Suzume

Suzume is an uncommon film, for it represents complete technical mastery, and a daring, bold artistry in trying to imbue a fantasy film with deep meaning. While it succeeds on the technical front, Suzume might be biting off more than it can chew in the handling of its story

Suzume represents the pinnacle of perfection when it comes to animation. It is stunningly and strikingly animated. It is meticulously made- the detailing is impeccable, and the image lush and saturated. They are a unique visual spectacle- the closest comparison I can find is ratatouille. Indeed, The visuals have an almost photorealistic quality to them, but pulled back one dimension so an idealised quality can be embedded, making them pleasing and striking to look at. Only in Makoto Shinkai films would ancient ruins and potholes look beautiful.

When it comes to plot, The film can really be separated into two. The first half is an agreeable, albeit more traditional adventure/ road film, focusing on the endearing and charming human connections Suzume makes with other people along the way(the bar owner/ the high school student), and the "fun" and adventure factor in their journey. The second section of the film becomes considerably more sombre and sentimental, as the stakes are now heightened with Soutas life on the line. My first gripe of the film is in here- it's lethargic pacing in the second half. The film loses too much energy after the climax in the middle that audiences become disoriented. We have no clear goal exactly of what Suzume is supposed to do now, or why she is going to do what she's doing now. The plot also seems contrived in muddling up character motivations- why is suzume so motivated in saving souta? Does she really love this man who was a stranger to her into a few days ago? The film never offers anything close to answer to these questions.

But I think the significance of Suzume is that it is unusual, and even daring, for it represents an effort from Makoto Shinkai to make a film of heightened maturity and emotion. The writing, however, does not allow for this to be fully realised. It seems Our main character speaks almost exclusively in monologue and in banal dialogue. The writing also feels substandard. The film attempts to touch on several important issues of bereavement and sacrifice but it never fully fleshes or examines this problem fully. Consider the scene where the aunt has an outburst on how she sacrificed 10 years of her life to care for Suzume. In the hands of a superb writer, this scene could have been a dramatic tour de force. Here it is merely briefly acknowledged, not further explored, and never even mentioned again. Another issue to analyse is the main theme of bereavement in the film. The director has said the film was made for those who lost loved ones in the 2011 Japanese earthquake. The problem, however, with trying to explore these weighty emotional issues in a fantasy Children's film is that the bizzare plot of such a fantasy film does not allow for these themes to be punctuated fully. Indeed the film relies overly on metaphors to explore its theme. Suzume steps into the ever after to find her lost, younger self and help this younger self come to terms with their mothers death. But Shinkai offers no concrete ways for us to access our "lost selves"- the metaphorical meaning of the door to this ever after is nebulous at best.

Suzume is an absolutely captivating film because of the superlative visuals. But it is also simultaneously infuriating, for its relies too much on emotions and tugging on the heartstrings, rather than on a serious examination of its themes. Makoto Shinkai has definitely made a mature film here. But i would hesitate in labelling Suzume as thoughtful or insightful.

I always wait patiently for the next Makoto Shinkai movie. He always delivers on beautiful animation and an interesting fantasy story and Suzume delvers on that. There are a few things I didn't like, some things I loved but overall I felt this to be a bit on the bland side. This story felt already told by Shinkai and while I always want to watch what he dose next, I always hope he´ll push himself just a little bit more to do something different. He still delivers a charming and moving movie here, but the impact wasn't really there this time for me.

After following a young man to the ruins near her town, Suzume accidently awakens a demon thar protected the world from an evil that creates earthquakes. Suzume most now help Souta who has been hexed into a chair save Japan.

I really love the characters in this movie. They all feel alive and independent. The movie has this road trip vibe where Suzume meets more people and see more of Japan, and every person feels like their own, even if they barely impact the story. Suzume is a character that needed more time to really shine and shown the way she feels and why she acts the way she dose but to me the creative and weird decision of turning Souta into a chair that can walk and talk is a stroke of genius. It makes the story more memorable and really shows the magical capabilities of this world. And the chair is cute no doubt.

