I have to say, Weathering With You is the best anime I have seen thus far. I absolutely loved this film. Makoto Shinkai has a way of writing truly original stories that take hold of a viewer’s imagination and immerses them so fully into the film that by the time the credits start to roll, you’re already making plans to see the film as many times as you can while it’s still on the big screen.
You may be rolling your eyes right now, but what I’ve just said isn’t an exaggeration. Makoto Shinkai is a genius and his work is so precious. There was a line out the door of the Michigan Theater an hour before the show started; a massive crowd of college kids huddling together in the cold, eyes shining, so excited to be there and I was obviously one of them. When we finally were able to shuffle our way inside, we were greeted by a slightly frazzled theater employee who announced that over a hundred tickets had been sold for the show.
The excitement for this film was a palpable thing that cruised throughout the theater as we all scrambled to get the best seats. The room was a roaring frenzy of voices and then, like magic, everyone fell silent as the screen came to life.
Weathering With You is at it’s heart, a love story. However, Makoto Shinkai is not one for cliches. So when I say ‘love story’, I don’t mean the various love triangles, hexagons, and octagons that you would normally think of. Weathering With You is something pure. It’s about a growing relationship between two young people, the love of father and daughter, the bond of a sister and brother, and the love for people who’ve been lost. All of these relationships are woven together throughout the movie, each one connecting and affecting the other. There is just a beauty to what Shinkai is able to do through anime.
The icing on the cake of course is the aspects of magic that Shinkai brought to Weathering With You, highlighting Japanese legends surrounding weather maidens, women who have the ability control the world of weather. Shinkai brought this magic to life with meadows that floated on the tops of rain clouds, fish made of raindrops and a girl who prayed for sunshine.
I’ve been careful not to give any spoilers because I really believe you should take a moment to watch this film, even if you aren’t the least bit interested in anime.
You won’t regret it!
