Writer/director Makoto Shinkai’s latest film venture bears all the hallmarks of an anime classic. The story soars majestically across the screen via breathtaking animation and is even more epic and grandiose than some of Ghibli genius Hayao Miyazaki’s features.
Its set-up introduces two teenagers, Taki, a high school boy in central Tokyo, and Mitsuha, a girl who lives with her grandmother and sister in the mountainous town of Itomori. Mitsuha sifts into fugue states before inexplicably switching bodies with Taki. The body swapping back and forth soon becomes more regular and coincides with the local passing of a comet called Tiamat, deemed the “celestial event of the century”. Ground rules are enforced to prevent Taki and Mitsuha from ruining each other’s lives, or at least reputations, before Your Name swiftly buds into a dizzy but magical fantasy romance about parallel universes, finding ones self and the inevitable quest for true love.
Themes relating to teen insecurity tie to celestial bodies and alternative realities (astronomy not astrology), instilling a sci-fi air which isn’t overwhelming but prominent throughout. Yet Your Name’s main strengths mostly lie within its teen-love nucleus and breathtaking animation. Vibrant colours and detailed landscapes captivate but some may be bamboozled by its vehement editing, snaking story lines and discombobulating fantasy sequences. There is a period in the latter half when it’s difficult to gauge who is occupying whose body and the story gets swallowed by supporting character subplots which, while enriching the reality in which it is based, distract from the central narrative path and slightly slow it down.
Politics relating to a mayoral election/town revitalisation project seem pointless but are pivotal in retrospect, as are stints with Taki’s work colleague Ms Okudera, while JAXA footage of the comet Tiamat also provides context. Finer details augment Your Name but with a little more plot refining it, it could have been a masterpiece. The film threatens to drift into becoming gratingly sentimental but Shinkai resists jimmying in limp epiphanies to bolster emotions or flat-pack romance clichés.
Constant and mostly hilarious comedy is generated from the biological faux pas that occur between Taki and Mitsuha. One highlight sees Taki (as Mitsuha) unable to resist exploring his new female body but constantly getting caught doing so by Mitsuha’s younger sister. Meanwhile, the “celestial show of the century” segments infuse an ethereal air, festooned by the type of wincing pop ditties that garland Ghibli end credit sequences.
Japanese teen pop culture is also aptly integrated alongside the commanding animation and modern tech references. “This is too realistic”, Mitsuha states in response to waking up as Taki, but she (as he) is taken by the sunlight shimmering off glass buildings on the Tokyo skyline (it’s her dream to move there). The story takes an incredible turn towards the end, leading to a slightly elongated yet satisfying finale. There are so many magical moments in Your Name but Shinkai’s film is more than the sum of its parts. Sublime, sweeping and subtle animation (light bleeding through blinds and backdrops), accompanied by mind bending plot twists and dreams within dreams make Your Name seem more like a psychedelic gallop through a dope bludgeoned subconscious, than a parable on teen life, re-connecting souls in a linear love tale.
Your Name advances the sci-fi/fantasy genre with fresh facets and swirling riffs and feels like a technological leap in terms of film animation, then ultimately manifests as a stirring, astonishing and sometimes befuddling joy from start to finish.
YOUR NAME will open in selected key cities from 18th November with exclusive screenings at over 100 UK & Irish cinemas nationwide on Thursday, 24th November.
