Suzume

This is one of those movies, which just makes it really tough on me to write about it. Because if I talk about the problems I had with the movie, it seems a bit unfair because it is in fact a good movie. But if I don't, that seems unfair too because I did have some problems with this movie. Here's a little background on my impression of the director (and the writer and the editor) - Makoto Shinkai. "Your Name" is one of the best movies I've ever seen (not just in anime). And I absolutely adore "5 Centimetres Per Second" and "Garden of Words". I sort of have a love-hate relationship with "Weathering With You". I can write a long paragraph about it, but long story short, I absolutely love the direction, animation and soundtrack of that movie, but I really don't like the script and the plot.

Ok now to Suzume. I do think this is a good movie. And I think people are going to have a great time with it, because of Shinkai's masterful direction and the RADWIMPS' breath-taking soundtrack. But I'm disappointed with the plot. Well, not exactly disappointed, but let me explain a bit more. I had a lot of fun with the first half of this movie. In fact, I loved the first 80% of this movie. And that's also because the movie continuously kept adding more and more unanswered questions, which made the plot more and more mysterious and it was great, until I started realising that the movie doesn't have enough time left to answer all those questions. And it didn't. When the end credits rolled, I was disappointed because so many answers felt missing. So much supernatural stuff happened in between that just wasn't explained. And now that I think about it, even Your Name didn't exactly explain its supernatural stuff. But it worked because of its characters. Because even though those plotlines didn't have a logical reason, they surely had an emotional one. This movie didn't seem to have both. Here, I can see that shinkai is trying to fit these themes like moving on and death but they didn't seem to fit into the movie.

You know, I can't help but feel that after the success of Your Name, Shinkai is trying to repeat some of the same formulas in his stories. Some similarities with Your Name in both Weathering With You and Suzume are very evident. Like a natural disaster looming over the characters, a romance that turns very dramatic in the second half. The romance in this movie actually felt a lot more natural than it did in Weathering with You. But the problem is that just like Your Name, Shinkai makes these romances take a very dramatic turn. And romance, being a delicate emotion, can't be forced so dramatically until a certain level of familiarity has been reached in the first half.

He did this flawlessly in Your Name and that's because that movie is built around its romance. Whereas in this movie, it feels that he's trying to add a dramatic romance to a plot that could've done without it. Look that's why it's tough on me, you might think I hated this movie. Not even close. I had a good time with this movie, because it is in fact a good movie. It's just that it could have been a lot more than it is, which is why I have to say the things I said above. But like I said this movie is directed MAJESTICALLY. I mean Shinkai's direction is just insane. He makes you feel emotions that aren't even there to feel xD.

And the animation is so, so gorgeous. As good as it was in his previous movies (maybe even better). And RADWIMPS is now 3 in 3 with this soundtrack. This soundtrack is just as good as Your Name and Weathering With You, and that's saying something. I mean there is a sequence, where a certain supernatural entity covers the city of Tokyo and it's like one of the most mesmerizing scenes I've ever seen. The way Shinkai shows that scene, with the breath-taking shots, brilliant animation and jaw-dropping soundtrack, I mean it brought tears to my eyes. Give this man an oscar xD.

This is also Shinkai's funniest movie. There are some very funny sequences here. 1 specific hilarious plot point that continues throughout the movie was just genius. The movie starts off very quickly and seeing these characters trying to catch on with what all is happening just made it even more entertaining and funny. There are also some very touching moments, mostly because of how brilliantly they were directed. Shinkai's direction and RADWIMPS' soundtrack is a combination that's capable of completely taking over it's viewers. But that 1 part of my brain which was thinking about the plot kept pulling me back.

Overall though I had a good time with this movie but I'd say Shinkai is capable of much more than this in terms of the plot. I certainly like it more than Weathering With You though.

I love movies like 5 Centimetres Per Second and Garden of Words. They were great movies in their own right, and they were nothing like Your Name. Those movies explored deep emotions like separation, alienation and growing up and did it brilliantly. So any movie can be great in its own right. I have a lot of faith in Shinkai as a filmmaker and I'd like to see a different movie from him.

(Btw you're going to get goosebumps when the title pops up at the beginning of the movie, trust me)

1 Comparison with past works

Suzume is completely different from Your name and Weathering with you.

This film does not have plot twists that Your name has.

Additionally, this film may not contain the willpower portrayed in Weathering with you.

However, this film may contain something necessary to live in this world.

2 Contents

This film evokes memories of a serious incident in Japan for the present generation, and also allows future generations to inherit those memories.

This film may teach us something necessary to overcome that incident.

In my opinion, this film may be comparable to Your name.

Suzume has become one of 2023's breakout hits and for good reason; though the film may have some similarities to Your Name and Weathering With You, it's got enough different material to make this film a nicely refreshing experience at the cinema.

I don't know why some critics/audience-members have complained about the supposed similarities to Makoto Shinkai's previous films; directors have styles they refine to their heart's content, so it's an odd thing to point out here. With that said, Shinkai uses his 'magic realism' approach to tell an even more fantasy-oriented story than Your Name; there are talking cats and sentient chairs in this one instead of a 'simple' body-swap.

Of course, the story's well realised but what about the animation? It's gorgeous! Of course it's gorgeous! It's so crisp and fluid that even the few imperfections here and there do not diminish the sense of seeing a fantastical take on modern Japan that's ripe for the 'real fantasy' imagery on display here. Also, the animation has a consistently cinematic (and larger than life) flare that few recent American animated offerings seem to have. The intimate and big set pieces never feel totally out of place. Everything here just... fits nicely.

Suzume is the kind of animation that cinema was made to show off, and in THE showiest fashion possible! Makoto Shinkai has a real knack for theatrical stories.

Suzume gets 4.5/5 stars. 9/10 points. This one is certainly worth getting a ticket to see!

Beautiful animation, brilliant even, with a lot of attention to details. It captures perfectly the nature with the shimmering of roads and the sparkling of the sea.

The story is interesting even if in some places it could have been better. The feeling of old places with memories from the past struck a cord.

Regarding the love story, I'm not sure how the infatuation "that guy looks beautiful" transformed into deep love to say "I am more afraid of a world without him".

The idea of what generates earthquakes is interesting.

As usual for japanese anime, the final "lessons" can easily bring you to tears but you are better if you remember that lesson because it's about life.

A love at first sight, seeking past, fifty thousand people used to live here now it's a ghost town, unlikely villain, phenomenon driven mystery, parkour, a race against time and chance, past meet future, today's sacrifice tomorrow's keep, great humor timing, strong voice acting, magical, captivating visual art animation & a music to fall in love, with nostalgia sure to hit a Makoto Shinkai's masterpiece ! When I left the theater I feel like wanting more I regretted for not having watch Kimi no Nawa and Weathering with you on cinema but not this time and I am so glad I captured this one. Ittekimasu Itterasshai.