Anime Movie Review: Weathering With You

Released: 2019

Watched on: BluRay

Genre: Coming of age, romance

Posted age rating: PG-13 (for suggestive material, some violence and language)

My Rating: 3.5/5

I currently base my reviews loosely around the CAWPILE system developed by Book Roast on YouTube. I modify the categories depending on the format of the story I’m reviewing.

My star ratings are purely by my opinion and not measured by any particular metric.

SPOILER WARNING: This review will contain spoilers! Proceed with caution!

Summary

Set during a period of exceptionally rainy weather, high-school boy Hodaka Morishima runs away from his troubled rural home to Tokyo and befriends an orphan girl who can manipulate the weather.

Characters

They’re TEENAGERS. Sheesh. I must say, though, I thought for sure that Hodaka was abused, but they never really elaborate on why he was so desperate to get away and stay away. These types of movies always spark that teen indignation deep inside about why the adults just don’t understand. Of course, they also tend to write the adults very not understanding and dumb. It’s a little irritating, always has been, but even more so now that… I am an adult. Also, I don’t like Kei. He straight up abandoned Hodaka at the first sign of trouble and didn’t offer any advice or assistance.

I think the characters overall could have been, not necessarily developed more, but shown more. I may not have said that well, let me explain. Like I mentioned above, there are little potential hints that Hodaka is either abused at home or bullied, but they never explore it at all. With Kei, they explore a little bit, but I’m not sure I buy his tears near the end. He didn’t really earn his redemption, little though it may have been. It IS more understandable with Hina that she would lie about her age to get a job so she can take care of her little brother. (BTW, when kids are knowingly considering selling themselves instead of going to an authority figure for help, something is horribly wrong with the system)

Atmosphere

Anime Tokyo. Always given a lustre I doubt it has in real life. Such a massive city. Like, obscenely massive. I, myself, would probably hate it in real life (big cities are not my vibe in the least). Also, rain, rain, rain.

Animation/Art

As beautifully animated as all GKids films. As gorgeous as all Shinkai films seem to be. Though not as nice as Suzume.

Music

Not as notable as with Suzume, though there were some good RADWIMPS songs sprinkled throughout.

Plot

Runaways trying to make it in the big city and also there is some spiritual/supernatural  stuff going on. Then being runaways adds a little extra tension (or a lot, but unnecessarily so) but I think it would have worked just as well if they were young adults. I don’t know. Maybe I’m getting too old to really relate anymore. As a writer, though, I think there are aspects of the story that could have been stronger and would have made more of an impact, such as the characterization I mentioned earlier. Perhaps the runaways part made for one too many plot issues to deal with.

Another thing they could have explored/explained more was the other side. We only get a couple of brief glimpses of it. In connection, we don’t have enough buildup of Hina’s condition or how it’s affecting them.

Intrigue

We do start to care about these kids and whether or not they make it. There’s still a little of a mystery at the end on if they are going to be able to end up together. In connection with the plot, I think they tried to have too many mysteries at one time.

Logic

Everything connects in a logical enough way. Though not really a good why for her becoming a sunshine girl. Nor why no one knew about these kids for a solid year after their mother died. Inattentive teachers, much? Though I suppose they are all invisible in this story.

Enjoyment and Final Thoughts

Overall I did enjoy it. I’m not sure if I like how it ended with Tokyo sinking and these kids carrying the guilt on their shoulders simply because they wanted to live and help each other. Also, most of the adults were rather infuriating. I think it was good, but could have been even better. It is, of course, beautiful.

Would I Recommend It?

Yes, yes I would. As a lot of Japanese cinema is (at least these big, beautiful movies), it is slower paced than western media tends to be, but that can often mean it has a bigger emotional impact. There is a little violence and some frightening scenes, but overall it is a good watch.