Weathering With You is the newest animated film by Japanese director Makoto Shinkai, whose smash hit Your Name broke box-office records in 2016 as one of the most commercially successful and critically revered anime films of all time. Praised for its twisty and emotional plot as well as stunning visuals, Your Name would prove to be difficult to follow up as Weathering With You fails to live up to its predecessor on an emotional level but succeeds in being just as visually impressive.
The film follows Hodaka, a high school boy who runs away from home to live in Tokyo, only to struggle to find a way to make a living. He is taken in by Keisuke, a writer who supplies food and board in exchange for written articles about urban legends. This work leads him to Hina, a teenage girl living as a legendary “weather goddess” with the ability to clear up the seemingly endless rainstorms that plague Tokyo. From there, the story unravels around the nature of Hina’s abilities and the budding relationship between the two.
Without getting too deep into the plot and without comparing it too much Shinkai’s previous film, Weathering With You was a strange movie to me that in some ways seemed a lot riskier. Despite all of the plot twists in Your Name, at its core I found it much more straightforward a story whereas Weathering With You felt a bit meandering. I felt like it took a lot longer for the movie to get to its point within a mess of side stories and tangents. It also doesn’t help that it feels like it ends two or three times before it actually does.
Speaking of the ending, I feel it is bound to be a point of contention among a lot of people who see the film. The film ultimately has a stance to take on climate change and humanity’s role in dealing with it. At least I think it does, even if I’m not entirely sure what exactly it’s trying to say. Based on my interpretation, the film ends in a much more pessimistic and defeatist note than the cheery and bright animation would lead you to believe. And it happens so abruptly and nonchalantly I was confused as to what exactly I was watching. But I’m also willing to accept that I missed the point entirely.
I went in with high expectations and for that I can’t help but feel just a little let down. Weathering With You is in no way a bad movie, but I feel with a little added focus and a slightly less ambiguous ending it could’ve left my mind reeling like it was with Your Name. At least it was pretty to look at.
7