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Jacob · Apr 8, 2017

firehawk12 said:
This is why I say it's his most palatable film. I almost feel like he wrote all the contrivances to get the two main characters together at the end. That's why it is 3 years and not something bigger - it's enough for them to have a misunderstanding, but they can still hook up at the end. Imagine if it was 50 years, and they met but she's like a grandmother or something but they can still share a moment together because of their connection. But then you don't get the dokidokiaisheteru ending. lol

My issue was mainly that I didn't feel the characters really had a genuine emotional connection to each other. I get that teen romance stories often fall back on the concept of fate/true love/whatever, but I find romance stories in which we get to see how the characters grow and change with each other to be more interesting. A big part of the reason I liked Garden of Words so much (relative to expectations) was because so much of the film consisted of the characters actually talking to each other.

But this is a more general gripe since Shinkai is obviously far from alone in taking this path (here or in several of his other films).

MikeHattsu · Apr 8, 2017

firehawk12 said:
Yeah, Mike Hattsu posted samples on the previous page. It's the same band, but they just did their songs in English. (For some reason Japan got these instead of the Japanese versions of the songs...)

You're not in the anime thread ;p

And it was only the English songs in the English subtitled screenings in Japan (limited 2 week screenings). The other screenings without subtitles have the Japanese versions of the songs.

darklin0 · Apr 8, 2017

Jacob said:
My issue was mainly that I didn't feel the characters really had a genuine emotional connection to each other. I get that teen romance stories often fall back on the concept of fate/true love/whatever, but I find romance stories in which we get to see how the characters grow and change with each other to be more interesting. A big part of the reason I liked Garden of Words so much (relative to expectations) was because so much of the film consisted of the characters actually talking to each other. But this is a more general gripe since Shinkai is obviously far from alone in taking this path (here or in several of his other films).[/sypoiler]

I wholeheartedly agree.

There was a point where I thought Mitsuha was falling for Taki's crush, specifically when she was sad and crying in between the date scene. By the way people talked a out this movie I was at the edge of my seat thinking it was going in such an interesing direction. When I realized it was because Mitsuha fell for Taki I kinda checked out for a bit until the time twist.

Overall it was a good movie but it felt lacking in the aspects you brought up.

xk0sm0sx · Apr 8, 2017

Oh I'll throw in that I never liked this movie much because logically it bothered me, like what others said.
The twist was just too illogical and I couldn't suspend my disbelief at what was happening.
But I see that the love aspects was enough for people to keep going to this movie, which dumbfounds me.

firehawk12 · Apr 8, 2017

MikeHattsu said:
You're not in the anime thread ;p

And it was only the English songs in the English subtitled screenings in Japan (limited 2 week screenings). The other screenings without subtitles have the Japanese versions of the songs.

Whoops, and ah. lol

Jacob said:
My issue was mainly that I didn't feel the characters really had a genuine emotional connection to each other. I get that teen romance stories often fall back on the concept of fate/true love/whatever, but I find romance stories in which we get to see how the characters grow and change with each other to be more interesting. A big part of the reason I liked Garden of Words so much (relative to expectations) was because so much of the film consisted of the characters actually talking to each other. But this is a more general gripe since Shinkai is obviously far from alone in taking this path (here or in several of his other films).

For me, the montage basically worked for me although it asks you to fill in the gaps. You know time passed, you know they got to know each other intimately - both on a physical level by switching bodies, and on a deeper level by living each other's lives.
She solves his problem with being too shy to ask out the older girl and he deals with her bullies at school. And of course, the journals. But I can see that it's a bit handwaved and you're just supposed to assume that they'd fall in love with each other over the course of the montage. It's the twist that still bothers me. lol

Jacob · Apr 8, 2017

firehawk12 said:
For me, the montage basically worked for me although it asks you to fill in the gaps. You know time passed, you know they got to know each other intimately - both on a physical level by switching bodies, and on a deeper level by living each other's lives.
She solves his problem with being too shy to ask out the older girl and he deals with her bullies at school. And of course, the journals. But I can see that it's a bit handwaved and you're just supposed to assume that they'd fall in love with each other over the course of the montage. It's the twist that still bothers me. lol

