Japanese Anime "Your Name" a Surprise Hit
The animation movie Your Name (Kimi No Nawa) made more than 16.4 billion yen so far at the box office in Japan. It was shown from August 26 to late November. The production company is Comic Wave Film, and the general director is Shinkai Makoto. He also worked on the animation moves The Place Promised in Our Early Days and Five Centimeters Per Second.
Shinkai trained in creating animation movies and is well known in the animation industry.
This movie had high expectations by domestic anime fans because the animation was created by the capable and famous animation designer Tanaka Masayoshi and by Ando Masashi, who worked on STUDIO GHIBLI’s movies.
There are two main characters – Taki, who lives in Tokyo, and Mitsuha, who lives somewhere in the mountains in the countryside. Taki’s and Mitsuha’s spirits exchange bodies. The story begins when high school student Mitsuha wakes up in the morning in Tokyo in Taki’s body.
She noticed hit wasn’t her body. And somewhere in the mountains in the countryside high school student Taki noticed his body had also changed. But they didn’t know each other.
They were surprised and confused at first. Sometimes their bodies would change for a day when they woke up, and then return to their real body the next day. In order to communicate with each other they would have to interact by writing letters on their hands and arms, keeping a diary on their smart phones, and leaving notes to each other. Gradually they fall in love. In essence, this is a love story.
One good point of this movie was the artwork. The reflections and shadows of buildings in Tokyo where Taki lives, and the sunsets and panoramic views of forests and lakes in the countryside where Mitsuha lives were absolutely beautiful. It was so impressive to see this on the big screen in a movie theater.