Anticipating Weathering With You
Written by Emily Chian
@Aumi_and_emily
Photos by GKids
Anyone out there watch anime?
If you do, raise your hand (there’s no need to feel guilty!); if you don’t, you may still know what anime is— the big-eyed Japanese cartoon characters you see on Netflix.
If you are a Japanese enthusiast or geek like me, you probably know director Makoto Shinkai. He’s produced Your Name, The Garden of Words (currently on Netflix), 5 Centimeters Per Second, and a few others.
Shinkai has a history of making perplexing films. His older, more poignant films are slow and quiet — the characters are practically whispering to each other— and leave many viewers confused. However, his last movie, Your Name, was the highest-grossing anime film in Japan and entered North American mainstream society with enthusiastic reactions. Western audiences praised the story and visuals, and the film currently has a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Variety even covered the film with an enthusiastic review. Even those who don’t watch anime enjoyed Your Name.
What separates Your Name from Shinkai’s previous work is that it is a crowd-pleaser; symmetrical elements such as boy-girl, city life-rural life, modern life-folklore, and old-young, make the film widely relatable. The plot and pacing of this film are straight to the point and unfold quickly, leaving no gaps in the plotline.
Shinkai, a literature major in university, includes common themes and motifs from Asian literature in his films. Finding oneself, the ephemeralness of love, dreams, and the red string of fate appear in his work. For example, Mono No Aware, a Japanese expression representing sensitivity to ephemeralness or transience, becomes the underlying theme in Your Name. Similarly, in his previous short film The Garden of Words, the characters recite a tanka by Man'yōshū.
Shinkai’s visual work is an exceptional spectacle. This is probably the main reason his films are enjoyed by people from all different backgrounds. His sky shots and artistic visuals may be one reason non-anime fans appreciate his astonishing work.
Shinkai’s newest movie, Weathering With You, is finally coming to North American theatres and will be doing a screening in Halifax this month. So what should viewers expect from Weathering with You? Shinkai’s reputation as an exceptionally talented anime director generates high expectations among viewers for his newest film. The synopsis says it is about a boy who runs away from home to go to Tokyo where he meets a girl who is also in a stressful household situation. Incidentally, the girl can control the weather through innate supernatural powers. The film was featured in Toronto International Film Festival in the fall and was Japan’s official submission for Best International Feature at the Academy Awards.
From the cosmopolitan Tokyo setting to the depiction of poverty, Shinkai portrays them all in the trailer’s visuals. The spectacle of his rain imagery, no doubt, is the most exciting. In an interview, Shinkai says he used the weather as a dynamic way to portray the characters’ emotions and tension. Anyone can relate to the weather, such as talking about it in everyday conversations or hearing about global reports and trends in the news. In the film, the female protagonist represents a weather maiden. Before coming up with Weathering with You, Shinkai said in another interview that he had been looking for inspiration through novels, manga, and movies on folklore.
Weathering With You should be another crowd-pleaser. RADWIMPS, the rock band who provided the soundtrack for Your Name, is back. Similarly, there will be a mix of urban fantasy and folklore, which is an interesting way of driving interest.
The film is listed in the fantasy and romance genre and it looks like there is much to be excited about. Whether or not you’re an avid fan, the film is sure to pull you in — the setting, visuals and imagery are worth a watch. The screening will take place in the Park Lane Cineplex on January 15-16, 2020.
You can watch the official trailer here: https://youtu.be/Q6iK6DjV_iE
