Your Name

2016 film by the guy who made 5 Centimetres Per Second, Children Who Chase Lost Voices and The Garden of Words - none of which could I stomach.
==First watch (10th September 2016)==
===Format===
Ota Aeon cinema, on my own, in Japanese without(!) subtitles
===Journal===
One of my students mentioned watching it and then I read that it was supposed to be really beautiful and I thought it would be fun to watch a film at the cinema in Japanese despite not being to understand most of it.
I enjoyed the experience; it certainly was beautiful and had an interesting story and endearing characters. I managed to follow what was happening, although I understood relatively little of the dialogue. The twist/complication hit me with some potency, but then it seemed to drag on after that. I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed it more or less if it had had subtitles.
It's surprising that the director seemed to score a hit with this one, given his record of making horrendously soppy drivel that I can't stand.
===Rating===
1
==Second watch (11th October 2016)==
===Format===
Ota Aeon cinema, on my own, in Japanese without(!) subtitles
===Journal===
It was mentioned by more of my students and seemed to be taking Japan by storm, and I listened to some of the tracks/songs from its soundtrack by The Radwimps and it stuck in my mind, so I ended up going back to see it again one quiet Tuesday afternoon between classes.
It really pulled me in again. It has good music, and great sequences with drama, humour, action, enticing animation, characters and visuals. The story is really interesting and moving. It's a solid movie. Ironically, if I hadn't already watched and hated the director's previous movies I would be super excited to find out he'd made others which were also highly rated. Go figure! He got it right this time. I wonder if watching it without subtitles and having to search for meaning in the body language and make up my own narrative made a difference.
This time I understood a little more, I think, but I'm still confused about exactly how they swap and obviously couldn't understand what was going on during the sequence in which they seem to be happily living and interfering in each other's lives. I'm looking forward to watching it with subtitles in the future.
===Rating===
2
==Third watch (19th October 2016)==
===Format===
On some website which had it up in low quality with English subtitles
===Journal===
Found out it was available with subtitles online so I watched it in three or four parts over the course of a few days, shortly after watching it for the second time at the cinema and listening to its soundtrack a lot.
There were some interesting (and some not so significant) revelations about its plot, like that Mitsuha hated her country life (which made me sad) and that it was made kinda obvious that the town was destroyed before Taki runs into it (which I think lessens the impact it had on me not having any idea it was coming). I think all in all it was made worse by the dialogue - my imagination and ignorance did a better job for me than the actual script. But it was interesting, and the "I love you" written on Mitsuha's hand near the end was impactful (I think I completely missed that despite knowing hiragana).
===Rating===
2
==Fourth watch (30th December 2016)==
===Format===
At Toho cinema in Umeda, Osaka, in Japanese without subtitles
===Journal===
After getting a job in Osaka, starting in January 2017, I headed down during the OES winter break to sort out my new apartment. With that finished pretty early on in the day, I took the opportunity to watch Your Name one more time at the cinema - I'd been waiting for its run to come to an end in Ota so I could see it again once more before it finished but there was no end in sight and since I couldn't drive after my international driving permit expired I couldn't easily get to Aeon Mall anymore, so seeing it in Osaka made sense. Surprisingly, nearly 4 months after it first came to the cinema, every single seat was filled. I was on the front row stuck between two couples (sorry!).
I picked up a few new bits of dialogue this time around, having seen it with subtitles back in October, and spent a lot of the movie trying to name the music tracks (I've listened to the soundtrack a lot).
I really love this movie! It was a thrill watching it again. It's amazing how the director has created such a popular movie when his previous works have been drivel. The music is amazing, the visuals are great, the two main characters and the supporting cast are all wonderful, the story is compelling and dramatic, it has genuinely funny moments, and I love it!
===Rating===
3, probably
==Fifth watch (20th July 2017)==
===Format===
At Mum's house in Rotherham, with Sarah. Japanese with subtitles.
===Journal===
On my third day in the UK in Summer 2017 I was at home while Mum was out and Sarah came over, and I put on Your Name because I thought she'd like it. She did, of course, and I did, a lot. Top movie, really moving.
===Rating===
3
==Ratings, awards, mentions and recommendations==
Top pick!
Great soundtrack
Category:Japanese films
Category:2010s films
Category:Films watched in 2016
Category:Films with 1 rating
Category:Films with 2 rating
Category:Films with 3 rating
Category:Top Picks