Table of Contents
Your Name
Since the release of his first short film Voices of a Distant Star (which he wrote, directed, and animated by himself over seven months), Makoto Shinkai has been described by multiple critics as the next Hayao Miyazaki. With his most recent film Your Name. (yes, the period is part of the title), Shinkai finally steps out of the shadows and finds his own voice. To describe it as a mere body-swapping film does it a great disservice, as it finds the humor and humanity in a situation where two young high schoolers find themselves in each others’ shoes. But then, Shinkai pulls the rug out from under you halfway through and Your Name. turns into a different kind of film entirely. That it doesn’t lose its footing or confidence and instead discovers continued meaning and purpose shows that Shinkai is a directorial force to be reckoned with.
A Silent Voice
For those looking for a real tear-jerker, Netflix has the exceptional teenage drama A Silent Voice, based on the seven-volume manga of the same name by Yoshitoki Oima. The film begins with protagonist Shoya Ishida as an elementary schooler, learning that his class has a new student, Shoko Nishimiya. He and some other boys in his class begin to pick on her, especially after they all find out that she is deaf.
Fast forward to high school, and Shoya regrets the selfish actions of his early childhood — actions that ultimately led to him being ostracized in the same way he was attempting to ostracize Shoko. He runs into her by chance and realizes that he wants to make amends for the way he treated her, and as the two begin to navigate this rocky friendship.
Shoya is able to learn how to make friends with others, as well. This is a truly beautiful film that tackles big issues like bullying, disability, and suicide, with sensitivity and an excellent sense of narrative drama. Just make sure you have a box of tissues alongside your popcorn — you’ll need it for the climax, for sure.
The Garden of Words
Miyazaki is not the only director whose less widely-known works have found a niche at Netflix. Makoto Shinkai has recently enjoyed fame with his 2016 hit film Your Name. He was directing plenty of films before that, however, including 2013’s Garden of Words. At the start of this short, moody film, high school student Takao Akizuki chooses to skip school in favor of sketching shoes in the garden at Shinjuku Gyoen, a large park in Tokyo. While there, he runs into Yukari Yukino, a mysterious 27-year-old woman who is skipping work to enjoy beer and chocolate in the park.
All through the rainy season, the two meet up and get to know each other, and Takao becomes more and more invested in becoming a shoemaker and making a pair of shoes for Yukari. When Yukari’s job — and her reasons for neglecting it — become known, the pair finds themselves being pulled apart by the pressures of society. There’s heaps of drama to be had in only 46 minutes, and if you can get over the questionable adult-teen relationship, the film is an absolute treat for the eyes, especially the garden scenery.
I want to eat your Pancrase
One day, “Me” – a high schooler – found a paperback within the hospital. The “Disease Coexistence Journal” was its title. it had been a diary that “Me‘ classmate, Sakura Yamauchi, had written secretly.
Inside, they had written it that thanks to her pancreatic disease; it numbered her days. And thus, “Me” coincidentally went from Just-a-Classmate to a Secret-Knowing-Classmate.
It had been as if he were being drawn to her, who was his polar opposite. However, the planet presented the girl with an illness already affected that with an equally cruel reality.
Into the Forest of Fireflies’ Light
Translated as “Into the Forest of Fireflies’ Light”, this movie utilizes Japanese folklore to tell a story of love and loss.
Gin is a forest spirit, while Hotaru is a young girl who, as a small child, meets him when she is lost in the woods. Gin cannot touch a human or he will disappear.
As Hotaru grows into a young woman, the pair come to fall in love after years of interacting. The tale ends in tragedy, but there is a sweetness to the bitterness.
The beautiful animation helps make the story a striking experience.
5 cm per Second
“5 Centimeters per Second” is a Japanese animated coming-of-age romantic drama film that depicts the story of Takaki Toono and Akari Shinohara, two very close friends and classmates, who are torn apart when Akari’s family is transferred to another region of Japan due to her family’s job. Despite the separation, they continue to keep in touch through mail.
When Takaki finds out that his family is also moving, he decides to meet with Akari one last time.
As years pass by, they continue down their own paths, their distance slowly growing wider and their contact with one another fades.
Yet, they keep remembering one another and the times they have shared together, wondering if they will have the chance to meet once again.
Wolf Children
Wolf Children is a good 2012 Japanese anime film directed and co-written by Mamoru Hosoda. The story follows a young mother named Hana 19-year-old who is left to raise two half-human half-wolf children, Ame and Yuki after their werewolf father dies. They move to the countryside and the children have adventures in the woods and at school.
You will fall in love with this great anime film that is not devoid of real-world problems like raising a family, being different in society, and finding one’s place in the world.
Grave Of The Fireflies
Directed by Isao Takahata, Studio Ghibli’s Grave Of The Fireflies is the utterly heart-breaking tale of two siblings, Seita and Satsuko, who are separated from their parents during a US firebombing strike on Kobe in late 1945. After spending some time living with an aunt under increasingly fraught circumstances, the siblings run away and attempt to survive on their own. What follows is a life of intense struggle and desperation, loaded with the grief of a nation attempting to reckon with and overcome the wide-scale tragedy in its past, and the collective guilt that comes with it. Far away from the likes of Spirited Away or My Neighbour Totoro, it remains an immensely important work in the Ghibli canon.
Weathering With You
Tenki No Ko: Weathering With You is the latest film from Japan’s acclaimed director Makoto Shinkai. Hailed as the next Hayao Miyazaki, Shinkai rose to international stardom with his smash-hit film Kimi No Na Wa (Your Name). Because of this international blockbuster, anime fans everywhere have been hotly anticipating the release of Weathering With You. This article will serve as a short (admittedly sometimes biased) comparison of Your Name vs. Weathering With You.
I was blessed with the opportunity to see the film on opening day in Japan and it did not disappoint. However, was Tenki No Ko: Weathering With You as good as Kimi No Na Wa (Your Name)? While Weathering With You was a great anime film in its own right, it did not surpass the greatness of its predecessor.
Howl’s Moving Castle
“Howl’s Moving Castle” interpretation of a Western novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones. It varies quite a bit from the book, so if you are a fan of the novel, there is still a lot new to see here.
Young, unadventurous Sophie is rescued from an evil witch by the showy wizard Howl—then she finds herself cursed into the form of an old woman by that same witch.
She finds a job working as a house-cleaner for the very same wizard Howl, whose own troubles are about to overwhelm him.
This movie is very beautiful, very romantic, and also very, very funny. Christian Bale provides the voice of the charming Howl in the English dub. Give it a watch!