97% on Rotten Tomatoes
Chloe's thoughts: A must-see; Watch it in cinemas; I'm buying the DVD
Watch it if you: Want a great fantasy story mixed in with some romance, mystery, and drama; Want to see a beautiful animation; Don't want to miss out on one of the best movies of the year
Mitsuha and Taki are two high schoolers who have never met. Yet one day, they begin to dream that they are waking up in each other's bodies.
I heard about this at first after I saw Kubo and the Two Strings, and people were discussing which animated films would be nominated for the Oscars. A lot of people seemed to think that Your Name would not only be nominated, but also should nab the Oscar ahead of other animations this year, such as Zootopia, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Finding Dory. I remember searching this film up, but upon seeing that it was a Japanese animated film that wasn't out in Australia yet, I proceeded to forget about it.
Then, recently, through word of mouth, I heard that this was a really great film and decided to check it out.
Since it's a foreign and unknown film, there's only limited screenings of this movie, currently with two sessions everyday at Macquarie and George Street (and maybe at other cinemas, but it's definitely not showing at Castle Towers or Parramatta).
There's also an English dubbed version, but since I despise dubs with a passion, I went with the Japanese version with English subtitles, and I would recommend this because I don't see how some of the Japanese lines and expressions would translate very well with an English-speaking person (some lines probably got cut in the dubbed version), and I also saw the English dubbed version of the trailer and the voices sounded so cringeworthy.
Also I thought it was pretty easy to follow along with the subtitles. They appear for long enough for you to be able to read it and also watch the movie, and there was never a moment where I missed out on something because the subtitles disappeared too quickly.
So now, onto the movie.
I didn't know much about the movie going in, but I was so surprised at this!
It started off as a cute little romance comedy, and then it turned into a great fantasy story with a little bit of drama and thriller elements thrown into it.
The plot was really fascinating, and I don't really want to talk too much about it because I don't want to spoil anything, but it was seriously a very emotional ride. By the end of the film, I was wailing like a baby, and we had agreed that the one word to describe the film was: heartwrenching.
The animation is also amazing; at some points I was like, "Woah, that looks so realistic!" and at one stage of the film, there is this beautiful shot of scenery, and I kept thinking, "Wow, that is beautiful, I want to go there even though this is just an animated film!"
Overall, this was a brilliant film. It was definitely not what I was expecting, but in the best sense. The story is heartwrenching, and you get so emotionally invested in the characters and you just want the best for them. And that's a credit to the director, who's done a solid job at incorporating all these different elements into a cohesive story.
I seriously recommend this; I will root for this to win an Oscar, I will buy the DVD, I will rewatch it and cry again until my eyes run dry, and then I'll move on to all the director's other works.
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