Shinkai does Shinkai things better than ever

<div align="justify">When I think of Makoto Shinkai I think of two things: beautiful, hyper-realistic art and grounded, unfulfilled romances. So, when I heard of the success of his latest film, Your Name, in the Japanese box office, I thought little of it. After all, eye candy and high school heartache are a sure-fire combination to draw out Japanese teens in droves.

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Not one to miss a feature-length anime showing locally, however, I entered the cinema today with modest expectations. Despite his penchant for gorgeous photorealism, Shinkai’s stories have always seemed a tad underwhelming to me and by this stage, predictably repetitive in content matter.

I was marginally, albeit pleasantly surprised to find that Shinkai had managed to not fuck anything up.

#Don't stop believin'

Your Name is the story of two high schoolers: Mitsuha, just a small-town girl livin’ in a lonely world, and Taki, just a city boy born and raised in South Detroit Tokyo. The two inexplicably swap bodies at random intervals while sleeping and begin improving upon their opposite’s lives. A fledgling romance emerges from their exploits and is eventually threatened.

The tags sum it up nicely:
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Yep, Shinkai still has a train fetish. In this instance, particularly for the symbolically-rich sliding carriage doors.

Shinkai sticks with what he knows. Body swapping isn’t exactly an original concept either. In fact, the opening act is incredibly stock standard. Exposition is handled with enough subtlety, although all we really learn is that Mitsuha is disdainful towards her provincial life and that Taki has a solid sense of justice. They’re just a couple of ordinary kids.

Accompanying this ordinariness are the usual body swapping shenanigans: the groping of a new pair of tits, the dread of having a piss, etc. It’s all very gratuitous, maybe even distasteful, and doesn’t really achieve much but reinforce the ungainly pubescent normalcy of the main characters. Are their personalities uninspired? Yes. But does this detract from the film? Not especially.

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And that’s the thing. Despite how unremarkable the main pair were, or maybe even because of their normalcy, you can’t help but smile at the development of their awkward, teenage relationship and the circumstances in which they must foster it. They’re just a couple of nice, likeable kids making the best of an unusual situation. And as little substance and weight as there is to it, it’s done in a way that’s both endearing and believable.

That said, I do find the duo's innocence and bright, positive attitudes to be a tad dubious. It's all very chaste. I mean, you're inexplicably swapping bodies with someone halfway across the country. Would people really react so calmly in this situation? I'd probably freak the fuck out. You'd imagine that this would warrant considerable concern, but these kids just take everything in stride.

Major conflict is introduced in the second half that adds a neat spin to what had otherwise been a fairly typical plotline. This conflict is handled carefully enough such that the plot never becomes convoluted. But most importantly, the lengths to which the main duo go to resolve their plight is admirable. Having literally walked each other’s footsteps, the care they display for one another is palpable and ultimately, you’re rooting for their success. In fact, this very may well be Shinkai’s most emotionally resonate pairing, as it is far more conceivable and he dedicates a lot more attention to developing their relationship than in previous works.

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Again, there is sufficient subtlety here. Things can teeter on melodrama or cheesiness, but it never enters the uncouth sappiness of The Garden of Words. Conversely, nothing is as dull or superfluous as the second act of 5 Centimeters Per Second. The film remains charming and unremarkable, just like the primary characters. And really, this tasteful simplicity is more than adequate.

The side cast is your usual garden variety of comic reliefs. It includes every grandmother ever in the history of anime and one absolute bombshell of a crush/senpai/friend.

#24 wallpapers per second

Speaking of character designs, both Mitsuha and Taki fit the profile of the ordinary kids they are.

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Indeed, we can’t talk Shinkai without talking about his visual design. Miyazaki uses colourful, fantastical art to bolster the magic of his stories. Hosoda uses clean minimalism to bestow upon his films a homely warmth. Shinkai strives for picturesque hyperreality to emphasise the beauty of his romances. This rings especially true in Your Name, perhaps more so than in any of his other works.

As a guy whose livelihood depends on pulling on audiences’ heartstrings, Shinkai does an excellent job of returning to recurring imagery and motifs at opportune moments for maximum emotional impact. Mere atmospheric shots are of course, gorgeous: brilliant scarlet autumn leaves, water effects and food porn are in abundance. A sequence detailing Mitsuha’s entire life is a particular standout, complete with pastel-like colouring.

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Shinkai also uses his imagery to play around with some secondary themes. This type of thematic-visual storytelling has never really been on his agenda, so it’s nice to see him dabble in it. Gloriously detailed smartphones and shimmering cityscapes are juxtaposed with rolling plains, rocky terrain and sylvan architecture. Such a simple contrast invites a variety of relevant thematic talking-points. Tradition meets modernity. To this end, however, I will say that I found Shinkai’s efforts to invokeFukushima and other disasterssomewhat jejune.

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Emotional peaks almost always coincide the impassioned beat of J-rock band RADWIMPS’ ballads. Some might find their songs too repetitive or conventional, but I never got tired of them. The voice acting is pretty much faultless.

~youtube(a2GujJZfXpg)~

#Hi! My name is... What? My name is... Who? My name is...

Your Name is hardly original. Its characters aren’t either. It's all very conventional. But Shinkai treats both the core relationship and story with enough clarity, subtlety and care that they develop to a state of cogency.

The film is aesthetically gorgeous, fervidly charming and perhaps most importantly, unassuming. It doesn’t lose itself in awkward plot diversions or unrefined characters and relationships. And although it neither becomes too melodramatic nor is it exceptionally moving, Your Name might just jerk a tear or two.

I doubt I’ll rewatch this. However, if you even remotely enjoy romance anime, watch this in cinemas if at all possible.