Weathering With You

[Toukairin]

Not nominated for the Academy Awards again.

Seriously, I'm really disappointed not only for Weathering With You alone, but also for Japanese animation as a whole. I think the industry needs to make more aggressive moves in order to have more entries at the top film festivals (Berlin, Cannes, Golden Globes, Academy Awards). When 2 of the 5 nominees for Best Animated Feature Film are European-made, some serious thinking has to be made on how to increase the sales pitch.

[orion]

Originally Posted by Toukairin

Not nominated for the Academy Awards again.

Seriously, I'm really disappointed not only for Weathering With You alone, but also for Japanese animation as a whole. I think the industry needs to make more aggressive moves in order to have more entries at the top film festivals (Berlin, Cannes, Golden Globes, Academy Awards). When 2 of the 5 nominees for Best Animated Feature Film are European-made, some serious thinking has to be made on how to increase the sales pitch.

From what I can see from the trailers.....

It's prob more than the sales pitch. Klaus brought something new to the table apparently. Weathering With You doesn't do anything "new". The voters could prob immerse themselves more with Klaus, then Weathering With You. I doubt that the Japanese producers and distributors could beat Netflix in the battle to get their films noticed by the Academy.

[Toukairin]

Originally Posted by orion

I doubt that the Japanese producers and distributors could beat Netflix in the battle to get their films noticed by the Academy.

Then why would Japanese producers and distributors not sign the deal with Netflix for that purpose? If the current North American distributors keep on failing at their job of aiming high with the Academy, then I see no reason for sticking with them instead of striking gold with Netflix. Besides, Netflix has been working very hard in the last year to expand the reach of anime to external markets, especially for the purpose of competing straight against the likes of Disney+ and Apple.

[Magin]

Something to keep in mind is Japan's conservatism across the board. Anime is no exception. Studio Ghibli just put its own titles up on streaming services, and all the "Netflix original" anime is actually just the American distribution of anime. Think of Netflix as being like Funimation but for streaming in the eyes of the Japanese.

The Japanese would much rather keep with physical mediums like DVDs, BR and CDs for distribution. And as everyone keeps forgetting... sure, it's popular in the West, but with a handful of exceptions every year, the majority of anime is aimed at the Japanese audience, who still seem to prefer the physical medium. The fact that it happens to be popular in the West is just a bonus side effect.

[BWTraveller]

Honestly, I too prefer to have physical copies. Just a little more reliable (my net doesn't go down often but it has gone down before).

But that said, I thought I heard that Takagi was on Netflix in Japan from the start, so maybe things are starting to change.

EDIT: Finally got to watch it and it did not disappoint. A great movie all the way through. I was surprised by the interview at the end though. Sounds like Shinkai thought Hodaka saying he'd prefer Hina over clear skies in Tokyo would be met with scorn or hate. Seems like that's the expected answer wherever you go.

[DragoonKain3]

After missing watching it on the Toronto International Film Festival because I was out of the country when the tickets went on sale, I finally got to see the movie a couple days ago. And what can I say? I actually liked this better than Your Name. I dunno guys, three years after the fact and I can still remember what happened in The Silent Voice and know how everyone looked, but in here I only knew they have shown the MC cameos when everybody else made audible sounds upon their appearance. I can't even say what happened in Your Name apart from body switching, time travel and destiny... so yeah, what I thought was great movie turned out to be totally forgettable, so keep my bias in mind while I try to explain why I love Tenki no Ko.

Spoiler for plot details:

Basically what sold Weathering with You to me is that I really REALLY loved the ending. Sure, Your Name built up their MCs better than Tenki no Ko, and I really thought Tenko no Ko's police chase was basically just action for the sake of action. Still I always did feel Your Name felt off with the super sweet happy ending; it just wasn't like a regular Shinkai movie to me. Sure Tenki no Ko still has a happy ending, at least it's a "sweetbitter" ending which is closer still to the bittersweet endings I'm used to with Shinkai.

Basically, three things happened that will make this more memorable to me than any other Shinkai movie barring Hoshi no Koe (his debut movie) and 5cm/s (which absolutely destroyed me):

1) Sunshine Girl Shenanigans,
2) Hina being younger than Hodaka, and
3) Hodaka sinking Tokyo as a result of his choices

First one I was actually really surprised liking it. Who would have thought a 'superpower' as mundane as making it stop raining for a moment, in just a small part of the city, would be so interesting? The most enjoyable moments in the movie for me was definitely with the part-time job and the SOL stories that came along with it.

Second one was basically a punch in the gut. I honestly truly believed Hina was older than Hodaka, as the previous two movies had the female lead being older. In here, both the MCs looked particularly young, but with Hina acting like the older person and her dub actress really selling it, I thought female lead being older was the same here as the previous two movies. But them revealing Hina hasn't even finished middle school, and here she was not only trying to make ends meet for her and her brother, but also be an emotional support for the runaway Hodaka, and on top of that she was very nearly sold in the sex trade at 15 years old? That was a HOLY FUCKING SHIT moment when Mr. Police Guy with Kuwabara haircut revealed her true age in the police car.

