Warning: This article contains spoilers
Released in 2016 with a complex, emotionally charged storyline, Your Name. is up there in my unofficial list of the best movies I have ever watched. The mind behind the masterpiece, Makoto Shinkai, is known for fantastical, magical elements and beautiful yet heart-wrenching metaphors that make his films so well known and loved today. As someone who rarely watches anime, I can confidently say that giving Your Name. a watch was a decision I will never regret.
Knowing nothing of each other’s existence before the occurrences that unfold, teenagers Taki (Ryunosuke Kamiki) and Mitsuha (Mone Kamishiraishi) suddenly begin to wake up in each other’s bodies. A few bouts of memory loss and immense confusion later, the pair begin to realise that they have been swapping bodies with the same person. They form a unique connection by leaving notes for each other in order to adjust to each other’s contrasting lives: Mitsuha lives with her grandmother and sister in the fictional remote town of Itomori; Taki resides in the bustling city of Tokyo. As if their situation isn’t peculiar enough, they decide to find and meet each other in person.
Shinkai’s dazzlingly detailed and thought-provoking plot, communicating the deep connection between Taki and Mitsuha, took my emotions by storm. The teenagers’ correspondence begins with mutual shock and frustration at one another for making unwanted changes to each other’s reputations with their differing personalities. Soon, by leaving memos and notes, they begin to get to know each other and every aspect of each other’s lives, from their relationships, personalities, lifestyles, and more. Despite such bizarre circumstances, a typical teenage friendship is formed, filled with teasing, occasional bickering but an overall amicability. Mitsuha’s initial death (forcing an abrupt end to the body-swapping that both had begun to enjoy), which is caused by a deadly comet strikes and completely obliterates her town and everyone in it, makes for a heartbreaking watch.
Summaries of Your Name’s plot never delve into the breathtaking elements that make it so wonderful and yet so complicated. Shinkai plays with alternate timelines, using it as an effective plot twist for the viewers to realise that Taki and Mitsuha’s timelines have a three-year difference. Taki finds this out through learning about the tragedy that occurred in Itomori when travelling there to find her. Turning back time for Mitsuha to save the town causes the body-swap for one last time, and meeting each other has its complications. Memories of each other’s names and existence fade and disappear within minutes of parting ways for the final time, despite their determination to remember each other’s names.
The ending pulled a final tug at my heartstrings. The teenagers now grown up and (almost) fully immersed in their ever-moving lives, are stunned when they cross paths. Despite memories of their correspondence and body-swapping being non-existent, there is still a faint familiarity when they turn around and meet each other’s gazes. “What’s your name?” they ask, before the movie ends with a pan up to the clear sky.
Taki and Mitsuha’s innate connection despite their nonsensical origins and their shared turmoil is beautifully conveyed throughout Your Name. The blossoming of their pure friendship through such unconventional circumstances and the dissolving of their memory of that, only to vaguely find that they are, in a sense, each other’s missing piece was wonderful, heartbreaking and fascinating all at once. The profound impact that this film created is beyond words.
Your Name. is for anyone who enjoys an intriguing and heartfelt story riding on the currents of magic realism that is sure leave you in awe, with sprinkles of spirituality contributed by Mitsuha’s grandmother. Cherish the experience the journey of that first-time watch will bring you, because it will never come again. And if the plot was difficult to understand, this timeline here should clarify things.
Words by Aisha Oppong
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