By Daniel Sison
Weathering With You, or Tenki No Ko, is a Japanese animated movie that has completely flown under the noses of the typical American viewers. This animated movie was directed by Makoto Shinkai, the man who created the animated film Your Name (2017), also known as, Kimi No Na, a movie that successfully entered highest grossing films in many countries other than the United States. In Japan, Your Name produced twenty-five billion dollars, which is just under Titanic and Frozen. The only other Japanese animated film that can compete with Makoto Shinkai’s works is the well known Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001).
Weathering With You, or Tenki No Ko (which directly translates to “Weather’s Child”), is about a young, runaway high school student named Hodaka Morishima simply trying to live a normal life in Tokyo, Japan. Without any money, with no place to go, Hodaka eventually runs into a small-time publisher, who he begins to work and live with. One day, he sees a girl who had previously helped him surrounded by suspicious men. After he pulls her away from them, they slowly become friends, and she shows him her mysterious power - the ability to push the rain back and bring out the sun through prayer. Hodoka and the girl, Hina Amano, eventually start a business to clear the rain. This service immediately becomes popular because their city of Tokyo is being plagued by a never-ending chain of storms and downpour. The duo quickly realizes something is wrong when Hina begins to physically disappear.
Weathering With You, or Tenki No Ko (which directly translates to “Weather’s Child”), is about a young, runaway high school student named Hodaka Morishima simply trying to live a normal life in Tokyo, Japan. Without any money, with no place to go, Hodaka eventually runs into a small-time publisher, who he begins to work and live with. One day, he sees a girl who had previously helped him surrounded by suspicious men. After he pulls her away from them, they slowly become friends, and she shows him her mysterious power - the ability to push the rain back and bring out the sun through prayer. Hodoka and the girl, Hina Amano, eventually start a business to clear the rain. This service immediately becomes popular because their city of Tokyo is being plagued by a never-ending chain of storms and downpour. The duo quickly realizes something is wrong when Hina begins to physically disappear.
The story at first glance could fall under the category of fantasy, since the plot seems to revolve around a girl with super-powers. However, the movie actually uses the “fantasy element” to let realism shine. The movie focuses on the relationships of people, and how their daily lives can be affected. Although the concept of “bringing the sun out” is extremely simple, many complicated situations arise from simply possessing that power. The progression of the plot is also realistic - turning points do not happen faster than they need to, like many of the action movies showing today.
Although the story is solid, it does not match in quality in comparison to the rest of the aspects of the film such as its art or sound. The plot was a little too simple and does not really stand out. Fortunately, the characters and the interaction between the characters is what made the movie so enjoyable. One example of character development can be found by observing Keisuke Suga. He is the forty-five year old writer who takes Hodaka into his own home because he sees his younger self in Hodaka. One day, when Hina Amano disappears, Hodaka does everything in his power to search for her, even going against the police. Keisuke sides with the police at first and tries to stop Hodaka. However, when Keisuke feels the blow of Hodaka’s passion, he remembers that he himself was once in Hodoka’s position, and eventually holds back the police to let Hodaka go.
Hina Amano also receives her share of struggles. Her only mother passed away, leaving her and her brother to take care of the household. She had to work at various places in order to support what was left of her family. Then, after receiving the power to clear the skies, she had to come to terms with the fact that she would have to disappear forever and leave her brother behind as a result of possessing that ability.
Unfortunately, the main character Hodaka does not undergo as much development as the other characters. Although he fights his own battles, he never really changes his ways or improves them. Instead, Hodaka is more of a character who causes change. He has his own goals, and with burning passion, he does not let anything stop him. The other characters catch onto his passion which allows them to change in their somewhat mediocre lives.
