Suzume

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.

Suzume is the latest Makoto Shinkai movie. This is the first one I was lucky enough to see in theaters, and it was well worth it. I consider myself a fan of Shinkai's work, even though I thought his last two entries were overrated. I do like Your Name, though I do think the film is overhyped. It's by no means a masterpiece, at least when it comes to the writing. But I thought the film was okay. I was not a fan of Weathering with You at all though. Ironically, I think some of his best works are his more obscure titles. 5 Centimeters Per Second is my all-time favorite of his. I really enjoy Children Who Chase Lost Voices and Garden of Words. I even like Voices of a Distant Star and The Place Promised in Our Early Days. So how does Suzume rank with all of those?

Well, like with all of Makoto Shinkai's films, the visuals and music are top tier. I don't think another anime director does background detail quite as good and real looking like Shinkai does. It looks even more impressive on the big screen. However, unlike the previous two films of his, I was much more into the story and characters here. I had no idea what this movie would be about going in, as the trailer kept everything vague and mysterious. But I found myself really liking the premise and the journey our main characters were on for the most part. I don't think there was any character in this I actively disliked either. With Your Name I found the lead characters great, but the writing and side characters were a mixed bag, especially in the third act. Other than looking and sounding amazing, like all Shinkai movies, I really liked nothing else about Weathering with You.

The main issue with the film is the romance, and by extension some of the padded scenes in the middle. I know supernatural romance stories are Shinkai's thing. Almost every film of his has a romance between the main leads. Sometimes the romance is done well like in Garden of Words and even Your Name. Here though it feels very rushed and forced because of just how many things are going on and just how many side characters introduced that Suzume interacts with. One of two things I feel needs to be changed here. Either cut down on all the subplots and side characters and focus more time on the two leads' relationship or just not have it be a romance. Like I said, I like all the side characters in this. But if Shinkai really wanted a romance between Suzume and the main male Souta, he really needed to focus more on developing that instead distracting from it with all these other B-plots. As it is, the two should have just been really good friends like the two leads in Children Who Chase Lost Voices were.

Overall, if you're a fan of Shinkai's work then this is a must watch. Even if you didn't care for his previous two films, you should still give this one a chance. It's not his best work in my opinion. I would still prefer Centimeters Per Second, Garden of Words, and Children Who Chase Lost Voices above this. Check those movies out too if you haven't. I'd give this one an 8 or 8.5 out of 10. That rating might go up or down depending on subsequent viewings. But right now, that's how I feel.

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.

I didn't know it was about the earthquake and 311. I wasn't ready at all. For the people who don't know about it, it would be a great adventure anime which has a comedy aspect. But for me, it was pretty heavy.

I don't think it has a crying scene but I cried like a baby at the scene that reminded me 311 also made me think of the people who lost their loved ones on that day by the earthquake and tsunami.

About the people who didn't come home after they left their home in the morning...

I was living in Tokyo back then so I'm not in the position to talk about it much but This movie is special for us I think.

I don't know if I can watch this movie again after knowing what's this about now because it's a lot for me.

For the animation and story, I would rate it 8-9 but for the people who became stars above on that day and people who lost loved ones, I rated 10.

Oh btw my husband who is an American said it was a great movie so it's for everyone :)

To the people planning a trip to Japan, I recommend looking up about what you all should do if an earthquake happens in Japan juuuuust in case. Hope it helps you and have a wonderful time there! :))

(Sorry for my poor English and thank you for reading.)

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.