This anime was good
No major spoilers btw
Amidst a seemingly endless downpour in metro Tokyo, you might be able to catch a glimpse of sunlight for a couple minutes. That is all thanks to the Sunshine Girl of course. Going by ancient folklore, Sunshine Maidens mend treacherous weather, creating a bridge between humans and the sky. Even though they are usually adored by their communities with their awe inspiring power, it is common knowledge that they tend to lead short lives. You see, nature follows an open but rigid set of rules. The Yin Yang teaches us about balance, and the give and take ways of the earth, Sunshine Maidens and the weather are no stranger to that type of relationship. Hodaka Morishma, a runaway from home finds himself up befriending a Sunshine Girl, Hina Amano. As their bond grows stronger, only sadder heartbreak awaits them. Makoto Shinkai, the director, gives us another classic filled with a storm of adolescent emotions.
I wouldn’t say the characters were realistic, but they did not have to be. Their ambitions and feelings were poignant and admirable. Although their actions were not the most realistic, they were interesting enough for me to willingly suspend my belief, submitting myself to Shinkai in hopes of taking me to the unknown and showing us his world. Hodaka is a mercurial boy driven by emotions, and Hina is a girl that was forced to grow up too quickly. Watching this dynamic, especially the romance, unfold was a pleasure to watch though it led to numerous facepalms. I wouldn’t say the story's characters accounted for the underbelly of Tokyo, though it accounted for the ones often overlooked. People living by the hustle trying to get by and make a name for themselves in a daunting city. The anime gave interesting subplots such as unemployment, or a father trying to gain custody of his kid, which immersed me further into the story and made them more believable.
There really isn't much to say about its visuals besides how good it is. With the director and studio who brought us Your Name, A Garden of Words, and most importantly, Inferno Cop, it wasn’t surprising that the visuals were a banger. An instant classic for those lofi edit people or whatever. The backdrop of a Tokyo engulfed in precipitation was a treat to the eyes which encapsulated the overall tone and feeling of each scene rather nicely. The endless rain made the sunlight scenes much more grandiose, which could be a metaphor in itself.
Me Rambling:
This movie is about emotions and how we deal with them. It is no secret that today’s society finds solace in masquerading behind our avatars and profiles. We spend countless days fruitlessly trying to mimic the perfect people we see on our feeds. Though when we realize what we mimic was fake all along our self worth becomes out of focus. The movie tells us that being perfect means to be imperfect. The instant gratification of the sunlight hitting your pores is all fine and dandy, but at the end of the day was that really what you needed? Sometimes you need to cry, feel pain, be vulnerable because as humans we were given all these emotions, might as well feel them too. The movie proclaims that those rainy days aren’t so bad after all.