Although the story is solid, it does not match in quality in comparison to the rest of the aspects of the film such as its art or sound. The plot was a little too simple and does not really stand out. Fortunately, the characters and the interaction between the characters is what made the movie so enjoyable. One example of character development can be found by observing Keisuke Suga. He is the forty-five year old writer who takes Hodaka into his own home because he sees his younger self in Hodaka. One day, when Hina Amano disappears, Hodaka does everything in his power to search for her, even going against the police. Keisuke sides with the police at first and tries to stop Hodaka. However, when Keisuke feels the blow of Hodaka’s passion, he remembers that he himself was once in Hodoka’s position, and eventually holds back the police to let Hodaka go.
Hina Amano also receives her share of struggles. Her only mother passed away, leaving her and her brother to take care of the household. She had to work at various places in order to support what was left of her family. Then, after receiving the power to clear the skies, she had to come to terms with the fact that she would have to disappear forever and leave her brother behind as a result of possessing that ability.
Unfortunately, the main character Hodaka does not undergo as much development as the other characters. Although he fights his own battles, he never really changes his ways or improves them. Instead, Hodaka is more of a character who causes change. He has his own goals, and with burning passion, he does not let anything stop him. The other characters catch onto his passion which allows them to change in their somewhat mediocre lives.
The cinematography, along with the art and design of the movie is astounding. The character designs are pretty standard in the animated world, but what really stands out is the setting and atmosphere. It is almost difficult to believe that most of the art in the film has been hand-drawn by artists. Every time Hina Amano would clear the rain, each and every droplet would reverse its trajectory and begin to float towards the sky.
Sound design is also a major contributor to the quality of the film. Paired with breathtaking scenes, the music and the sound quality can send chills down the viewer’s spine. The music from the movie was composed by Radwimps, a Japanese rock band. The band name Radwimps comes from the two English slang words “rad” and “wimps”. In other words, their name means “cool wimps”. They also created music for Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name, so he was already familiar with their style when he directed Weathering With You.
There were two voice overs recorded for the film. Viewers are able to choose between “dubbed” or “subbed” showings. A dubbed anime means that the original Japanese voice acting has been replaced with English voice acting, while “subbed” anime means the film uses original Japanese voice actors accompanied by English subtitles. There are various pros and cons to each one. Viewers that watch the English version of the movie can fully experience the exquisite artistic ability of the creators. However, since the animation was originally created for Japanese voices, the “subbed” version fits much more naturally. Also, when translations go through, certain phrases and words come out different in English, since both languages are very different. A lot of times, watching the movie with a different set of voice overs can completely change it. Usually the English versions lack a lot of quality that many of the original Japanese versions have. However, in Weathering With You, the English version is done well. The voices match the characters and are well-edited.
Sound design is also a major contributor to the quality of the film. Paired with breathtaking scenes, the music and the sound quality can send chills down the viewer’s spine. The music from the movie was composed by Radwimps, a Japanese rock band. The band name Radwimps comes from the two English slang words “rad” and “wimps”. In other words, their name means “cool wimps”. They also created music for Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name, so he was already familiar with their style when he directed Weathering With You.
There were two voice overs recorded for the film. Viewers are able to choose between “dubbed” or “subbed” showings. A dubbed anime means that the original Japanese voice acting has been replaced with English voice acting, while “subbed” anime means the film uses original Japanese voice actors accompanied by English subtitles. There are various pros and cons to each one. Viewers that watch the English version of the movie can fully experience the exquisite artistic ability of the creators. However, since the animation was originally created for Japanese voices, the “subbed” version fits much more naturally. Also, when translations go through, certain phrases and words come out different in English, since both languages are very different. A lot of times, watching the movie with a different set of voice overs can completely change it. Usually the English versions lack a lot of quality that many of the original Japanese versions have. However, in Weathering With You, the English version is done well. The voices match the characters and are well-edited.
Overall, Weathering With You is an amazing animated film. The storyline was straightforward and realistic, while the characters were deep and complex. The art, animation, and music is extremely high in quality as well. However, like most Japanese films, this movie was overlooked by the general American audience. It may not be a mindblowing masterpiece like some of Makoto Shinkai’s other works, but it definitely is a hidden gem waiting to be discovered.