Don't get me wrong, I didn't like the twist either. Thinking about it a bit more, the complaints are kind of related in my mind since one of the reasons I didn't get the impression that Mitsuha and Taki really got to know each other during the montage is that the odds of them not realizing the time difference would grow even more astronomically high the more they interacted with each other. And as Fuu mentioned on the previous page they attempted very little communication about their predicament so (IMO) they end up having closer connections to the people they interact with while body-swapped than they do with each other.

jmood88 · Apr 8, 2017

It's weird that there are people here who are so negative about the twist. I thought that it was just ok and that I knew where it was going, then when it got to that part, it turned into an amazing movie for me.

Fuu · Apr 8, 2017

A friend who watched this in Japan talked about it with some people there and they said something interesting:

that the comet destroying the town reminded them of the tsunami, and how powerless they felt about all the people who died the same way Taki did when he found out.

It does add another layer to the movie and makes it even more uplifting. It's funny that this didn't even cross my mind as a reading when I watched it, but that's most likely because I'm not from Japan.

UberTag said:
Even discounting the year discrepancy which, logically, they should have clued into, there's also the nagging fact that the media couldn't stop blabbing about the impending comet sighting in Mitsuha's rural village while there was, obviously, not a peep about it in Tokyo.

I still bought into this given that both characters had active school and social lives, were somewhat self-absorbed and were juggling a lot of baggage between the jumps back and forth. This is one instance where the tight movie pacing helped because it would have stuck out more as a plot device had this been told in a lengthier format.

Yeah, I can see how it could happen and it didn't really break the movie for me. I really only started thinking about it because there was a big focus on a calendar-based journal app (which is ironically one of the things I liked the most in the story, lol).

You're right about the pacing because if the scenes with them in each others bodies were lengthier and more developed those issues would have been way more apparent.

jmood88 said:
It's weird that there are people here who are so negative about the twist. I thought that it was just ok and that I knew where it was going, then when it got to that part, it turned into an amazing movie for me.

It's a good twist and I appreciate that it was a short time difference, but there are details that have to be stretched for it to happen like it did (them not picking up clues about the years, the two of them not trying to communicate more, etc). I'll go as far to say that if their time as each other wasn't presented as a montage it wouldn't have worked because the issues would be too glaring.

It doesn't ruin the movie for me, but it's one of those things you can't look too close at. It helps that the movie doesn't really hangs on the twist and it's just something to move the plot along while it continues to be character focused.

firehawk12 · Apr 8, 2017

Fuu said:
It's a good twist and I appreciate that it was a short time difference, but there are details that have to be stretched for it to happen like it did (them not picking up clues about the years, the two of them not trying to communicate more, etc). I'll go as far to say that if their time as each other wasn't presented as a montage it wouldn't have worked because the issues would be too glaring.

It doesn't ruin the movie for me, but it's one of those things you can't look too close at. It helps that the movie doesn't really hangs on the twist and it's just something to move the plot along while it continues to be character focused.

I think I would have been fine if it was a case of "reverse dramatic irony", in that the characters know about the time difference but the audience doesn't (perhaps there are actually clues that suggest the time difference early that I didn't pick up on because of lack of cultural context). Sort of like how they make the edit in the beginning of the film so a day passes after the first time the guy is in the girl's body and the girl comes out of her room to eat breakfast. That way, the twist would still be effective for the audience, but the characters aren't undermined by the fact that people like me think they are idiots for not figuring out the time difference earlier.

I realize I'm thinking of ways to "fix" the movie, but that's probably because of how much it bothered me and detracted from the film being a near perfect experience. lol

killer rin · Apr 8, 2017

Scavenger said:
I've seen it a few weeks ago at the Holland Animation Film Festival in Utrecht. There were only 2 screenings with no regular theatrical release in sight. Good film, but did not live quite up to the hype.

