The highest-grossing anime film of all time has finally come to my city!

What’s It About? An unusual bond forms between Taki and Mitsuha, two Japanese high school students, when they begin waking up in each other’s bodies – but this seemingly random phenomenon may actually have a greater purpose.

STRAIGHT UP: Colorful, inventive, and full of warmth. A true delight. 4.5/5

Author’s Note: This review covers the Japanese-language version of the film with English subtitles.

What I Liked

Top-notch art and animation – Director Makoto Shinkai is known for his meticulous approach to animation, which is on full display in Your Name as well. The art direction as a whole is fantastic, with lots of vivid colors, memorable scenery, and expressive characters. The real pleasure, though, is in the details, like the intricate sequence of Mitsuha weaving a braided cord, or how Taki and Mitsuha show different body language when they’re inhabiting each others’ bodies. Of course, most of the film is traditionally animated, with what CGI there is being used mostly for transitional scenes.

The voice actors – Ryunosuke Kamiki and Mone Kamishiraishi deserve a ton of credit for their roles as Taki and Mitsuha, respectively. Not only were both of them effectively playing two different characters at once, they had to collaborate so that each character’s voice stayed consistent, no matter which actor was delivering the lines. It’s an extremely difficult task that was only achieved through a combination of talent and great chemistry.

An exciting twist – Your Name has it pretty good with its romantic comedy setup, thanks to the aforementioned chemistry between its lead characters. I probably would have been satisfied if the movie had simply played out that initial premise. Instead, Shinkai gives us a signature plot twist midway through that adds an unexpected dose of excitement and takes the whole film to another level. I can’t say more without spoiling it (and I really don’t want to spoil it), but it felt like I got two great movies for the price of one.

Grounded sense of humor – A lot of comedy in anime these days is either rote or overly exaggerated, and it’s become tiresome to me. Your Name throws its characters into a lot of the same awkward humor situations, but has them take a more refreshingly low-key approach to things. As a result, it’s actually funny!

A message for our times – I feel that some of the major themes in Your Name – in particular, the importance of bringing people together, and of seeing the beauty in different ways of life – have only become more prominent with time and should be especially resonant with audiences lucky enough to see it now.

What I Disliked

The opening credits – The inclusion of a TV anime-style opening almost took me out of the movie before it got started. It was an awkward bridge to the rest of the film, and might have accidentally telegraphed parts of the ending.

Rough patches – There were a few scenes throughout the movie where certain elements felt awkward or out of place to me. I had a little trouble following along with the opening scenes and Taki’s first date, and took issue with one particular shot in the epilogue.

Poor subtitles – It’s not the movie’s fault, but the official subtitles provided for the theatrical release of Your Name leave a lot to be desired. I noticed a couple of major mechanical errors and some awkward grammar, and the song translations were total nonsense. I’m curious to know if the English dub script fared any better.

CLOSING THOUGHT: In my experience, the only anime that most people will consider watching are Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli films (My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and the like). I think that’s about to change. I’m convinced that Your Name has that same kind of transcendent appeal, and that it will help people discover new possibilities within the medium. It may even open the door for other directors to find success in a post-Miyazaki world. Personally, I’m going to try to show it to as many people as I can, as soon as I can.