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Weathering With You is an anime fantasy film produced by CoMix Wave Films. Written and directed by Makoto Shinkai (Your Name, 5 Centimeters Per Second), it is yet another poignant story from the acclaimed anime artist that stands well above most other animated films of this era.

In Tokyo, young high school student Hodaka Morishima attempts to find work and a place to live after running away from home. At the time, Japan is going through severe rain, halting the progress of many important events. After finding work at a small publishing company, Hodaka is tasked with researching urban legends around the local area, interviewing people who may have knowledge of such a subject. Eventually, Hodaka meets a mysterious girl named Hina, who to his surprise, has the amazing ability to control the weather by simply closing her eyes and praying. Intrigued by her powers, Hodaka decides to befriend Hina to understand her better as a person.

Beautifully animated and touching, Weathering With You is guaranteed to provide just the right amount of entertainment for any fan of Makoto Shinkai's work. While it doesn't quite reach the level of cleverness as "Your Name", it still has enough originality to separate it from its predecessor and stand on its own without drawing too much comparison. The animation is simply gorgeous, easily on par with Studio Ghibli, perhaps even more so. The attention to detail on the raindrops and water is highly reminiscent of Shinkai's 2013 film "The Garden Of Words", another of his work that used rain as a plot device. The characters are likeable and well developed, particularly Hodaka and Hina. Every scene they were together I could always feel the growing friendship between the two. However, the one major gripe I had was that the story was highly predictable. By the time the third act has begun, it's very obvious how things are going to end. Aside from that, this anime film is certainly worth one's time. The version I watched was in Japanese with English subtitles, but I am interested in seeing a dubbed version when it is readily available.

I rate it 8/10

I don't know why this movie gets constantly compared to Your Name, if not for its creator, because these movies are nothing alike. Just wanted to get this out right away.

Also it is often said that the peculiar weather phenomena depicted in this movie were some insinuation to climate change. Though some characters seem to confirm that with their remarks, it doesn't quite fit the narrative in which the weather can be fixed at will by a single person. If it is an insinuation, it isn't a particularly good one.

These phenomena are never really explained. They are merely a weak plot device. And since the show focuses entirely upon Tokyo, the viewer is left wondering what the state of the rest of the world is (for example the home town of Hodoka).

The protagonist Hodoka runs away from home. This is never explained in detail, making it very difficult to identify with the protagonist or at least feel sympathy for him. It's awfully contrived, and Hodoka acts mostly without any forethought. Bad start.

Still, with the help of irresponsible strangers and by avoiding the police, he makes his way in Tokyo; and by a series of extraordinary coincidences, he meets Hina. Her background is just as bland as his and their relationship doesn't go very deep.

On that note: There are no interesting characters in this movie. They are all one dimensional with one line of history. That's just wasted potential.

In Your Name, fate was the enemy; here it is the police, apparently. The chase scenes, violence against police officers, and resistance are completely inadequate. But they needed that to create drama; in opposite to Your Name where drama comes natural. The solution of what stands between them (Hodoka and Hina), the clearing of the final obstacle, is way to simple and unsatisfying. Obviously I wouldn't like to spoiler, but I was left with: "What? It's that simple? That's all he had to do? Why then even bother going through all this trouble?"

Like I said: this movie is nothing like Your Name, but I wished it were.

Rain, clouds, sky and the sun. these contrast is so beautiful. And scenery in Tokyo is great. I think these are the best points of this movie. If you've been to there, you notice where there is.

Hina is literally sunshine. She walks through a rooftop portal and becomes the Sunshine Girl. She prays to bring sunshine to a rain-soaked Tokyo. Hodaka is a new arrival in the city. He rescues Hina from a street thug forcing her to work in a club. In order to make some money, they advertise sunshine for pay.

It's an animated Japanese fantasy romance. It's very sweet. That's my one word review. The fantasy element with the animation is very beautiful. It has a bit of comedy. It is certainly in line with a few of these Japanese animated fantasy coming-of-age romance in the real world.

Weathering With You. From Makoto Shinkai, director of the smashing hit Your Name comes a story following a young runaway who flees to Tokyo to start a new life. He befriends a girl with a tokubetsu gift of Weather manipulation and the story progresses from there.

First of all the soundtrack was top notch. Radwimps who also composed and wrote music for Your Name were pretty much just as good. The way the music was used makes the scenes more engaging.

The animation was also what should be expected from a Makoto Shinkai film. It was beautiful. Ohhh my, that's intro scene was kirei.

The plot however felt a little bit messy. The first two acts were very satisfying, and the chemistry between the characters were what made the story really interesting. Hina and Hodaka were really cool together. All the other characters were really interesting and engaging characters. The direction of the third act really felt all over the place. It's hard to explain. Your name's ending was a bit similar, but was felt more complete. The film also had no major twists. There was lots of tension though.

The voice acting was really good. The actors are all unknowns but really sounded good as their characters.

This film was original. With many bad Disney CGI remakes out there, I'd rather watch this a hundred times more. It brings us a new story with engaging characters.

End of review.. 7.5/10 PS: there were some amazing cameos :) Sorry for my bad review. Enjoy.