Animated Freaky Friday

Rating: 9/10 (15 March 2019)

Your Name is serving as something of a breakout for it's director Makoto Shinkai and while I don't personally consider it his masterpiece (that honour goes to five centimetres per second), it's certainly an excellent intro to his body of work.
The film follows two teenagers, a city boy named Taki and a rural village girl named Mitsuha. These two teenagers find their fates to be intertwined, when they suddenly and inexplicably begin to swap bodies.Both teenagers scramble to figure out why this is happening, and begin to gain a deep understanding of each other and their respective lives.This premise could be seen as banal and uninteresting, but there are several unexpected and rather clever twists to the story that elevate the material considerably. Taki and Mitsuha are both very likeable protagonists, with relatable and interesting personal conflicts as well as a charming and at times quite funny relationship. The movie itself is surprisingly funny at times, with one recurring gag involving Taki waking up in Mitsuha's body never failing to make me chuckle.
However the main draw of the film is it's breathtaking animation, which does not disappoint.Their are several 'wow' moments and setpieces that took my breath away with their stunning detail, especially as I was lucky enough to see the film in imax. But even the smaller, more atmospheric environmental shots have a calming and lifelike beauty to them. You can tell how much effort went into designing and animating these beautiful scenes, and the love poured into every shot and cel.
One complaint I have with the film is that there are several musical montages set to japanese pop-rock peppered throughout the film and they feel quite out of place, like someone edited an AMV into the film without anyone noticing. There is one showing our two leads acclimating to their situation and figuring out how to communicate with each other that feels fitting, but the rest are extremely jarring.
It's still an excuse to watch some more beautiful animation, so I can't be too harsh. Another issue (and an admittedly minor one) is that Mitsuha's dad feels like a generic 'strict parent' archetype, despite actually having a slightly more sympathetic backstory in the light novel 'Another Side-Earthbound'.
To conclude, Your Name is an excellent film and a brilliant intro to anime for people not familiar to the medium. Absolutely worth a watch, and a rewatch. Bring tissues.