Blu-ray release will probably happen around fall and Funi has only just announced their June slate. From what I remember about comments made by Anime Limited, who own the UK and French distribution rights, Toho demands about a year distance between Japanese theatrical release and western home video release. Toho also didn't want early VOD releases.

Well thats a shame that I'll have to wait that long to get the Blueray and watch it again, but definately going to have to put a reminder to check back on its status later this year.

Fuu said:
Yeah, I can see how it could happen and it didn't really break the movie for me. I really only started thinking about it because there was a big focus on a calendar-based journal app (which is ironically one of the things I liked the most in the story, lol).

You're right about the pacing because if the scenes with them in each others bodies were lengthier and more developed those issues would have been way more apparent.

It's a good twist and I appreciate that it was a short time difference, but there are details that have to be stretched for it to happen like it did (them not picking up clues about the years, the two of them not trying to communicate more, etc). I'll go as far to say that if their time as each other wasn't presented as a montage it wouldn't have worked because the issues would be too glaring.

It doesn't ruin the movie for me, but it's one of those things you can't look too close at. It helps that the movie doesn't really hangs on the twist and it's just something to move the plot along while it continues to be character focused.

To be fair though, its not like the Calendar app in the movie shows the year in it. It shortens it to the Day and Month.

And even if it did, how often are people actually looking at the year section of their calendars. I can say with at most certainty that if someone swapped the year on my calendar, even on my computer I wouldn't notice at all; or would take an incredibly long time to actually tune into the change.

StarCreator · Apr 8, 2017

I just got out of my first viewing. Because I have multiple friend groups seeing it in multiple areas, I already have tickets to see it again tomorrow. I just want it to be tomorrow right now so I can see it againnnnnnn

killer rin said:
To be fair though, its not like the Calendar app in the movie shows the year in it. It shortens it to the Day and Month.

And even if it did, how often are people actually looking at the year section of their calendars. I can say with at most certainty that if someone swapped the year on my calendar, even on my computer I wouldn't notice at all; or would take an incredibly long time to actually tune into the change.

I don't know... the days of the week would be thrown off if I were looking at the wrong calendar year. That alone would tip me off.

Jarmel · Apr 8, 2017

Fuu said:
A friend who watched this in Japan talked about it with some people there and they said something interesting:

that the comet destroying the town reminded them of the tsunami, and how powerless they felt about all the people who died the same way Taki did when he found out.

It does add another layer to the movie and makes it even more uplifting. It's funny that this didn't even cross my mind as a reading when I watched it, but that's most likely because I'm not from Japan.

I immediatey thought of this while watching and so it gave the movie a personal edge to me in the sense that it's a reflection

of the earthquake and in some ways it's a fantasy of what the director wished had happened

.

thebigmachine · Apr 8, 2017

Just saw it, bravo i say. This movie hit big with me and my group. I had big expectations going in and it exceeded them. I normally don't watch movies twice but I would go again to have my brother watch it. I was glad to see it subbed. Those emotional moments got me, it's been a while since a movie has done that. Radwimps rules, 10/10 movie.

Xe4 · Apr 8, 2017

They say theaters are expanding in the coming weeks. Does anyone know to the extent. For instance, will it be in semi large (500,000 people) cities on the 20th? Cause I live in the middle of nowhere, but am planning on going up to a city on the 22nd.

I looked on Funimations site, but it's pretty garbage, so I didn't get much info.

Einchy · Apr 8, 2017

It probably won't be the case but I would love for this to be a big hit in America as well so we can get more anime movies in our theaters.

SporeCrawler · Apr 8, 2017

Fuu said:
A friend who watched this in Japan talked about it with some people there and they said something interesting:

that the comet destroying the town reminded them of the tsunami, and how powerless they felt about all the people who died the same way Taki did when he found out.

It does add another layer to the movie and makes it even more uplifting. It's funny that this didn't even cross my mind as a reading when I watched it, but that's most likely because I'm not from Japan.

Yeah, I can see how it could happen and it didn't really break the movie for me. I really only started thinking about it because there was a big focus on a calendar-based journal app (which is ironically one of the things I liked the most in the story, lol).

