‘Weathering With You’ another Shinkai animated gem
Japanese animator/filmmaker Makoto Shinkai follows his megahit anime masterpiece “Your Name” with another gorgeous, character-focused romantic fantasy, “Weathering With You.”
“Your Name,” released in the U.S. in 2017, was a massive success overseas, eventually becoming the highest grossing anime of all time (more than $350 million in worldwide box office).
Shinkai’s follow-up, “Weathering With You” grossed nearly $200 million worldwide last year. It released briefly in the U.S. in early 2020 and is now (finally) easily available on home video platforms in both its original Japanese and a new English-language dub (featuring the voices of Alison Brie and Lee Pace).
Like “Your Name,” “Weathering With You” focuses on a teenage romance of sorts but with another fantastic twist. High school runaway Hodaka leaves his small town to start an exciting new life in rain-soaked Tokyo, which unfortunately begins with scrounging for food and money on the street. He eventually finds room and board working for an occult newspaper editor, Keisuke, and winds up investigating sightings of a “sunshine girl” who is able to stop the constant rainfall in small areas for short periods of time.
The weather manipulator turns out to be someone Hodaka already met, a girl named Hina, who has recently lost her mother and is caring for her younger brother, Nagi. Once Hodaka realizes Hina can create sunshine, the pair start a business to fulfill requests for fleeting nice weather moments around the city.
Despite the occasional ray of manipulated sunshine, the sci-fi/fantasy elements of “Weathering With You” don’t come into play until the third act, and Shinkai instead takes its time to dramatize the more real-world struggles of his two protagonists. The newspaper editor also gets a grounded subplot, and the entire film lingers on the emotional consequences of loss. In the case of Hina, that loss is forced upon her, whereas Hodaka intentionally chooses to abandon his childhood in favor of his independence.
A more innocent, kid-friendly film might make the weather a more simplistic and cloying metaphor. “Weathering With You” takes a more complicated approach, even as the fates of both Hodaka and Hina become intrinsically tied to Hina’s magical-but-ultimately-limited superpower.
The animation in “Weathering with You” is stunning even in its more grounded moments, ultimately culminating in some dynamic meteorological sequences. Combine the visuals with sharp editing and a dynamic soundtrack by Japanese rock band Radwimps, and “Weathering with You” matches “Your Name” on every technical level.
It’s big-screen worthy anime combined with efficient and engrossing storytelling, making it all the more baffling that Shinkai’s films haven’t yet exploded in the U.S. like they have overseas. The story is a bit flabbier compared to “Your Name” (a near perfect film in this writer’s humble opinion), but definitely still a story worth seeking out, and the English dub is professionally handled for anyone scared off by subtitles.
Both “Weathering with You” and “Your Name” are available on various VOD platforms, including Amazon, Google Play, Apple and more. Both are also now available on Region 1 (North America) Blu-ray. It is better suited for older kids, teens and adults, as some of the themes and situations aren’t for young viewers.
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Tyler Wilson has been writing professionally about movies since 2000. He is the co-host of Old Millennials Remember Movies, available everywhere you find podcasts. He can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.
