Fandango synopsis:

The summer of his high school freshman year, Hodaka runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo, and quickly finds himself pushed to his financial and personal limits. The weather is unusually gloomy and rainy every day, as if to suggest his future. He lives his days in isolation, but finally finds work as a writer for a mysterious occult magazine. Then one day, Hodaka meets Hina on a busy street corner. This bright and strong-willed girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky.

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First anime movie of 2020

I am late to do this review so please bear with me. I was told by about this movie from my friend Allison and she told me in January, there would be premiering this movie in theaters. On January 15th, I bought the tickets for us so we can watch it in English Dub. This movie was directed by Makoto Shinkai who is well-known for directing movies such as Your Name and Children Who Chase Lost Voices. In this review, I am going to be real brief and I won’t be spoiling anything about this movie. Once the movie is released in DVD, I will go back and give a full, detailed review with spoilers.

Story: Japan in a everlasting rain

The story begins with a young teenager named Hodaka Morishima who ran away from home and starts a new life in Japan. Easier said than done when he is a kid in the big world of Tokyo where you have to be an adult to get a job. Too make matters worse, Japan is dealing with a rain that has been going on for months; Tokyo has become trapped in a rain weather and hasn’t seen a clear sunny day in a long time. Hodaka struggles to find a job due to his young appearance but then he becomes fortunate when he applies a job at a small publishing company owned by Keisuke Suga and his niece Natsumi. As part of the job, Hodaka goes out to explore Tokyo and write legends and folktales. One day, he saves a girl named Hina from a group of shady men and after spending time with her, he makes a shocking discovery: Hina has the power to stop the rain by praying and give Japan back the sun. As these two spend together, Hodaka teams up with Hina and her kid brother Nagi starts a business. However, as these three are having fun, they soon realizes that stopping the rain has a price. As Hodaka is faced against the weather, he also has to deal with the hardships of growing up and avoiding authorities due to him being a runaway.

Review: Incredible story involving the rain

Many people I have talked said that this movie was good, but the movie Your Name was better. However, since I haven’t watched Your Name, I can’t fully support some of these opinions. This is actually my second Makoto Shinkai film I seen; the first movie I ever seen done by his work was Children Who Chase Lost Voices. I will say this, Shinkai once again does an amazing job on the animation and visuals in the movie. We (my friend and I) watched the movie all the way to the end of the credits and saw behind the scenes. I really like the details Shinkai and the animators put attention on the effects of the rain and water throughout the movie. Visually, this movie was beautiful to watch; this movie felt like a modern day version of watching a Hayao  Miyazaki film. The music in this movie was also another treat I enjoyed while watching the movie. I like the music group Radwimps and how the music feels a sense of uplifting and motivation. The story’s atmosphere feels like a combination of fantasy and realism. The fantasy comes from the magic and powers of prayers from Hina’s prayers and the realism shows the struggles of Hodaka trying to make it big for a young runaway. I really like Hodaka and seeing his experiences because he shows us that he wants to run away to a better home than the one he lived and he wants to feel loved by his friends. The dynamic relationship with real world problems and fantasy situation shows and it’s very powerful and destructive as a natural storm. I watched the movie in English Dub and I really enjoyed in my opinion; I was surprised to see Mike Pollock (voice of Dr. Eggman from Sonic) to be part of this movie.

Conclusion

Was Weathering With You was a good movie? In my opinion, yes it was. Weathering With You is a movie that shows us that despite nature and society throws at us, we have the power to change it if we desire it. Shinkai does a marvelous job on showing the great details on music and visuals. The movie is a real great combination of fantasy and slice of life. The characters you meet while watching this makes you feel attached to them and you end rooting for them. The movie does an excellent job on dealing with the conflict of man vs nature and man vs society. Weathering With You is a beautiful movie that shows the power of nature and human emotions.

What did you think about this movie?