Review. Your Name tells the story of a high school girl in rural Japan and a high school boy in Tokyo who swap bodies.
Synopsis. What if you a high school girl and woke in a boy’s body…a boy you didn’t know? What if you a high school boy and woke in a girl’s body…a girl you didn’t know? What you both decided to communicate through electronic diaries while switched? What if one day the switching stopped and electronic diaries vanished? Would you find the other person? This is the basis for Your Name.
More Details. Your Name is a 2016 Japanese animated romantic fantasy drama film. Mitsuha Miyamizu, a high school girl living in rural Japan is bored of her small town. Mitsuha wishes to be a boy living in Tokoyo in her next life. Taki Tachibana, a high school boy living in Tokyo, wakes up and realizes that he is in Mitsuha’s body. She wakes up in Taki’s body. Taki and Mitsuha realize they have switched bodies. What happens next is more intricate than you might expect.
What I liked about Your Name
Depth of story. This story by writer AND director Makoto Shinkai was more than a body switch. Yes, it explored Mitsuha’s life and how Taki affected it during the switches. Taki had to be dismayed how much better Mitsuha handled the switch. Beyond the body switch, there was a element of chance, a natural disaster, and two people fighting for something that they couldn’t quite remember.
Beautifully drawn. Recently I read an article about the low pay and long hours of Japanese animators who hand draw each intricate frame. It cited “The 2016 anime film Your Name, a charming body-swap romance that became anime’s biggest box office success, features a catalog of gorgeously rendered landscapes worthy of an art gallery”. I can confirm the article is correct. The landscapes are stunning, the food looked good enough to eat, and the emotions of our couple were evident.
What I did not like about Your Name
Not immediately hooked. I am reaching for a negative but it took me 15 minutes into the film to get hooked, but then I was hooked!
Final Thoughts
Your Name is a winner. It has depth of story, unexpected twists, and is wrapped in gorgeous animation. I was delighted where this film took me.
Asian drama fan. I watch and blog dramas on https://kjtamusings.wordpress.com/.
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Where is it streaming?
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Amazon has is Your Name available to rent.
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This film is also available to rent or buy at Apple ITunes.
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I’ve had this on my list for a while now, and it looks really interesting. Glad to see you enjoyed it. Nice review 🙂
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The article sparked my interest. I only dabble in anime but Your Name’s landscapes and city scapes were fabulous.
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Sounds interesting
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Thanks for your review. This film sounds interesting. I will have to check it out.
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Anime is outside my norm but this one worked for me.
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I’ve, in my life, never seen a more beautiful movie than this
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Glad you enjoyed the movie
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