Your Name.

[Shradow]

 

 

The day the stars fell, two lives changed forever. High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki's body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other. Yet, somehow, it works. They build a connection and communicate by leaving notes, messages, and more importantly, an imprint.

 

When a dazzling comet lights up the night's sky, it dawns on them. They want something more from this connection—a chance to meet, an opportunity to truly know each other. Tugging at the string of fate, they try to find a way to each other. But distance isn't the only thing keeping them apart. Is their bond strong enough to face the cruel irony of time? Or is their meeting nothing more than a wish upon the stars?

 

So the most recent film from director Makoto Shinkai has finally released in American theaters today and I went to see it, and it absolutely lived up to the hype. I can completely understand why it's the highest grossing anime film ever (beating out Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away). Definitely my favorite movie of all time, and I've legitimately never before felt how I did after seeing it. It was incredible.

[mitchermitcher]

The BEST (anime...) film OF ALL TIME

[bury the year]

Just saw it today after being convinced by roommates. It was good, but I don't think it's "the best." Felt very overwrought at times... I also saw the dub, so that maybe colored my perceptions a bit.

 

But it was very good. Planning on seeing the sub at some point when it comes out on DVD.

[cr47t]

When I heard of the title my thoughts were "lolwut" but after reading the summary in the OP i think I might take a closer look at this. (I have gone to see Ghibli's movies in theatres before but this is likely someone else)

 

Also I'm confused as to why this is in Film and Literature instead of A&GM (formerly A&M).

 

EDIT: Not sure whether to go after reading posts below

[Shradow]

Well, it's a film so I figured it should be discussed as such, and go here. We've already got stuff like Cars 3, The Prince of Egypt, and Captain Underpants threads, which are also animated films.

 

And you would be correct, this is someone else. Makoto Shinkai is the writer and director, whose previous works include Voices of a Distant Star, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, 5 Centimeters Per Second, Children Who Chase Lost Voices, and The Garden of Words.

[Agro]

I liked it. I have problems with it.

 

The only problem I had with the dub was just the decision to redo all the songs in English. That doesn't really translate all that well and felt kind of tacky and cringeworthy whenever it popped up.

 

I thought the comedy was well done. Except– and I guess this is another dub criticism but it's one word– when a 16 year old or something, used the word "Boobies" instead of like just "Boobs" or "Breasts". Seemed a little off the mark there, but even then I guess the joke involved is a little overplayed in anime anyway so it didn't really make me laugh anyway. But other parts that I thought were shallow and overplayed ended up setting up for later in the film in ways that positively surprised me. The writing in general was really funny, very often.

 

As far as the movie apart from the dub is concerned, my problems were fairly limited. I didn't particularly like the first montage that felt more like an anime TV series opening than a film, and I'm not sure if showing the events of the movie in that montage despite us not knowing what they meant really added to the film in any way. I have some other reservations with how they portrayed the pair in each other's body– especially when it relates to gender politics– but it's also something i hesitantly chalk up to character animation.

 

But again, I did like it, and will eventually have to see the sub. It was a pretty alright remake of 5 Centimeters per Second.

[Shradow]

My theater only had subbed but that's what I wanted anyways in part because I wasn't a fan of the redubbed songs either, though I think it's neat that Radwimps did that.

 

What was the turnout like for you guys? There were only, like, 10 other people in the one I went to, though I did go early in the afternoon while people were still at work/school.

[Agro]

I went during primetime at like 7:45 on Friday. I'm bad with estimates. Could have been anywhere between 50 and 100.

[Shradow]

Also, you brought up the humor and I wanted to ask about one scene, since I'd seen it subbed and not dubbed. When Mitsuha is first in Taki's body and is talking to Taki's friends on the roof, before they go to the cafe, a funny part was the friends having weird reactions because she kept cycling through different pronouns for "I" (watashi, watakushi, boku, ore) to get to the one Taki normally uses and I was wondering how that scene was handled in the dub since that sort of thing doesn't translate to English. In general I thought the humor was really nice, but I don't know how it was in the dub.

[Agro]

I remember exactly that moment and it being funny in English but I can't remember exactly what it was they did.

 

The comedy landed really well in English though, I felt.

[cr47t]

Went and saw it (english dub). Enjoyed it, was one of those movies where you don't know what is going to come next. There were a few embarrasing scenes, but it didn't really block the story or the flow that much.

[Makο]

Caught it in theaters a few days ago with a friend, subbed. Man, that was absolutely incredible. Touching, heart-warming, kept me guessing, and even when I thought I knew what was happening, it'd pull a fast one.

 

Would definitely recommend to everyone.

[8corners]

I just saw it, with English dubbed in.  I thought it was great!  It's absolutely gorgeous to look at.   There were at least 2 moments in the plot, considerably after the "main plot" of switching had established itself, where I was like "Wait, what?!" and that so rarely happens these days -- most movies seem to predictably get to the "now the bad guy makes his play" or "now the unresolved personal development story gets resolved" or whatever, and I had to work (in a good way) to follow the story.

 

I was also impressed that Shinkai resisted the urge to visually distinguish when someone was "switched" or not.  Going in, I was expecting to see an astral projection hovering over/behind those characters, or at least some sort of glow.  The fact that they looked & sounded exactly the same as their normal selves was actually confusing in a few spots, which made it easier to related to because of course most of the characters are confused as well.

[Shradow]

Did they sound the same in the English dub? Subbed it seemed relatively easy to tell when they were switched because of their tone of voice, such as Mitsuha's more feminine speech when in Taki's body.

[8corners]

Did they sound the same in the English dub? Subbed it seemed relatively easy to tell when they were switched because of their tone of voice, such as Mitsuha's more feminine speech when in Taki's body.

I think they sounded a little different, but it was definitely something I keyed into over time, not right away.

[Shradow]

Granted, to anyone who saw the trailers or just knew about the premise of the movie, knowing to look for the body swaps would make things easier.

[mitchermitcher]

They did a really good job making sure you could tell who was who through their gestures and stuff, and it helps that when Taki's in Mitsuha's body he wears a ponytail and is literally the cutest being in the universe.