You're right about the pacing because if the scenes with them in each others bodies were lengthier and more developed those issues would have been way more apparent.

It's a good twist and I appreciate that it was a short time difference, but there are details that have to be stretched for it to happen like it did (them not picking up clues about the years, the two of them not trying to communicate more, etc). I'll go as far to say that if their time as each other wasn't presented as a montage it wouldn't have worked because the issues would be too glaring.

It doesn't ruin the movie for me, but it's one of those things you can't look too close at. It helps that the movie doesn't really hangs on the twist and it's just something to move the plot along while it continues to be character focused.

the tsunami was definately one thing but there is another layer of rural japan dying out.

all the villagers moved to tokyo. the young ones all wanted to go to tokyo anyways except that one guy among mitsuhas friends

Strimei · Apr 8, 2017

Xe4 said:
They say theaters are expanding in the coming weeks. Does anyone know to the extent. For instance, will it be in semi large (500,000 people) cities on the 20th? Cause I live in the middle of nowhere, but am planning on going up to a city on the 22nd.

I looked on Funimations site, but it's pretty garbage, so I didn't get much info.

I live in a town with a population of about 70,000 and it was on one of our theaters, surprisingly, so its entireyl possible you could see it nearby.

I fully expected needing to get to Philadelphia or New York City or Baltimore to see it.

Anyway, just got back from seeing it and man, I teared up. I love Shinkai's work and Your Name is now one of the few pieces of media to actually make me shed a tear.

Also, Summer Wars spoiler,

I feel like Shinkai has a thing for debris from space annihilating rural towns.

- yeah mixed them up.

Haly · Apr 8, 2017

Strimei said:
I live in a town with a population of about 70,000 and it was on one of our theaters, surprisingly, so its entireyl possible you could see it nearby.

I fully expected needing to get to Philadelphia or New York City or Baltimore to see it.

Anyway, just got back from seeing it and man, I teared up. I love Shinkai's work and Your Name is now one of the few pieces of media to actually make me shed a tear.

Also, Summer Wars spoiler,

I feel like Shinkai has a thing for debris from space annihilating rural towns.

That's not Shinkai bruh.

Strimei · Apr 9, 2017

Haly said:
That's not Shinkai bruh.

...I feel like an idiot now, you're right.

I attribute it to the same fuzzy warm feeling I get from both films.

Xe4 · Apr 9, 2017

Strimei said:
I live in a town with a population of about 70,000 and it was on one of our theaters, surprisingly, so its entireyl possible you could see it nearby.

I fully expected needing to get to Philadelphia or New York City or Baltimore to see it.

Anyway, just got back from seeing it and man, I teared up. I love Shinkai's work and Your Name is now one of the few pieces of media to actually make me shed a tear.

Also, Summer Wars spoiler,

I feel like Shinkai has a thing for debris from space annihilating rural towns.

Well, I know it's playing this weekend, but I don't really have time this weekend. Surprisingly, having watched a ton of smaller independent animated films, they're more available than one would think. I mean, I have to drive 100-200 miles each way to see them, but that's not much considering I live in the middle of nowhere.

I was specifically asking if anyone knew if it would be in theaters in two weeks, when I do have time.

Strimei · Apr 9, 2017

Xe4 said:
Well, I know it's this weekend, but I don't really have time this weekend. Surprisingly, having watched a ton of smaller independent animated films, they're more available than one would think. I mean, I have to drive 100-200 miles each way to see them, but that's not much considering I live in the middle of nowhere.

I was specifically asking if anyone knew if it would be in theaters in two weeks, when I do have time.

I realize, I just meant to say that if its available in my relatively quiet town, anything can happen. I'm not used to it, lord knows previous stuff haven't been available here, so when I saw on Friday that it was showing here, it came as a shock.

I had heard something about expanded showings, so I think you may be in luck.

