Review: Weathering With You

“Weathering With You,” is an animated movie that is well composed and definitely a gem that you WON'T regret spending one hundred and eleven minutes of your life enjoying. This movie was directed and created by Makoto Shinkai, the same creator of the well-known animated movie “Your Name.”

The story revolves around the world of 16 year old Hodaka Morishima, who runs away to Japan to find his place in the world and who eventually runs into Hina Amano, the sunshine girl. After he meets Hina he begins to realize where he belongs.

What I find many individuals are immediately doing when going to see this movie is having very high expectations, comparing it to “Your Name.” “Your Name” in itself is a well directed movie, however, “Weathering With You,” is a completely different story. When watching “Weathering with you,” in a movie theater you may hear people gasp in the presence of Taki Tachibana and Mitsuha Miyamizu, who are the main protagonists of “Your Name.” Easter eggs like this are what add more joy to the fandom’s experience.

What makes the movie even better are the amazing graphics and beautiful animation, which is definitely due to the bigger budget they had as opposed to the budget “Your Name” had. One thing that made it slightly awkward to watch was the text in the right upper hand corner naming the song that is put into play over the scene- although, the music itself was beautiful, expected nothing less from Kudos RADWIMP.

When generally looking at the movie as a whole, I can tell you that everything was well placed, even if the music was a slap in the face. I can also confidently tell you that seeing the bond between the characters flourish and grow is the most reassuring and refreshing feeling, quite frankly it makes us yearn for a bond like that and some may even relate to the situation. The storyline is entertaining and less confusing than “Your Name” was as well, which is very much appreciated. The fun little moments Hina, Hodaka, and Nagi (Hina’s hilarious younger brother), had are what makes the audience begin to adore them.

Though, what a lot of people are complaining about is that the movie is boring, but I believe they went in expecting too much, wanting it to be a follow up of Makoto Shinkai’s old work. One thing that I wish immensely was incorporated into the movie is more elaboration on the origin of the sunshine girl. Although it was briefly explained it didn’t really cover why the mysterious things were occuring, such as the dragon that appears throughout the film along with the distant sky world.

Besides wanting more explanations on the mystical moments that were occuring, “Weathering With You,” is an intriguing movie and it is certainly worth the watch.