Words: Leigh Price
What is Your Name about?
Two high school students who’ve never met suddenly find themselves swapping bodies on random days, forming a bond while they try and figure out what’s happening to them.
Your Name Synopsis
Mitsuha Miyamizu is a girl living out in the rural town of Itomori, training to be a shrine maiden, but bored of her life. She imagines what it would be like to be a Tokyo boy, only to wake up the next morning as Taki Tachibana, a boy living in Tokyo.
The two establish ground rules for each other using their phones and notes, allowing the days they’ve switched to go smoother. The two form a bond during their switches, all while they try and figure out why this is happening to them.
However, as they learn more about what is going on, more dark secrets begin to reveal themselves.
Why we chose Your Name
Makoko Shinkai has fast become one of Japan’s most prominent anime directors in recent years. His brand of supernaturally tinged tales of unrequited romance and natural disasters have captured the imaginations of viewers across the world. His three most recent movies have become some of the best-selling Japanese movies both domestically and internationally.
Your Name is his breakout success, the film that placed his name on the world stage. On its release in Japan in 2016, it rocketed to the top of the charts for a record-breaking 12 weekends, with nine of them being consecutive. It became the second-highest grossing Japanese movie in its home country at the time, sitting just behind Spirited Away, and became the first anime not directed by Hayao Miyazaki to earn more than ¥100m at the box office.
It replicated this success worldwide. It was the highest-grossing anime movie in South Korea until the release of The First Slam Dunk and Shinkai’s own Suzume. In the US, it grossed over $5m. In the UK, it made £500,000 in 2016 and become the fifth highest-grossing non-Hindi foreign language film for the year.
Critics also lauded it, with Your Name winning Best Animated Feature from the LA Film Critics Association Awards, the Stiges Film Festival and the Mainichi Film Awards. It also received a Japan Academy Prize nomination for Animation of the Year, losing to In This Corner of the World.
It’s easy to see why. Your Name is a stunning film, both visually and in its storytelling. The gorgeous vistas of Mitsuha’s hometown are coupled with an emotional story with two relatable and likeable protagonists. What starts out as a slightly silly concept becomes a heart-wrenching tale that sticks with you long after it’s finished.
Where can I see Your Name?
Your Name | 104 minutes | U | Mockingbird Cinema, Screen 1 | Saturday 30th September 2023, 16:30
If you like this, consider Suzume (PG)
Your Name is airing as part of the Makoto Shinkai marathon, alongside his other works including Weathering with You and his most recent work, Suzume.
Much like Your Name, Suzume features a love that spans distances and the threat of environmental disaster hanging above it all. It’s about a high school girl named Suzume who ends up taking a journey across Japan after discovering a strange door to another realm and unleashing a creature that leaves destruction in its wake.
Suzume | 112 minutes | 12A | Mockingbird Cinema, Screen 1 | Saturday 30th September 2023, 21:00
Home Viewing
Home Viewing
Your Name is available as a Collector’s Edition exclusively from our partners at All the Anime. This edition contains both the standard Blu-Ray and the 4K UHD Blu-Ray release.
It also contains art cards and a special booklet containing Makoto Shinkai’s original proposal for the movie. A standalone Blu-Ray release is also available.
Share your thoughts on Your Name in the comments below
- Your Name at IMDB
- Your Name at Wikipedia
- Your Name at Rotten Tomatoes
- Your Name at Anime News Network
