Your Name. (2016)

Director: Makoto Shinkai

Two strangers find themselves linked in a bizarre way. When a connection forms, will distance be the only thing to keep them apart?

Uhm…wow! Another exceptional animated film from Japan. The animation is stunning! You certainly haven’t experienced animated films until you’ve watched an animated film from Japan. They are so different to the Hollywood films.

This film is loaded with emotional depth and creativity. Although it is never explained how the characters managed to switch places, it really becomes immaterial once you follow the story. Around the halfway mark the film shocks us with an unexpected natural disaster that I never saw coming. From there on the film reverses, going back before the disaster, but this is when the film becomes more interesting. Since we are now aware of the impending doom, everything has more meaning.

‘Your Name.’ is a sad, beautiful, uplifting film you have to experience at least once.

‘Your Name.’ is among the top rated films. It broke several records at the time of release. It won awards for Best Music Score, Best Screenplay, Best Animation Film, Best Film, and received several more nominations.

In Japanese.

Would I watch it again? Maybe.