Movies like Your Name are why I like to review movies. You’re sitting there, with hype giving you high expectations for a movie (it was Japan’s highest grossing animated film). The first parts of the movie are fun, and then something happens….the movie gets better, and better, and better until you realized you’re at the edge of your seat waiting for the next scene to happen; and when the movie ends you can’t get up for a minute or two, because the movie has overwhelmed you. Your Name is movie magic at its best.
Your Name is about two teenagers: Taki (voice of Ryunosuke Kamiki) and Mitsuha (Mone Kamishiraishi). The two dream of each other having never met each other, and live their lives in each other’s bodies for a day or two. However, they soon realize they have entered a Freaky Friday type scenario where they actually are the person: they’re not dreaming. They use phones, notebooks, etc to help each other keep notes on what happens when the switch happens; Mitsuha (as Taki) helps Taki get close to a girl at work, and Taki (as Mitsuha) learns some of the rituals and spirituality of Japanese towns in the rural parts of the country. As the two spend more time with each other, their connection grows stronger and stronger; however, the spectacular events that led to this body swap also threaten their collective well beings at the same time.
Not since Avatar have I enjoyed the visual and musical splendor of a movie as much as Your Name provided. The movie opens with a spectacular look at a comet shower from the heavens burning brightly in Earth’s atmosphere, illuminating the sky with a brilliant display of colors. Those luscious displays permeate every inch of the screen, and every second of animation throughout the movie. These scenes of nature and human grandeur make you want to burst into tears at times, but they also help support the dreamlike story the movie is also telling. Also helping is the music. The pop rock montages give the lighter fare a happy go lucky feel for montages; then the story gets more complex, and the simple piano pieces go right to the heart to help deliver the emotional impact Your Name hopes you feel, in a mostly non-manipulative way. Each sound, color, image, or song complement and elevates the central story seamlessly and very effectively.
The real magic of Your Name is that central story though. You might think I spoiled a large chunk of the movie by revealing the body swap part of the story, but that’s revealed in the first 10-15 minutes. The movie sucks you in with humor (like Taki’s amusement and Mitsuha’s horror at discovering the opposite sex’s body parts), using the jokes and bewildered friends to set up who these two kids are. Then the movie uses the notes/phones to establish how this connection between the melancholied teens helps make their lives better. By then, Your Name has you all in on these adorable kids. While all this is going on, Mitsuha’s grandmother’s stories about her family’s traditions and the celestial comet news coverage assign larger stakes and significance on how special this connection is. And no matter how crazy, twisty, and fantastical Your Name gets (and it’s pretty out there), writer/director Makoto Shinkai knows that the audience will buy in because the story is really about these lost souls searching for a connection, a universal search, particularly for teenagers. Yes the images gave me a tear or two, but I had streaming tears on more than one occasion because of the frantic search of Mitsuha and Taki: tears of happiness, fear, sadness, and pretty much all the emotions.
Remember the name Makoto Shinkai. When Hayao Miyazaki said he was going to retire from making movies, everyone in Japan and around the world knew there would be a gaping hole left by one of the great all time storytellers. If early results like Your Name start a trend, then that loss was short-lived thanks to Shinkai. If this is just a one time thing, however, Your Name stands proudly among the great Miyazaki films, finding truth amidst pure, precious magic.