When I saw Your Name about 4 years ago it introduced me to the cinema of Makoto Shinkai. The experience blew my mind at the time, and I had gone back to see some of his earlier work to continue the cinematic journey that I had begun with Your Name, and found myself enjoying each of them. Needless to say when Weathering with You was announced I knew I had to see it.
The film follows Hodaka a young man who has run away from his isolated island home to live in Tokyo. He has a limited budget, and soon finds himself living on the street, until he finds work with a man who helped save his life on the boat over from the island Suga. Suga has a business publishing articles on the supernatural with his assistant Natsumi. One of these involves Sunshine/Rain girls who can change the weather in small degrees with their prayers.
This ties into Hodaka’s life when he meets Hina, an orphan girl who is attempting to raise her brother on a non-existent income. It turns out that Hina is a “Sunshine Girl”, and can make the sun come out in small burst. Hodaka recognizes her power, and helps Hina to use her power to make the money she needs to pay for her and her brother’s livelihoods. Unfortunately, her powers come at a cost to her personally. At the same time Hodaka falls increasingly in love her.
It has been about 24 hours since I’ve watched Weathering With You. I’m still not 100% sure what I feel about this one. Thematically it certainly feels in line with the tragic love story elements at play in Your Name, while not feeling like Shinkai is trying to copy that films success. At the same time I felt there was so much going on in the film that it lessened the impact of the elements that did work.
That being said Weather With You is largely a success, and I feel this is a film that will require repeat viewings to really get a complete picture of. The animation, however, is simply stunning. There are moments that push the boundaries of animated realism, and just look incredible. The score is lush and gorgeous and complement the on-screen elements. The voice acting both English and Japanese are excellent. Weathering With You did not have the immediate impact that Your Name had, but it is sticking with me, and I cannot quite get it out of my head. I suspect I’ll end up liking it just as much or more than its predecessor with time.
Shout Factory/GKids presents Weathering With You in a splendid 1080p AVC encoded transfer that is an absolutely stunner. Everything looks great here, colors pop, detail is excellent, no complaints. Audio is handled with DTS-HD 5.1 tracks in English and Japanese and sound well balanced, crisp, and clean. Extras include an interview with the director, a talk show piece with director and Yumiko Udo, a Weather Front featurette, a piece on the director’s filmography, trailers/TV spots. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.