Why I Love “Your Name?”

Writing a favorable review for Your Name may be cliché right about now. It has been out for more than a year and has shattered anime movie records. However, that’s just looking at the numbers. Strip all the accolades away from it and this movie is still the gem it deserves to be. 

Initially, I was apprehensive of watching this movie because of all the hype that surrounded it during its release. It was compared to “Spirited Away” and when I heard that I was like “oh hell nah, this can’t be better than or as good as that.” Holding myself to that opinion, I just let the movie exist without paying it any mind. Fast forward to 2017 and I was finally ready to give the movie a chance. The best part about watching it after all that time is that I actually had no idea what the movie was about outside of it having romance in it.

I don’t want to get too deep into the story of the movie because I want everyone to enjoy the story without any idea of what it was about like I did. I will say that at its oversimplified core it is a romantic movie but there is a twist within it that makes the movie magical and not too unoriginal. I believe that was one of its strengths too. Even though it was a romance, there was more to it than that. It gave us more than just cheesy moments for us to remember. 

This movie began in a way that I have never seen a movie start out. I love anime openings; I barely skip them if the song is amazing. This movie’s opening scene started off with breathtaking animation from the start and then all of a sudden you hear a song start playing. I was currently in shock and then it really kicks in like it’s an anime opening for the movie itself with such an infectious song to get you excited for what’s about to transpire. Right out the gate, the music already grabs you. The decision for them to use the RADWIMPS band as the leaders for the musical score was a GENIUS idea.  The music felt like it flowed with the movie because they had RADWIMPS compose every step of the way in the animation process. Nothing felt out of place.

Where do I even begin with the description of the animation? My favorite phrase to say is “God came down off of his throne to animate this movie.” The pan out moments of the landscape is so detailed and crisp that it’s as if Makoto Shinkai and his team created another parallel universe. The movie is so easy to look at because the animation is fluid and they did a really good job with how the emotions of the characters were shown.

After the first time watching it, I was speechless…..mostly because I was fighting tears, but the amount of emotions that welled up inside me as I completed this masterpiece could not be held back. Even after the second time….and the third time, I cried. I was so satisfied with this. It felt like the time I took out to watch this was worth it and more. The musical score, the animation, the story; all of those elements fused to make the closest thing to a perfect movie I have ever seen. 

Im not even sure if this review is doing the movie justice as this is the first review I have ever done. I feel so strongly about this movie. I am currently listening to music from the movie to channel how it makes me feel. I am not sure I have ever felt so strongly about an anime as much as this one makes me feel. This is why I want to share it with anyone, even people who do not watch anime regularly. I think this is really one of those works that everyone should see. As im writing this review, I am being moved to tears from the music alone. ‘Your Name’ was simply… beautiful. 

Written by: Ludence A. Romney Jr. (OneReality)