[Review XN] Film 25: YOUR NAME. (KIMI NO NA WA)

"There's no way we could meet. But one thing is certain. If we see each other, we'll know. That you were the one who was inside me. That I was the one who was inside you. "

There are at least two strong reasons why Your Name (or in the original title, Kimi No Na Wa) sparked a lot of curiosity from the general public. First, the film topped the box office ladder for 12 weeks (!) And is now comfortable in the fourth position of the best-selling film of all time in the Land of the Rising Sun. Second, Your Name is the latest work by Makoto Shinkai. If you have never heard of his name, he is the top anime director in Japan today with an impressive line of highly sentimental works such as 5 Centimeters per Second, Children Who Chase Lost Voices, and The Garden of Words, and staying as a successor to the maestro Hayao Miyazaki. Hearing that Shinkai-sensei released a new film has actually aroused excitement, so try to add to the news that his work this time was responded to very warmly by critics and viewers. How good is Your Name, to the extent that the hype on social media can be so high? If that's your question, the answer I can then offer after watching the film on the big screen is "believe the hype".

The telling of Your Name lays its focus on two high school teenagers, Taki (Ryunosuke Kamiki) and Mitsuha (Mone Kamishiraishi). Taki lives in Tokyo with her father, while Mitsuha, who is taken care of by her grandmother, lives in a suburb called Itomori. Destiny then linked the two teenagers from two different regions and did not know each other through this unusual method, namely body exchange. Mitsuha often wakes up in Taki's body, and vice versa. Living a new life with a totally foreign body in the beginning created a culture shock for each of them, moreover they were not the same gender. But gradually, they began to enjoy this oddity and decided to help each other. Mitsuha mobilized her femin feminine power ’to bring Taki closer to the woman she was estimating at work part time, then Taki injected her courage into Mitsuha so that she would no longer experience oppression and transformed into a popular girl at school. Even though the two of them can only communicate through notes, sharing life experiences with one another impacts on their bonding which leads to a desire to meet each other. It's just that arranging Taki's meeting with Mitsuha isn't as easy as one might imagine given the distance turned out to be not the only barrier between them.

Knowing that Makoto Shinkai will explore the story about body swap in Your Name, this forehead immediately frowns. Aside from similar-themed films, they often end in misery - although not a few are worth looking at, the stretcher genre is dominated by comedy. Is the filmmaker trying to experiment using a genre other than drifting romance? Then we also know, Your Name is not merely a comedy show because it also combines teenage romance, science fiction, fantasy to disaster. Something that sounds very 'full' is also ambitious on paper and honestly it is very difficult to imagine how the five can be resonated properly without having to be sacrificed let alone give the impression of being forced. But Makoto Shinkai (again) succeeded in proving that he was indeed suitable to hold the title as the current King of Animation through his expertise in composing five different genres in Your Name. At first, the film starts in the comedy - according to the nature of the film related to body swap. Highlighting the awkwardness of Taki and Mitsuha to adapt to the body of the opposite sex. The joke lies in how Taki is suddenly feminine or Mitsuha's habit of squeezing her breasts in the morning. It was really harsh, but it did not seem cheap and was very effective in provoking the audience to laugh.

Which is surprising - especially if you don't know anything about this film or the works of Makoto Shinkai, the second half has the opposite tone of narration. The intensity of his joke began to be reduced and gradually gave off a sentimental scent, following Taki's decision to meet Mitsuha directly at Itomori. Telling me what happened afterward will have an effect on your enjoyment of watching Your Name, so I'd better stop here. One thing is clear, this search moment is a turning point of the film with the opening of doors for other genres that then lead you into the phase of "hope anxious". The audience felt anxiety because they were emotionally connected to Taki and Mitsuha. They are mediocre characters that you can meet in the surroundings whether in the form of relatives, friends, neighbors, or even ourselves. That is why it is so probab

Yes, Your Name is not only beautiful in terms of the way the filmmaker rolls the story, but also visually beautiful. Shinkai-sensei's shrewdness in spoiling the eye-pampering spectra is indeed not in doubt, because that's his main advantage (watch The Miraculous Garden of Words!), But through Your Name - thanks to abundant financial support, he creates even higher standards. It shows, scribble on canvas can produce magical power as big as CGI. Comet, aurora, twilight, snowflakes, the landscape of the city of Itomori which is composed of mountains and lakes, until the views of the city of Tokyo are etched astonishingly. United together with a beat but drifting musical accompaniment from RADWIMPS, this beautiful visual supports the perfect storytelling that is rolled out so smoothly by Shinkai-sensei - this is great, reflecting on the fact that many genres are merged here, enriching the flavor of the film. Yes, Your Name is a spectacle made up of a variety of emotions in which each sticks out to strengthen one another rather than weaken. You will be made to laugh by him, then feel anxiety, then get a tense sensation, and ultimately made to cry whether caused by emotion or the beauty of the film. Borrowing the term young people today, Your Name will make you baper. This is a masterpiece from a Makoto Shinkai and I dare to make sure that the statement is not hyperbolic.

Intermezzo: After watching Your Name, I think about it. Never met a stranger, and seemed to know him even though he remembered very well that the two of us had never met. Or maybe, we once exchanged bodies like Taki with Mitsuha? Hmmm...

Outstanding ( 4.5 / 5 )