__This Review Contains Spoilers for _Weathering With You___

From the creator of the critically-acclaimed movie that just barely managed to cling onto the last place of my “Best of the Decade List” comes the follow-up that I wish I saw last year because now, I’ll forever look like a chump for not including this in the aforementioned list.

If it wasn’t clear, by the time the credits began in the theater, I knew that I absolutely adored this movie, much more so than its predecessor, Your Name. It’s a movie with a lot of heart, both in terms of soul and the romance that blooms between the characters. This isn’t to accuse the movie of being saccharine, however. Towards the end of the film, I was afraid that the movie was going to go with a happily-ever-after where everything turns out well in the end. It certainly seemed like that was what this movie was gearing up towards. And yes, while the main character, Hodaka, gets what he desires in the end, there are great consequences for his actions. This gives his decision a lot of weight and makes it all the more gut-wrenchingly beautiful.

Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering With You tells the story of Hodaka Morishima who runs away from his island home to Japan during a period where the bay is seeing an unusually long period of rain. There, he meets Hina, an energetic young woman who he discovers has the power to control the weather. The story tells of their strange and sweet story, sunshine becoming something much different Hodaka as the movie progresses.

It’s a feature film, so I could skim over the animation with a simple “it’s great,” but that doesn’t really do it justice and I feel I owe it to the staff for how painstaking it was to make due to how intricately they animated the rain and its subsequent effects. So let me begin by saying that if you didn’t think that rainy days were beautiful, this movie just might sway you. The rolling clouds are an absolute treat for the eyes and each puddle is animated with care. Sunshine, in its while sparing, is also quite lovely, then haunting as its context changes. I also loved the bizarre sky world that sits atop a giant storm cloud -- it reminded me of Castle in the Sky. Oh, and this movie proves that rolling hills are not the only beautiful locale in anime movies, if the streets of Tokyo are any indication. It's not always the nicest, but the city sure is beautiful. The characters are also quite expressive and this goes a long way in making them likable. Giant, goofy Ghibli tears are in full effect here and I love it.

One way I’d describe this movie is cozy; given the setting, its apt to compare this to having a blast in your house with some friends despite the pouring rain outside. Two of the insert songs help with this feeling (I’ll get back to those later), giving the movie a sense of whimsical levity. I particularly liked the scene of Hadoka, Hina, and Nagi at the hotel. It’s just such a cute scene of a bunch of kids having a blast in a lavish place. It really breaks up the preceding and succeeding tension, while not feeling disruptive, since the transition back to tension is so seamless. The movie could also be a hoot at times. In particular, I liked the ridiculousness of Nagi being a casanova, to the point where Hodaka, his elder, calls him sempai out of respect. There are a couple of dumb fanservice jokes, though, though fortunately these don’t detract from the movie too much.

I also really like the music. Much like Your Name it might not be typical anime movie far, due to the abundance of rock and pop influence thanks to the contribution of RADWIMPS. The songs were catered to the movie and vice-versa even if they can be a bit much at times.

And it can be a bit “much” at times, mainly due to the insert songs. They’re somewhat inoffensive when they’re used during the “happy montage” sections, but that still leaves the three other insert songs (if I recall correctly. I’ll lowball it to be polite). They make tense or sad scenes feel somewhat overdramatic, like Shinkai is hysterically jumping up and down, yelling at audiences to “FEEL SAD” or “FEEL HAPPY.” It’s definitely a personal preference, but it got to the point where they took away from the scenes they were in. It just felt overwrought, for lack of a better term. And I suppose it wouldn’t be nearly as bad if not for the sheer quantity of them. There were so many and they appeared so frequently towards the end of the film that at times you’d swear you were watching a musical. My inclination was either to laugh or throw up my hands in exasperation. But as one of my favorite reaction gifs states: both is good.

And overwrought is a word I can describe sections of the finale. Particularly anything involving gunplay. It’s just kind of ridiculous to see this dopey kid brandishing a gun like a badass, but coming across like a scared puppy. Even if this is the point, it still doesn’t stop the fact that the drama really feels ratcheted up to absurd levels at that point, like I was thrown in the middle of watching a teledrama. And it’s pretty frustrating because there was already decent drama that felt natural to the plot. I don’t know, man, there’s a limited number of passes I give to a movie depicting kids effortlessly tackling trained police officers like linebackers and Weathering With You exceeded that limit.