What Shinkai often do best is the mix of serious and real with magic and fantasy. This movie can be seen as a fun fantasy road trip, or a look at the abandon culture of Japan as well as the horror of earthquakes. The movie is kids fun, while talking about orphans and even mentioning the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami, showing it in a moving and gut wrenching way. This is where Shinkai shines, and this movie moved me to tears at the end. It has this very impactful scene with a kid calling for her mom and it really is devastating. The very end is kind of just there and while interesting doesn't really impact the story too much. In general it feels like the movie was written by multiple people with multiple visions and too much they wanted to say, but there is only 1 writing credit, Skinkai himself. I think he wanted to do too many things this time around and the middle of the movie really slows down to me and some plot points only shine in one scene and is then abandoned. The story also felt like something I had seen before and the hopeless romanticism of Shinkai feels done to death now. It had Weathering with you (2019) vibes, another Shinkai movie, and the plot points were a bit too similar to me. It´s still a good story, but I would love to see Shinkai move out of his comfort zone.

The animation is as always absolutely glorious and incredible. Shinkai has this eye for the small and mundane which he always but energy into as the side of an eraser that is highly detailed with logos and text. Not only the but there are these just picturesque frames that are so beautiful and detailed. Shinkai has been experimenting more and more with the crossing of 2D and 3D animation and now I feel like he is leaning more into 3D. This is for better and worse as the 3D looks incredible and some frames are still absolutely stunning, but I miss his 2D charm. It´s still here, but a bit more in the background comparably.

The score and music is pretty good and cute, not as memorable as it used to be but it works for this movie.

The voice acting is pretty good too and especially love Suzume´s voice actress Hanoka Hara. She brings so much natural voice work to her role and her acting is effortless. While I am not criticizing Souta´s voice work, I noticed his voice sounded recorded. You could really hear it was recorded sound and it created this cheap and unnatural sound to the character.

Suzume is a good movie and I can´t wait to watch it again, but it will take a bit longer for me to return to this compared to Shinkais other works. This movie just lagged a little bit everywhere and while still being enjoyable it just isn't as perfect as I´m used to from this director.

Beautiful animation, brilliant even, with a lot of attention to details. It captures perfectly the nature with the shimmering of roads and the sparkling of the sea.

The story is interesting even if in some places it could have been better. The feeling of old places with memories from the past struck a cord.

Regarding the love story, I'm not sure how the infatuation "that guy looks beautiful" transformed into deep love to say "I am more afraid of a world without him".

The idea of what generates earthquakes is interesting.

As usual for japanese anime, the final "lessons" can easily bring you to tears but you are better if you remember that lesson because it's about life.

1 Comparison with past works

Suzume is completely different from Your name and Weathering with you.

This film does not have plot twists that Your name has.

Additionally, this film may not contain the willpower portrayed in Weathering with you.

However, this film may contain something necessary to live in this world.

2 Contents

This film evokes memories of a serious incident in Japan for the present generation, and also allows future generations to inherit those memories.

This film may teach us something necessary to overcome that incident.

In my opinion, this film may be comparable to Your name.

The premise was truly intriguing with several doors at abandoned places in need of getting closed in order to stop the gigantic worms from causing natural disasters. Ancient Gods are the keystones holding these worms back and there is a closer who has taken up this important job to keep these doors closed. Then there is Suzume, a girl raised by her aunt after she lost her mother during 2011 Tsunami. Suzume is gifted to see the ever after and her love at first sight Sota who is the closer, leads her to join him in the mission to close the doors as well as save the world.

The animation is what caught my eye and I am not that much into anime. The story remained captivating for the most part and the narrative style kept the intrigue intact. I was drawn into the world of Suzume even before the fantasy part began. Chasing Daijin while closing one door after another, relating it to a major natural disaster from the Japanese history was a nice touch. However, despite couple of jokes working, the sub plot involving Serizawa felt dragged and the introduction of Sadaijin lacked the desired impact. Overall, Suzume is still a worthy watch for it's unique premise.