why YOUR NAME is the best animated movie of the last five years

Rating: 10/10 (8 December 2016)

Your Name is a journey about growth and having the ability to bounce back when thrown against overpowering hardships. It's a journey that focuses on human emotion that are larger than time and space. It's a journey of where we watch our protagonists struggle again and again against destiny. And it's one of the greatest animated journeys you will ever experience.
Watch the review at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7v32c900F4 and / or read along here
Your Name follows a girl from the country and a boy from the city who have never met that switch bodies when they dream.
This movie may seem like your romantic-comedy body-swap situation. But it will surprise you how in depth the gets. The storytelling here is top notch, because you understand everything, but when you think about it, the concept gets quite confusing, but because of the brilliant direction my Shinkai, he somehow makes it understandable.
The two protagonists are the driving force of the film instead of Shinkai's normal eye candy visual sell outs. Within the great writing are actually some very funny and memorable conversations. The comedy works well to add another layer to the great chemistry between the protagonists. Props to the actors.
It was just so fun watching the dynamic feelings of these two and I loved how the two genders figured each other out while inhabiting the others' body.
I was a little confused when a lot of the first act is dedicated to the girl, without really seeing the movie from the boy she's swapping with, his view. But the movie surprised me when something happened to the girl and we see the boy for most of the rest of the movie. So actually the screen time for both protagonists were quite similar. That blew me away.
If you delve deep into his work Shinkai tends to break the forth wall often in the way he portrays emotions. He, in a way, makes you reflect upon your own life, and all his movies are really, really relatable. He makes you look back on dark times, times you don't really want to think about again and he says a different messages every movie.
A big part of the film was it's editing and sound design. This all helped with the immersion. Every scene is dripping with hidden details covered in immense beauty sugar coated with an outstanding soundtrack played by Radwimps.
And although the end is predictable, it did what 5 Centimetres Per Second didn't do. It left me satisfied.
What seemed like a stupid idea turned into Your Name. And it's not just another Japanese animation.
There are so many scenes where it feels like the Shinkai just pulls the rug from underneath you, like the movie doesn't always follow the normal routine. I felt so many emotions in this movie.
It grips you in that way and shows that every second in the movie and in life is important.
This movie takes every awesome element that Shinkai has ever used in his films and are all constrained into this movie. This film has jaw dropping photo-realistic visuals with beautiful Japanese voice work, great cinematography, laugh out loud comedy, gripping story, insane twists, looming soundtrack, heart racing action, unforgettable quotes.
But the best part about this movie is that it has very few mistakes. Everything is in the film for a reason.
Still, I don't feel like I've covered most of the points of why this movie was so good without spoiling anything.
But I can say that when I watched it, it was something special. Looking around at other reviews and forums, I have a feeling, that this will be regarded as one of the best animated movies ever made.
A+
10 / 10
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