Suzume

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.

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.

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.

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.

Suzume has become one of 2023's breakout hits and for good reason; though the film may have some similarities to Your Name and Weathering With You, it's got enough different material to make this film a nicely refreshing experience at the cinema.

I don't know why some critics/audience-members have complained about the supposed similarities to Makoto Shinkai's previous films; directors have styles they refine to their heart's content, so it's an odd thing to point out here. With that said, Shinkai uses his 'magic realism' approach to tell an even more fantasy-oriented story than Your Name; there are talking cats and sentient chairs in this one instead of a 'simple' body-swap.

Of course, the story's well realised but what about the animation? It's gorgeous! Of course it's gorgeous! It's so crisp and fluid that even the few imperfections here and there do not diminish the sense of seeing a fantastical take on modern Japan that's ripe for the 'real fantasy' imagery on display here. Also, the animation has a consistently cinematic (and larger than life) flare that few recent American animated offerings seem to have. The intimate and big set pieces never feel totally out of place. Everything here just... fits nicely.

Suzume is the kind of animation that cinema was made to show off, and in THE showiest fashion possible! Makoto Shinkai has a real knack for theatrical stories.

Suzume gets 4.5/5 stars. 9/10 points. This one is certainly worth getting a ticket to see!