Haly · Apr 9, 2017

Xe4 said:
Well, I know it's playing this weekend, but I don't really have time this weekend. Surprisingly, having watched a ton of smaller independent animated films, they're more available than one would think. I mean, I have to drive 100-200 miles each way to see them, but that's not much considering I live in the middle of nowhere.

I was specifically asking if anyone knew if it would be in theaters in two weeks, when I do have time.

It looks like a limited release so far, one week total.

cj_iwakura · Apr 9, 2017

Only in four theaters in Miami, hopefully it hits Broward soon.

jorgejjvr · Apr 9, 2017

OMG Amazing movie

My wife and brother loved it

Reminded my wife of Lake house with Keanu Reeves

(I'm in Miami)

wwm0nkey · Apr 9, 2017

Just saw it, really liked it a lot.

Now give me A Silent Voice

rpmurphy · Apr 9, 2017

Just finished watching both sub and English dub in the theatre. Just amazing. Very pretty, and the plot themes resonated with me quite a lot, and my group enjoyed it quite a lot as well.

Dub was done well, and the only thing I'd say is missing is the rural vernacular and accent that's obviously very pronounced in the original but it's either very subtle or non-existent in the dub; this is just a minor complaint that does not detract from the enjoyment of the film, and it's an understandable decision to do it that way.

MrSaturn99 · Apr 9, 2017

Saw it with my mom. Loved it!

Comet twist made me ;_;

Embarassing/funny story: Mom bought tickets for the movie, but I forgot to tell her there were dub/sub showings, and we ended up seeing it in Japanese! Woops. It was a little hard to adjust for her but she ended up liking it.

airmangataosenai · Apr 9, 2017

Just finished it and I really enjoyed it!

Can't believe we finally have a happy ending out of this guy, haha.

Haly · Apr 9, 2017

airmangataosenai said:
Just finished it and I really enjoyed it!

Can't believe we finally have a happy ending out of this guy, haha.

Yeah I was like

OH NO THEY'RE GOING TO GO THEIR SEPARATE WAYS AND REGRET IT FOREVER, OR A TRAIN WILL PASS, OR THEY'LL GET AMNESIA

kaskade · Apr 9, 2017

Not playing at my local theater, I almost watched it on my flight a few weeks ago but it was the subs and I didn't really feel like trying to read subtitles on a plane when I was already tired. Probably should've took the opportunity. Hopefully the blu-ray isn't too far off.

EndlessSky · Apr 9, 2017

Xe4 said:
They say theaters are expanding in the coming weeks. Does anyone know to the extent. For instance, will it be in semi large (500,000 people) cities on the 20th? Cause I live in the middle of nowhere, but am planning on going up to a city on the 22nd.

I looked on Funimations site, but it's pretty garbage, so I didn't get much info.

Where did you hear this? I can't find anything on it.

Saprol · Apr 9, 2017

Yay, just got out of the theatre. I totally forgot this was coming over to the west.

Watched the dub on short notice. Really enjoyed it either way. The line up for the first subbed showing was pretty long when i was leaving.

Haly said:
Yeah I was like

OH NO THEY'RE GOING TO GO THEIR SEPARATE WAYS AND REGRET IT FOREVER, OR A TRAIN WILL PASS, OR THEY'LL GET AMNESIA

That was killing me

partway through when he finds out she's already gone. Don't gimme that train shit again.

firehawk12 · Apr 9, 2017

Haly said:
Yeah I was like

OH NO THEY'RE GOING TO GO THEIR SEPARATE WAYS AND REGRET IT FOREVER, OR A TRAIN WILL PASS, OR THEY'LL GET AMNESIA

Garden of Feet has the best happy ending. Good, but not sappy!

sunshine and gasoline · Apr 9, 2017

First movie in years that I've shed a tear for. That end was great.

It hit all the points to make me fall in love with it.

Going to rewatch it tomorrow.

Haly · Apr 9, 2017

firehawk12 said:
Garden of Feet has the best happy ending. Good, but not sappy!

It had bad writing, ruined the ending.

Xe4 · Apr 9, 2017

EndlessSky said:
Where did you hear this? I can't find anything on it.

