I loved Michael Sinterniklass' performance as Kenji in Summer Wars, so I was really excited to see an anime film with him voicing the leading role once again, and as for Stephanie Sheh, I expected nothing less from the lovely voice of Eureka from Eureka Seven. This is handsdown, the best performances from both Michael and Stephanie and I was moved multiple times by the level of emotion they brought to each of the characters they voiced.

Animation and Musical Score:

In typical Shinkai fashion, "Your Name." Features visuals and animation that go beyond simply being a treat for the eyes, and instead provide depth and scope unlike any form of animation I've ever seen before. Every scene feels like staring at a beautiful painting while walking around in a museum, while the level of detail to tiny things such as signs, buildings, overall scenery and even the clouds and the sky. The lighting however, is the most amazing aspect of the animation in my opinion, as the film uses so many beautiful colors to distinguish different lighting effects around the film, wether it's city lights, or more impressively, the lighting used on the comets in the film. This is a gorgeous looking movie in the sense that it feels more like an art piece than any animated movie I've ever seen, even more so than anything done by Studio Ghibli. The character designs have that same Shinkai style grounded in solid realism with limited expressions familiar to those people normally experience, and the animation feels fluid and smooth. This is, without any doubt, the most gorgeously animated film I've ever seen, and given the over saturation of 3D animated movies (not saying they're bad), it's tough to find 2D animation nowadays with the same level of detail that "Your Name." Possesses.

As for the musical score, it's nothing short of wonderful, and compliments the scenery and scenes in question, backed up by the other stars of this film, the band RADWIMPS. The band serves as an unsung hero in the film, who's colorful soundtrack became iconic on its own right. Not just by how amazing they are in general in terms of their music, but also with the lyrics and I was extremely surprised that they dubbed over their already existing soundtrack to give a consistent English speaking tone with the film. Essentially, taking an already perfect sounding soundtrack and giving two great ways of enjoying it while watching the film.

Overall Verdict:

The hype truly was real for this movie and despite waiting since August of last year for it to come out, I can say that the wait was way more than worth it, and I'm not just saying that. "Your Name." Is an unmitigated visual and storytelling masterpiece unlike any released in this decade, or in the past one. It truly shines above some of the greatest works in the anime forefront and also as one of the greatest movies ever made, period! I've been using the word "perfect" a lot in this review, a word I rarely use unless very conservatively, but the truth is, that while I like to believe that no movie is without its flaws, I always believed that a flawless movie was difficult, but not impossible. "Your Name." Rests on the same pedestal as other masterpieces animated or not like Spirited Away, Beauty and the Beast, The Godfather and The Shawshank Redemption; all of which are films that I consider to be universally flawless, and now among them rests Makoto Shinkai's greatest masterpiece ever. Believe the hype, go see it where available, you do not wanna miss this movie.

Overall Rating: 10 out of 10= Masterpiece!