So yeah, first two I probably would forget by the time the next Shinkai movie comes. But the last one? Not in my lifetime. Just like I still vividly remember the bombarded-to-death Earth once the Macross came back, I don't think I'll ever forget the scene of Tokyo underwater due to nonstop rain for 3 years.

Sure, anime talking about the environment isn't new (goodness knows Earth Maiden Arjuna was really preachy about it almost two decades ago), but Tenki no Ko really drives home the message that there is a price to pay for everything. If we take Hodaka as Mankind while Hina as the things Mankind loves to do, then as it is Mankind will definitely harm the world through climate change if it keeps on doing the things it loves. Unlike Arjuna in which they definitely preach "what you doing is BAD!", in here we are shown that just like it is only logical that Hodaka would want to save Hina, it is only logical that Mankind would still want to keep doing what it loves to do. What Tenki no Ko just wants us to remind us of, is that there EXISTS consequences that we must deal with because of our actions.

Of course, not everything is doom-and-gloom. Even if we are past at the point of no return, Shinkai basically is telling us that humanity will still live on. It might be a different world in the future (like Tokyo being submerged), but hopefully by then we have changed our methods that doing what we love doesn't harm the environment anymore (symbolized by Hina not being tied to the weather at the end of the story). One can only hope it won't get worse, but considering no other city got submerged underwater other than Tokyo, Shinkai is optimistic Humanity can and will find a way to contain the damage we have done.

In other words, just like he portrayed Hodaka and Hina achieving, Shinkai is hopeful Humanity can also find our happy ending despite the environmental damage we already have caused. That is a very powerful message, and is the reason why even though Your Name may be superior in a technical and narrative sense, Tenki no Ko/Weathering with You is still IMO the 'better' movie. (Not at all unlike why I also think Princess Mononoke is Miyazaki's best film, even over Spirited Away, but I'm really digressing at this point. )

[Cosmic Eagle]

Personally I found the ending of Kimi no Na Wa much better than Tenki's. Why? Because it's central theme is that connections between people can do highly significant things. It's primarily an ode to what human potential can accomplish. Tenki has that also but it isn't as central a theme as compared to Kimi no Na. Its message is more like we bumbling humans may stumble down the road but we'll get by somehow as we have done to this point. Kimi no Na speaks more about the "how" of that point.

[Kamijou Touma IB]

I just came back for seeing it and I loved it 8.5/10 for me. I still love Kimi no na wa more.

[BWTraveller]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

After missing watching it on the Toronto International Film Festival because I was out of the country when the tickets went on sale, I finally got to see the movie a couple days ago. And what can I say? I actually liked this better than Your Name. I dunno guys, three years after the fact and I can still remember what happened in The Silent Voice and know how everyone looked, but in here I only knew they have shown the MC cameos when everybody else made audible sounds upon their appearance. I can't even say what happened in Your Name apart from body switching, time travel and destiny... so yeah, what I thought was great movie turned out to be totally forgettable, so keep my bias in mind while I try to explain why I love Tenki no Ko.

Spoiler for plot details:

Basically what sold Weathering with You to me is that I really REALLY loved the ending. Sure, Your Name built up their MCs better than Tenki no Ko, and I really thought Tenko no Ko's police chase was basically just action for the sake of action. Still I always did feel Your Name felt off with the super sweet happy ending; it just wasn't like a regular Shinkai movie to me. Sure Tenki no Ko still has a happy ending, at least it's a "sweetbitter" ending which is closer still to the bittersweet endings I'm used to with Shinkai.

Basically, three things happened that will make this more memorable to me than any other Shinkai movie barring Hoshi no Koe (his debut movie) and 5cm/s (which absolutely destroyed me):

1) Sunshine Girl Shenanigans,
2) Hina being younger than Hodaka, and
3) Hodaka sinking Tokyo as a result of his choices

First one I was actually really surprised liking it. Who would have thought a 'superpower' as mundane as making it stop raining for a moment, in just a small part of the city, would be so interesting? The most enjoyable moments in the movie for me was definitely with the part-time job and the SOL stories that came along with it.

Second one was basically a punch in the gut. I honestly truly believed Hina was older than Hodaka, as the previous two movies had the female lead being older. In here, both the MCs looked particularly young, but with Hina acting like the older person and her dub actress really selling it, I thought female lead being older was the same here as the previous two movies. But them revealing Hina hasn't even finished middle school, and here she was not only trying to make ends meet for her and her brother, but also be an emotional support for the runaway Hodaka, and on top of that she was very nearly sold in the sex trade at 15 years old? That was a HOLY FUCKING SHIT moment when Mr. Police Guy with Kuwabara haircut revealed her true age in the police car.

So yeah, first two I probably would forget by the time the next Shinkai movie comes. But the last one? Not in my lifetime. Just like I still vividly remember the bombarded-to-death Earth once the Macross came back, I don't think I'll ever forget the scene of Tokyo underwater due to nonstop rain for 3 years.

