
a review by MobPsykos

a review by MobPsykos
A Masterpiece
Story: 9/10 A
Animation/Art: 10/10 A
Sound: 11/10 S
Characters: 8/10 B
Acting(subbed): 10/10 A
Enjoyment: 10/10 A
Overall: 12/10 S+
Story:
A masterclass in storytelling with the only flaw being slow pacing at the beginning. A romance with the supernatural is nothing new but it is done the best out of all others. Every plot point is important and matters. Every plot twist is impossible to predict. It is an overdone style of romance but it outperforms all others, making it feel new. Slow pacing for the first 30 minutes though.
Animation/Art:
It's Makoto Shinkai. It's beautiful. Nothing else needs be said.
Sound:
The soundtrack was done by the band RADWIMPS and it is one of the greatest I've ever heard. Each track perfectly enhances the scene that it is portraying. The songs in the movie are all bangers and hold emotional weight even without the movie as context. The sound design itself is realistic and doesn't take away from the movie in scenes from the city with overly loud noises. And this was listening through a discord call with bad audio. After putting on my good headphones(dt 770 if you wanna know) and listening to the movie on rewatch it was even better.
Characters:
The weakest part of this movie and yet still so good. However, this only extends to the main characters. They are driven by emotion rather than logic and being that they are still teens it fits well. On the other hand, the side characters, even important ones, are disappointing. They are too dismissive of the personality changes during the swaps and are too easily convinced to follow the leads in their goals. Those goals are highly illegal in the end. They are just so dumb.
Acting:
I watched it subbed. It was great. The voice actors portrayed emotions through their voices very well and it seemed very realistic. Both voice actors have voices that match the appearance and age of the characters so immersiveness is not an issue. An example of their superb acting is when Mitsuha begins to cry and laugh at the same time. Incredibly hard to do convincingly yet it comes across as completely natural. Well done.
Enjoyment and Overall:
It's my favorite movie. I hadn't watched any romance anime or not in years but watching this movie alone completely brought me back and made me wonder why I stopped. Every aspect of this film could be used as an example of the best possible except for the characters and even then they are good. Both critically and subjectively I can't say that this isn't my favorite movie and the best movie that I've ever seen.
Award:
I award this movie, the greatest award I can bestow, to it I give the only 12/10 I have ever awarded. And with it, the first and only S+ ranking I've ever given.
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