Weathering With You
Makato Shinkai kind of enraptured me with his new film, “Weathering With You.” I guess this means I should catch up with his popular and acclaimed last film, “Your Name,” now, doesn’t it? That will happen, but now, I just want to bask in the delight that Shinkai’s newest film brought me in its imaginative, emotional 112 minutes for a bit.
The film begins with a young boy, Hodaka, taking a ferry to Tokyo. It always seems to be raining, and he’s unaccompanied on his trip, although he does meet a man on there who promptly gets Hodaka to give him a meal, and he gives Hodaka his business card, if he needs anything in Tokyo. We find out that Hodaka is running away from home, and Tokyo is not a good place for a runaway with little money. He eventually finds the man, Mr. Suga, who puts him to work out of his apartment, where he runs tabloid articles. One day, Hodaka is alone in a fast food restaurant, and one of the workers, Hina, gives him a sandwich. Later on, he meets Hina on the street, being offered money by an older man, which Hodaka breaks up. After that, Hodaka and Hina, and Hina’s younger brother Nagi, are inseparable, and Hodaka learns something interesting about Hina; she can pray to bring sunshine to the always raining Tokyo. Maybe there’s another way for them to make money, after all.
I adore the delicate beauty of this type of animation style. I don’t want to single out anime, in general, although I do love the style, because not every film looks this simply and lovely. Even with constant rain, I’m not sure that I’ve seen many other Japanese animated film that looked more wonderful. This transports us into a unique world, even if it’s fundamentally similar to ours, but the magical aspects of “Weathering With You” feel like they surround the film, even when it’s very real-world situations. This is a very simple hook for a fantasy film, and the way it is grounded in an emotional element in Hina’s life, as well as something people in the film’s reality accept, is what makes it work so well. The way Shinkai builds this story, every element of it, and how he pays it off, would not be as successful if he didn’t have characters we are engaged in. Hodaka and Hina are simply drawn, but unexpectedly deep, characters, and their connection is not just one of two people who fall in love, but people who are important to complete one another in a way that isn’t just romantic. But also, there’s Mr. Suga, who has a unique story all his own, along with his helper at his apartment, a situation which doesn’t really play out the way you expect; and Nagi has a story of his own we become a part of. This is about characters in a situation, with fantasy elements that elevate it to the level of Miyazaki or Satoshi Kon in terms of storytelling. Not only do I want to revisit this film, but I am looking forward to digging into Shinkai’s other films.
There are images in this film that are among the most memorable we’ve seen in film. The opening shot is on Hina looking out of a hospital room window, and seeing a moment where sunshine glows on top of another building. The moments where sunshine comes through when Hina prays, and the joys that she brings to people in doing so. The moment where Hodaka and Hina become completely linked in the story is tense and haunting. And when Tokyo becomes flooded by the constant rain, it’s an image that’s hard to shake. “Weathering With You” would be a great film to show people who still feel like animated films are solely for children and families. A lot of anime can work like that. Few are as striking and engaging as this one.