Well Funimations site says this:

Don't see a screening in your city? More theaters will be added sooncheck back again later!

Though that could mean anything. I could have swore I heard news from somewhere else, so I'll post that here too.

Prof. Bathtub · Apr 9, 2017

I think the

whole fleeting nature of precise memory while being swapped

can be used to handwave the logical problem of

not noticing the different years. So maybe they discovered it, but kept forgetting.

Not an ideal solution, but it's there.

Anyway, I liked it. More could be shown of the two connecting, but at least the comedy kept me invested in their mutual well-being. Taki does suffer from being a little bit of the generic anime boym unfortunate that it seemed that Mitsuha-as-Taki had a bit more screentime than the reverse (when not in crisis-mode, that is.)

jorgejjvr · Apr 9, 2017

Haven't seen 5 centimeters per second, this makes me want to see it

Is it as good?

Sad ending for that one I gather?

Haly · Apr 9, 2017

jorgejjvr said:
Is it as good?

It's more disjointed but thematically stronger I feel.

Sad ending for that one of gather?

It's bittersweet like most of his other stuff. Your Name's ending is one of his exceptions.

TissueBox · Apr 9, 2017

I watched part of the beginning of this film earlier this year but will probably finally be checking it out in full tonight. ^^'

brickarts295 · Apr 9, 2017

jorgejjvr said:
Haven't seen 5 centimeters per second, this makes me want to see it

Is it as good?

Sad ending for that one I gather?

I hate that film with a passion but it's really well made so I would give it a watch.

MadeULook · Apr 9, 2017

Just got back from my showing with my sister. She was a total emotional wreck by the end of the film. Everyone in my showing was very positive towards the film.

I can no longer say a Shinkai movie didn't keep me hooked plot wise anymore. This movie was great the whole way though and would easily recommend it to people who aren't into anime. I saw the twist coming a mile away but it was easy to cheer on the leads so it made an enjoyable experience from beginning to end. On top of that, the movie was just a visual treat which I already expected given Shinkai's record. Overall, I thought it was a great movie and will definitely be buying it on Blu-ray as soon as pre-orders go up.

Can't comment on the dub since my showing was sub but the voice acting was solid across the board and I am curious about the dub after hearing impressions of it on here. Gonna have to give it a watch once it hits Blu-ray/DVD.

FlexMentallo · Apr 9, 2017

Saw this subbed tonight at the local Alamo.

Totally loved it. Best anime feature I have seen outside of Ghibli in a long time. Kinda like an extended and emotional Twilight Zone episode.

Loved all the contrasts of the different lives of the characters and some great twists and turns in the plot structure.

Hyoukokun · Apr 9, 2017

Saw this yesterday, and really enjoyed it. I've missed seeing pretty much all of Shinkai's recent works, but it stands out to me how much more confident and well-paced this one is vs. The Place Promised in our Early Days (and to a lesser extent, Voices from a Distant Star - though that one was clearly a labor of love and stands on its own merits). I'll have to go back and watch a few of his other movies to see the full evolution.

JC Lately · Apr 9, 2017

Five minutes till my showing. Glad to hear that the dub is good. Would have preferred the sub showing, but this is the only showing I could squeeze into my weekend.

Will report back in 106 minutes.

Razgriz-Specter · Apr 9, 2017

Seen it twice but tempted to go see the dub.

AlexFlame116 · Apr 9, 2017

Watching the dub on Tuesday. Very first time watching the movie! Hopefully it lives up to the fuss.

Too bad I'm the only guy who likes anime that I know of. So far in the only person who bought a ticket. It's Pokemon Heroes all over again!

Sarcasm · Apr 9, 2017

I watched this many times! =D I even saw it on my flight heh

Yes it is good.

JC Lately · Apr 9, 2017

And finished with my showing.

Still need time to digest, but my off the cuff impression? Excellent film, but it's no Spirited Away.

WormBoi · Apr 9, 2017

Saw this yesterday on a complete whim with some friends.

Very good movie, humorous and had some nice emotional drama.

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