Respond to these rapid questions in our Your Name quiz and we will tell you which Your Name character you are. Play it now.
“I have the impression that I am constantly on the lookout for something or someone.” Isn’t it true that we have all experienced this at some point in our lives? A sense of dislocation from our daily lives, as well as a search for something that would serve as an anchor to a more commonly perceived sense of normalcy, may be present. The Japanese phenomenon “Your Name” (which was the highest grossing film in the country last year and the highest grossing anime film of all time worldwide, surpassing “Spirited Away”) is about this highly relatable feeling of being on the lookout for something, someone, or somewhere. And there’s a lot more. Although the film gets off to a shaky start, it quickly gathers steam and builds to an emotionally charged and impactful conclusion. Aside from that, there isn’t a better-looking animated film to be found all year.
What could have been a cheesy “Freaky Friday” concept is given a melancholy and honest treatment by writer/director Makoto Shinkai in “Freaky Friday.” The setup is relatively straightforward: Mitsuha (Mone Kamishiraishi) is a high school-age girl who lives in the fictional Itomori, a beautiful, quaint village in the Hida region of Japan; Taki (Ryunosuke Kamiki) is a slightly older boy who lives in Tokyo. Mitsuha and Taki are best friends who have been together since they were children. They are both average kids with their own social circles, but they have no real connection with one another. They also lead very different lives, which are at least partially defined by their equally beautiful settings of city and country, respectively.
Taki awakens one morning and notices breasts beneath his sheets. He has taken up residence in Mitsuha’s body. The next morning, Mitsuha awakens in her own body, but she has only vague recollections of the events of the previous day. And, of course, the same thing occurs in the opposite direction. Mitsuha and Taki discover that they are switching places randomly and only after sleep, primarily as a result of conversations with people in their immediate vicinity about how strange they were acting. Rather than engaging in wacky antics a la a Disney movie from the 1980s, they work together to assist one another, leaving notes and diaries about what happened when they switched places with one another. Example: Mitsuha has the courage to approach the girl Taki is interested in, essentially playing the role of Cyrano de Bergerac in a different body. When they finally stop switching, Taki finds himself unable to contact Mitsuha in any way whatsoever. He has vague recollections of vistas from Mitsuha’s life, and he sets out to try to track her down and bring her back. This is the point at which “Your Name” transforms into something completely unexpected.
But you shouldn’t waste any more time and start this Your Name quiz.
To say that “Your Name” is visually arresting would be an understatement of epic proportions. Shinkai and his team are meticulous in their attention to detail while also having a poetic vision. The settings of “Your Name” have a distinct sense of being both familiar and magical at the same time. “Your Name” is one of those animated films in which one could pick any still frame from it and hang it on their wall. Whether it’s the train system in Tokyo, its beautiful skyscrapers reaching for the sky, a never-ending horizon in Itomori, or even just a series of streets on a mountainside, “Your Name” is one of those animated films in which one could pick any still frame from it and hang it on their wall. But the stunning visuals of the film never overshadow the narrative; rather, they are intertwined with one another throughout. “Your Name” appears to be saying a lot lately: city or country, it’s a beautiful world out there, and we just have to figure out where we belong in it.
Your Name Quiz
Shinkai steers clear of a slew of potential narrative pitfalls (that it feels like the inevitable live-action remake will tumble into willingly). Mitsuha and Taki, for example, are able to maintain gender differences without feeling cliched in the traditional boy versus girl way that Hollywood films so often define. We have the impression that these two very different people find common ground in terms of gender and social class while maintaining their individual identities at the same time. Throughout the film, I was reminded of Roger’s famous quote about empathy, which talks about how film has the ability to put us in someone else’s shoes in a way that no other medium can. Mitsuha and Taki would most likely never interact in the real world, but as the story progresses, they begin to become supportive of one another and essential to the happiness of the other. Having the realization that someone you have never met and would never otherwise interact with has the same needs, joys, and fears as you is something to be thankful for in 2017. It reminded me of the film “Arrival,” in the way that it takes an out-of-this-world concept and applies it to issues that we can all relate to.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this Your Name quiz.
Most importantly, “Your Name” achieves a level of balance between fantastic beauty and grounded reality that is simply impossible to achieve outside of animation. Shinkai alternates between detailed visions of Tokyo that appear to have been constructed from real-world location photos and fantastical images of places that do not exist in the real world, never skewing the balance too far to one side or the other of the spectrum. It gets more and more impressive as time goes on. The final shot of this film is unlike any other in recent memory, as it builds scene upon scene to a satisfying conclusion. This is one of the best animated films I’ve seen in recent memory.
For more personality quizzes check this: The Florida Project Quiz.