I’m still iffy on the en media res prologue opening. On one hand, I can’t think of a way to make the opening as striking (Hadako being saved by Keisuke followed by a beam of light would be striking, just not nearly as much) and it creates a decent mystery of understanding what’s happening. On the other hand, the mystery might be a bit too much and I was just confused, trying to desperately contextualize the opening with the movie proper at the expense of some of my focus. Granted, I’m not the sharpest knife in the crayon box, so what do I know?

I enjoyed how the supernatural elements were used here compared to Your Name. I don’t know if I want to say it was explained more (particularly because I have the memory of a goldfish and I don’t want to be incorrect), but it certainly felt it was a part of the plot more. The disaster is directly related to the characters and the supernatural elements are in the movie throughout, Shinkai himself saying that the “gimmick” of the film is people believing things without scientific reason.

I enjoyed the romance more here than in Your Name, since we get to see it bloom more, namely because the two leads interact face-to-face a lot more and we see Hodaka struggle to articulate his feelings, leading to the explosive moment where he has to say it or risk never saying it again. A similar “explosive moment” happens in Your Name, but I feel it’s better earned here, even if not necessarily from a character standpoint, certainly from an audience standpoint.

If I have to give one more tiny detraction, it’s that things don’t really start to click with me super tightly until towards the end. Yes, I know that’s how climaxes work and I believed the beginning was cute enough, but it just didn’t seem that outstanding at first.

I really enjoyed all the characters. Keisuke was compelling, Nagi was hilarious, I enjoyed seeing Hina’s journey, and I enjoyed the lovable, “extra” lovesick dork that was Hodaka. And yes, it might be controversial to some, but I even enjoyed Hodaka’s decision at the end.

Weathering With You, at first seems to follow the same story beats as Your Name. A strange, supernatural occurrence, the leads doing wholesome things as they get used to this occurrence, tragedy rears its ugly head. Then, you’d expect the characters to make a sacrifice to reverse this tragedy at a great personal price, ala Your Name. I suspected they’d reverse the tragedy in some way and if I’m being honest, I wasn’t on board at first. My favorite love stories end in tragedy and part of why they stick with me is the heartwrenching fact that things didn’t work out in the end. I imagined I’d think the film would be much more effective if duty won out in the end, if the world showed that love didn’t heal all wounds.

I suppose, part of why I loved this film so, is that, in an odd way, it both affirmed and subverted my expectations.

I didn’t imagine the film would be a complete downer, so I imagined that Hodaka would get Hina back and things would work out perfectly. He does return Hina to earth, but as a result, Tokyo becomes completely flooded, becoming a bay once more. Furthermore, due to his various crimes, he’s put on probation until he graduations, thus being unable to see Hina. So while his love wins out in the end via a very heartfelt reunion, there are consequences for his actions, there are sacrifices made. I think this makes the ending all the more beautiful. It may seem selfish to some. It probably is, but it shows just how passionately Hodaka loves Hina. Passionately enough, he’d condemn Tokyo to see her safe. Again, YMMV if this makes the ending a moving romantic tale or a cautionary tale of the stupidity of young love, ala (the popular academic reading of) Romeo and Juliet. If you don’t know, I’m an absolute sucker for romance, so this got me right in the feels, especially as someone who puts so much stock in duty.

So, is this movie perfect? No, it definitely has some bumps, mainly from being a bit overwrought at times. It’s pretty close to perfection in my book, from lovable characters, to beautiful design, to gripping romance, to the long “race for your love segment,” this movie had all the ingredients to warm my heart. The ending can be divisive, though I feel this gives the movie complexity.

I’m all out of wordy ways to say I absolutely adored this movie and I’m glad I got to see it in theaters, even with a somewhat rambunctious crowd. I cannot recommend it enough, from people who enjoyed Shinkai’s previous works, to fans of romance.

Shinkai stated that Your Name proved that non-Miyazaki-esque anime movies can sell. To me, Weathering With You proves that non-Miyazaki-esque movies can soar. I can’t wait to see what Shinkai has in store for us next.

Now if you excuse me, I need to quietly sneak this onto my favorites list.

9.5/10

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