ANIME REVIEW: YOUR NAME

Your Name
Released By: Anime Limited
Rating: 12
Running Time: 106 Mins
Audio: English/ Japanese with English subs
Release Date: 6/11/2017
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes 

Since the day when the stars fell, Mitsuha has searched for Taki, the boy of her dreams-literally. She can only see him when she dreams of being someone else interacting with him in another world, and her classmates have started to notice!

Mitsuha keeps being reminded of her slip-ups regarding how she was dressed the other day, had bed hair and acted crazy. She does tell them she felt as though she was in another world, a dream state and longs to leave the small town for the big city. Itomori is an old town rich with ancient Japanese history, but for Mitsuha it is behind the times and the ritualistic nature of the towns culture bores her.

A few parts of this anime movie stand out as amusing; Mitsuha looking at herself in the mirror at the start before she goes to school, performing as a shrine maiden and fermenting the rice wine for offering to the gods (she is embarrassed to do this) and screams outside the shrine after the performance wanting to be reborn as a handsome young man.

At first we get to see Mitsuha's story, then Taki's. The difference is the two of them are living different lives as the opposite sex and desperately want to be reunited. There are clues as to why her life changes, but one of the first is the red string she ties in her hair, it is the red string of fate that ties the two of them together - and then there is that wish she made of being a young boy rather than a bored school girl. From Taki's perspective, life isn't as great being a male, he works in a top restaurant surrounded by well-to-do customers who have a tendency to complain. When one co-worker helps him out with a rather stubborn one, she gets her skirt slashed; the giveaway that Taki isn't who you think he is comes when he offers to sew her skirt, and creates some lovely patterns on it.

What interested me in this anime is I had already reviewed 5 Centimeters Per Second and enjoyed the vibrant world building feel of it and the characters I felt I knew already. Your Name, I have to say has kept my interest as Mitsuha and Taki are characters who lead different lives, yet are similar in that they have to deal with their gender swap and try not to cause too much trouble around their school friends. Taki trying not to speak in the wrong gender, only correcting himself by using boku instead.

The first half of story and character building is effective as it makes it much easier to endear yourself to the characters and what they have to cope with in real life and their dream lives. 

Bonus Material: 

Both the DVD and Blu-Ray formats of “Your Name” will include the following on-disc content:

- Main Feature: Viewable with either the original Japanese audio (subtitled), or English language dub.
- Makoto Shinkai Filmography.
- Special TV Program.
- Trailers.

In addition, the Collector’s Edition Steelbook will include the film on both Blu-ray and DVD, as well as a CD of the film’s soundtrack, composed by Japanese rock band RADWIMPS.

Summary: This is the heartwarming anime from the director who gave us The Place Promised in Our Early Days and 5 Centimetres Per Second and it's magnificent from start to finish!