``Your Name'' as seen in ``Weathering with You With You.'' ” A striking difference! A challenging work that pulsates with his will as a writer.

From “I want to be saved” to “I want to be saved”

There are many stains that stand out in this film. Stale alleyways, sleazy red-light districts, trash strewn on the streets, deserted ruins, stains in apartments, old multi-tenant buildings... People who were enchanted by the beautiful scenes of "Your Name" may feel a sense of incongruity. Furthermore, there are a series of "unwholesome" depictions of love hotels and guns, and the protagonist Hodaka commits crimes multiple times. Although "Your Name" also depicted acts of rebellion against authority, it was not as blatant as this. One cannot help but sense a clear intention behind this "change."

Director Shinkai has changed the color scheme several times in the past. The biggest change was around the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which also influenced "Your Name." The turning point was "The Garden of Words," in which waka poetry plays an important role, and since then, his awareness of traditional Japanese beauty has grown stronger. In "Your Name," in addition to waka poetry, a shrine maiden appears, which is passed on to Hina in "Weathering with You with You" (incidentally, these three works are also connected in terms of the worldview). It feels like a "compassion" has begun to sprout, wanting to cherish the place he is in now, Japan, after experiencing the destruction of his daily life. This work also includes many traditional Japanese elements such as the line "The weather is the spirit of the heavens," shrines, torii gates, Obon, and the equinox and this side, and "natural disaster" is the keyword, just like "Your Name."

"Weathering with You" (C) 2019 "Weathering with You" Production Committee

His first collaboration with Toho, "Your Name," involved collaborations with Masayoshi Tanaka, character designer for "Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day " (2013), and the popular band RADWIMPS , transforming the work into one more aimed at the masses. As he transitioned from minor to major, the director himself seems to have shifted his style from "subjective" to "bird's-eye view." His previous desire for self-affirmation, "I want to be saved by drawing," has faded, and his sense of mission to affirm others, "I want to save people by drawing," has grown. In interviews, he has spoken of a big change in his state of mind since the earthquake disaster. It could be said that he has begun to view his characters more objectively.

And in this film, Director Shinkai chose to "be himself." The aforementioned "dirtiness" and "unwholesomeness" were aspects that were difficult to depict in his previous works, which were created from emotions such as wishes and prayers. Having reached the giving side, Director Shinkai emphasizes the Arrival of "saving" more strongly, and embraces "voiceless people" by introducing characters who are close to sex and crime.

"Weathering with You" (C) 2019 "Weathering with You" Production Committee

The characters in this film have all lost something and are in the midst of hardship. There is a boy who came to Tokyo with nothing but the clothes on his back because he couldn't find his place in the world, a brother and sister who lost their mother, a writer who can't see his only daughter, a woman whose job search is not going well... They are bound by adversity that was not present in the characters of his previous works, and rain pours down from above. Their lives, hiding in the shadows in a corner of the glamorous city, are reminiscent of Shoplifters (2018). Contrary to their warm bonds, the world around them is full of things that reject them.

The key point is how this "world" is portrayed. In this film, the masses are presented as "evil." People on the Internet are harsh, and in the real world, they only sneer at the hero and heroine from afar, and do not lend them a hand. They hurl abuse at them, complain about anything that happens in front of them, and try to consume Hina, who is a "100% sunny girl." Fundamentally, it is the exact opposite of "Your Name," where the world is made up of "good." Although it is not a line in the film, how do you live in a world that is "inherently crazy"? The reason for the line that appears in the trailer, "They have forever changed the shape of the world," is closely linked to the malice directed at them.

“Your Name” was created with good intentions. ”, “Weathering with You” exposed to malicious intent