Introduction

I am not the biggest fan of Makoto Shinkai’s films. Despite this, I must acknowledge that they have some of the most critical acclaim and widespread appeal of the entire anime industry. Creating each one doubtless requires thousands of hours of planning, writing, and animating, equivalent to or greater than that of a full-length television series.

The most interesting thing about Shinkai’s movies is that each one seems, in my humble opinion, to be better than the last. I have criticized them before for being formulaic and predictable, but I have come to respect the creator’s decision to double down on this formula in film after film.

Instead of rewriting his formula to appeal to what is perhaps a greater audience, any viewer can tell that Shinkai has a clear vision of what he wants his movies to be, and pursues that relentlessly. In his latest production, Weathering With You, I believe that the legendary creator has finally hit his stride.

Synopsis

Teenager Hodaka Morishima has run away from home in search of a better life. He catches the ferry to Tokyo, hoping to reinvent himself starting with a part time job. Unfortunately, unusually heavy rains have brought life in Tokyo to a standstill.

Combined with his lack of a legal guardian and proper identification, life is not off to the illustrious start Hodaka had imagined. Suddenly, he has a chance encounter with the orphan girl Hina Amano, who can alleviate the rain with her magical “sunshine girl” powers.

Sensing a business opportunity, the two independent children partner up to bring sunshine and joy to the dejected residents of Tokyo. Things go well for a while, until Hodaka makes some bold mistakes and becomes wanted by the police. And Hina’s powers may have some unintended consequences...

Strengths

I’ll knock this out of the way immediately and restate that Shinkai’s staff are among the best in the industry when it comes to art and sound design. This is one aspect in which the latest film does not surpass its predecessors, but it is still leagues ahead of most competition.

Now, I understand that these films are meant to be a slower-paced retrospective on life and relationships. For better or worse, however, leaning too far into representing this causes my primate brain to become distracted. Such is the nature of art to be misunderstood, I suppose.

The most drastic improvement Weathering With You makes over the previous films is that it does not commit entirely to this lofty, melancholic portrayal of its characters. These are actually extremely likeable.

Hodaka is a runaway, escaping some unnamed past that was probably not too dreadful but he feels the need to escape from nonetheless. He struggles to find a job, struggles to find food, struggles in a strange city with no friends or connections... and seeing this creates an instant bond between him and the viewer.

Hina is even easier to relate to. She is happy with her job as a sunshine girl, but is still in way over her head. A young girl forced to provide for herself and her younger brother alone, dealing with a society that wants nothing more than to exploit her. The two leads find solace in each other, together able to live a sturdy life against the churning rain of uncertainty that surrounds them.

Newly accentuating this relationship is a handful of action sequences. No beautiful scenery in this film will stay untouched: flooding, gunshots, and police chases make the backdrops and characters come alive. Conversation pieces can hit hard at times but motion and energy on the screen hit harder and more consistently.

This is another work based in reality with a tinge of the supernatural. The inclusion of Hina’s weather-changing ability and the “world above the clouds” was significant to the story and explained perfectly. There is enough information to justify its existence, yet enough mystery to make it interesting.

Finally, the ending is quite satisfying. I will not spoil anything, but I found it to be incredibly well-executed in all aspects. It matched every character’s motivations, delivered a truly cinematic scene, and resolved any lingering questions the viewer may have.

Weaknesses

The plot moves a little quickly in some places and overstays its welcome in others. I guess this is what you’d call a pacing issue. It is hard to tell even after finishing the movie twice what the focus was intended to be.

Was the central theme around the consequences of using Hina’s powers to correct a natural occurrence? Was it supposed to show the struggles of Hodaka and Hina living in an unforgiving society that constantly underestimates them? Was it about Hodaka struggling to find meaning in Hina and making his big decision at the finale?

You may be able to answer with “all of the above,” but I don’t think that’s valid considering the film’s runtime. I think all these potential themes were present to some degree but they were all relatively weak and it was impossible for me to pin down one core takeaway from this film.

This is interwoven with the plot pacing as spending time on different conflicts obviously sends different messages to the viewer. As much as I enjoyed every scene of this movie, I honestly would have opted to cut some side characters’ content to ensure the main duo gets the focus they deserve.

Conclusion

Even after a rewatch I am continually surprised by how much I enjoy this film given my opinions on Shinkai’s previous works. I really think he hit his stride with this one and I look forward to the next one in hopes that it will uphold this precedent of quality.

Although the visuals and sound are still great, they definitely took a backseat this time to make room for multiple drastic improvements in the plot and characters. Neither are the deepest or most meaningful even in the season they came out with, but that’s okay, because they all uphold this story excellently, leading this movie to eclipse its predecessors.

I have no major complaints with this one. The only reason I hesitate to score it higher is because there was no real “wow” moment, no smoking gun so to speak. The finale was good, sure, but it didn’t really deliver the emotional gut punch that I have come to expect from this creator. This film’s strength comes instead from its versatility.

Weathering With You is a fantastic all-rounder that will undoubtedly please any anime fan or even your average moviegoer. It is also an indication that the Shinkai formula has no intentions of stopping its huge-budget productions anytime soon. You know what, though? After all this time, I may just be on board with it.