Your Name. Movie Review (2016)
An enchanting film about two teens that find that they are magically waking up in each other’s bodies, Your Name. is a touching journey with a few surprises along the way.
Many people stay away from animated films, and that makes sense if you were raised in the era of Saturday morning cartoons. A long time ago, animation meant a Disney movie or The Smurfs. It wasn’t a feature film full of nuance and emotion. But times have changed, and if you have never given animation a chance before, I highly suggest that you do.
Your Name. is about two teenagers, Taki and Mitsuha, who find themselves waking up in each other’s bodies. Mitsuha lives in a small rural town in Japan, and her dream is to live in a bustling city. Taki lives in Tokyo, so when she wakes up in his body, Mitsuha is suddenly where she’s always wanted to be. But how and why are they changing bodies, and what did the other do in their body yesterday? Everyone around them seems to notice the differences, but maybe there’s a larger story at play here.
I highly recommend watching this in Japanese with English subtitles. It is how the filmmakers intended it to be experienced, and the subtleties in the tones of the original actors will just never be as good as the dubbing in English (or any other language available). If reading or subtitles are an issue for you, definitely watch the movie over not watching the movie, but if you can watch it the way the filmmakers originally released the film, it will be a richer experience.
The animation here is gorgeous. It is rich and full of detail, with many striking visuals of both scenic views and cityscapes. Many times, the emotions that you are feeling are reflected on the screen in more muted colors or brightly lit areas – it is a give and take between you and the stunning canvas that you are watching.
There are many funny moments in Your Name., particularly since Taki is a boy and Mitsuha is a girl. As a teen boy, dreaming about breasts, when you wake up and you suddenly have them, you have to find out more about what you’ve got. And as a girl suddenly in a boy’s body, discovering that you have to pee is going to be an entirely different experience.
What starts as something cute (and continues to have funny moments – anime often does), over time, opens up into something else. You slowly develop an emotional connection to Taki and Mitsuha’s journey, and it ramps up such that you may not even notice. I didn’t. But what I did discover is that when it was over, I had to sit with it for a little while. I could not speak and I just held the feelings – sadness, hope, mournfulness, and potential are just a few of what I can put into words.
Your Name. is a heartfelt tale of love, loss, searching, and forgetting. It is charming in both story and art, and it will make you wonder about whether soul connections really exist. What starts as something very funny gets much deeper. It’s an incredibly full-hearted experience. Give it a chance, it’s beautiful.
Runtime: 106 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: PG
Languages Spoken In The Film: Japanese with English subtitles (recommended) or dubbed in English
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? Yes
My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Available: Free on Max and Hulu, to rent on Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
