Your Name

 Your Name. (君の名は。)

Your Name is an anime film brought over from Japan by Funimation. The film was directed by Makoto Shinkai, who has made some really fantastic anime movies over the past including one of my favorites "5 Centimeters Per Second". I wasn't really sure what this movie was about going into it, I went in without any information or even a trailer and I pretty much gave it a shot just because of the director's attachment.

The only thing I knew going in was the premise of the movie, a movie where a high school boy and girl switch bodies and affect each other's lives in different ways, much like other body switch movies like "Freaky Friday" and "The Change-Up". It seemed like weird premise for the director to go with considering his movies are a little more serious, so I wasn't sure where he was going with this. Actually it's very surprising where this movie goes and it was very unexpected and I honestly found myself loving this movie more than I ever would have though. While at first it DOES do some of the jokes you would expect from a movie where a teenage boy and girl switch and it kinda goes how you might expect, it gets all that stuff out of the way to focus on the real meat of the story. (note: while the body switch jokes might be kinda cliche stuff you'd expect, I still found them pretty funny and charming because of the characters). It's hard to talk about the actual plot of the movie without giving away great moments that are better to experience first hand though. 

The movie follows Mitsuha, a teenage girl living in a very traditional Japanese village far from the major cities. She lives a life of tradition and old ceremonies, but she really wants to experience a more modern life in Tokyo and experience the city life for herself with all it's charm. After she screams a wish to live a different life she wakes up the next day as Taki, a boy living in Tokyo who lives the life she dreams of. Through switching both characters learn what it's like to live opposite lives, and help each other be better. Though there's more mysterious circumstances behind all of this...

This movie works on basically every level. Of course the most important parts are the characters and the animation itself. The two main characters are very likable alone, even more likable when interacting together. I found myself really rooting for them through the movie. The animation is some of the best I've ever seen in any anime film, comparable to the great Studio Ghibli films. The scenery is the best part of the movie by far though, from the very busy and detailed city of Tokyo to the more nature filled scenery of the small towns. Everything feels very bright, colorful and beautiful and it's a treat to look at, especially on the big screen. The music is also very well done, though the only real problem I had with it was the songs that were used during some interludes that felt kinda weird in English translations. They just felt like they would have been a lot better if they just had left them in Japanese with subtitles, still just a small complaint. Oh yeah, there are a few musical interludes in the film with original music (I think), kinda weird, but I think it's probably just an anime thing. 

This film really took me by surprise in the end, I loved the characters and the animation was amazing to stare it the whole time. I laughed, I was shocked, I teared up but didn't cry because I don't do that kind of thing because i'm a grown man and I don't cry during anime movies I swear to you I don't cry, and I had a very fun time watching this. Honestly it's one of the best movies I've seen so far this year, just because of how much fun it was to see an original story with fun characters and beautiful visuals. The only bad thing I can really say is just some of the cliche body switch jokes and the kinda corny music, but nothing that really takes away too much from the film. 

Overall Grade: A-, A great anime film that was fun and surprisingly emotional from start to end. If you like anime in general you will most likely enjoy this, if you don't then it's probably not something you would be interested anyway. Still, I had a really good time watching this and I hope more people see it, i'd say it's a must watch for anime fans, and a good place to start if you are trying to get into anime.