Sure, anime talking about the environment isn't new (goodness knows Earth Maiden Arjuna was really preachy about it almost two decades ago), but Tenki no Ko really drives home the message that there is a price to pay for everything. If we take Hodaka as Mankind while Hina as the things Mankind loves to do, then as it is Mankind will definitely harm the world through climate change if it keeps on doing the things it loves. Unlike Arjuna in which they definitely preach "what you doing is BAD!", in here we are shown that just like it is only logical that Hodaka would want to save Hina, it is only logical that Mankind would still want to keep doing what it loves to do. What Tenki no Ko just wants us to remind us of, is that there EXISTS consequences that we must deal with because of our actions.

Of course, not everything is doom-and-gloom. Even if we are past at the point of no return, Shinkai basically is telling us that humanity will still live on. It might be a different world in the future (like Tokyo being submerged), but hopefully by then we have changed our methods that doing what we love doesn't harm the environment anymore (symbolized by Hina not being tied to the weather at the end of the story). One can only hope it won't get worse, but considering no other city got submerged underwater other than Tokyo, Shinkai is optimistic Humanity can and will find a way to contain the damage we have done.

In other words, just like he portrayed Hodaka and Hina achieving, Shinkai is hopeful Humanity can also find our happy ending despite the environmental damage we already have caused. That is a very powerful message, and is the reason why even though Your Name may be superior in a technical and narrative sense, Tenki no Ko/Weathering with You is still IMO the 'better' movie. (Not at all unlike why I also think Princess Mononoke is Miyazaki's best film, even over Spirited Away, but I'm really digressing at this point. )

I'm not sure I'd interpret things quite the same way. Particularly looking at Hina as "what mankind wants". Hina's a human being herself after all, not just some measure of goods or luxuries or even common needs that require destruction in order to continue gaining. Rather she herself is being encouraged to finally act in her own interest as "saving the world" meant losing her own life.

Besides, Shinkai's position on the whole climate change thing in this movie is a bit too ambivalent for such a point of view. Just look at the derision the priest had when the present weather was being called "unnatural" and "extreme", or the way that at the end the lady noted that for all the talk of Tokyo being "catastrophically sunken", really the entire area now under water had been part of the bay until humans came along a few centuries ago, saying it was really just things going back to the way they had been. True, at the same time its continuation is connected to both Hina and Hodaka's choice, but again that choice was to live and not give up on one another, a choice that at the end Hodaka expressed apparent pride in as he realized he didn't want to come to Hina with lines about how "it'll be OK" or "it's not your fault".

[Sakuratsuki]

Just came back from the screening, I really loved it. 9 out of 10 for me. And that cameo in the movie the crowd went wild .

[Marina2]

Originally Posted by Sakuratsuki

Just came back from the screening, I really loved it. 9 out of 10 for me. And that cameo in the movie the crowd went wild .

There are actually more cameo beside those two but you need to have quick eyes

[Sakuratsuki]

Another reason to rewatch it then , it was after work and quite late. I must have missed quite some things then.

Spoiler for Movie:

Went to see it for the second time, indeed first time didn't really notice it but there are more cameo in the movie. The scene where they were falling down from the sky with RADWIMPS - Grand Escape in the background was really amazing. I heard the song before the movie but after watching that scene it gives a very different touch to this song. Really well done. Looking forward to the BD release coming 27th of May.

[Infinite Zenith]

The BDs are here now, and I've finally had the chance to watch this film for myself. I'll review it properly once I've had a chance to go back through the film again and catch all of the little details.

Spoiler for Film elements:

Besides Taki and Mitsuha, I also think I spotted Miki Okudera. Am I missing anyone else?

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Infinite Zenith

Spoiler for Film elements:

Besides Taki and Mitsuha, I also think I spotted Miki Okudera. Am I missing anyone else?

Spoiler for spoiler:

Didn't spot her - where?

[Infinite Zenith]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Spoiler for spoiler:

Didn't spot her - where?

Spoiler for Characters:

There's a lady at the shop where Mizuha works, who looks very similar to Okudera

I could be wrong, of course.

[Marina2]

Originally Posted by Infinite Zenith

The BDs are here now, and I've finally had the chance to watch this film for myself. I'll review it properly once I've had a chance to go back through the film again and catch all of the little details.

Spoiler for Film elements:

Besides Taki and Mitsuha, I also think I spotted Miki Okudera. Am I missing anyone else?

Spoiler for At 35.11:

Katsuhiko and Sayaka (Mitsuha's friends)

Spoiler for At 1.52.13:

Yotsuha (Mitsuha's sister)

They are all in their post time-skipped form. Like those two.

[AHT]

Top - Theater Version
Bottom - DVD/Blu Ray Version
https://twitter.com/shinkaimakoto/st...91324788256768

[Infinite Zenith]

If memory serves, I think Shinkai said that they showed a slightly incomplete version in the theatre where several cloud layers were missing from the frames, and then was joking that makes the theatre version special

[VTHokiePride]

Forgive my ignorance, is it that big of deal that clouds didn't show up in that climactic scene? Having cloud cover vs no cloud cover doesn't diminish how powerful that scene is in my eyes. Are fans complaining?

[Infinite Zenith]

Shinkai was poking fun at a small oversight they made in his Tweet. I don’t think the fans are particularly worried!