Suzume no Tojimari

This is damned good, and definitely recommended, but with some caveats. The art work is ornate. Very well done and at masterwork level. For the most part the animation is A Tier. If not for a clunky chunk of 3d CGI here and there, it would have been S Tier. Still, not very detracting overall. The main characters are well designed, even when one turns into a 3 legged chair. Some of the side characters are done well, but there are others that are picked up, and then dumped, faster than a $3 whore. A couple of them made me wonder why they even bothered to include them. To be able to stretch the runtime out, and call this a full-blown movie? The narrative is pretty straight forward, but like Suzume's journeys it has a tendency to meander a bit. I felt things would have been better if the writers went straight to the point faster. One other issue I had with the writing was I found some scenes were...ummm...emotionally manipulative. There are parts that seemed to only exist to force an emotional response from the viewer. Many might never notice, but I found those minor, unnecessary scenes a little irksome. But these are mainly personal nitpicks. Mostly the writing is OK if not astounding. The VA work was at a high level for the entire cast. I especially liked the actresses for Suzume and her aunt. They stood head and shoulders above a skilled crowd. I am sure the fine acting was partially a result of overall good direction. He wielded the VAs, animation and soundtrack with aplomb. A fine job, indeed. I'd suggest opening the door, and stepping across the threshold to enjoy this universe. If I graded this movie, it's a 93/100 and an A-. Other than a few quirks many might not notice, it is so close to a full A I can't help but highly recommend it.

Somehow, this and Your Name happened to be a watch my non-anime fan family wanted to watch. And, initially, I didn’t feel compelled to watch it since I didn’t want to watch another Your Name. And, well, since it’s been some time since I watched it, well, perhaps my memory’s failing me, but it was notably worse than Your Name. STORY (???/10) Pacing was excruciatingly slow. What I thought was the turning point ended up being an hour in. Motifs and subplots lead to nothing. It was worse than being red herrings (like Spirited Away). They had no build up. The subplots were not tied up nicely, nor had any basis to exist. I don’t know who greenlit this, because this is not writing that would be found in a western children’s movie. No, it wouldn’t even be found in 7/10 anime known for its inconsistent writing. ANIMATION (9/10) Animation was, unsurprisingly, their main strong suit. As a stickler of bad 3D, it blended in nicely with the rest of the animation, making it much more bearable than other writing. Nothing stuck out weird and it was beautifully done. SOUND (6/10) Well, the music was decent, but not as hard hitting as in Your Name, which I can’t exactly blame Radwimps for. The theme song, Suzume, came only once, without any of the lyrics despite it being the title song practically. In a lot of anime, I can pick up on music and be like “wow, that really is catchy” but the only cool thing was a jazz-like song, which, was, unique, but didn’t mesh with everything else. The SFX sounds were smooth, even if the content that was being shot was questionable. CHARACTERS (5/10) Wow, were the characters ordinary. Even by anime archetype standards, we have a pushover who suddenly dislikes their only family member, and a hardheaded college student who seems dumber than rocks. And, for the other main character/rival/antagonist thing, they seemed to exist to force the story forward rather than explain their existence. Which, was how the other two main characters felt like to me. Especially toward the ending, MC was not only an idiot, but a selfish idiot. And that was praised for. I felt Emily in Paris (for our non-anime fans) level of awful. And, somehow, Belle’s MC had better character development than whatever we got here. OVERALL (5/10) If you want a typical anime movie that does the typical things and tries to do too many things at once, but fails at successfully doing any of them in the whole 2 hours, go for it. But, if you need a starter anime, just go for Your Name (even though that has its own set of issues). Or even the first episode of Oshi no Ko while you’re at it. Well, I now have a reason to avoid this studio and be wary of their stuff. Which sucks because their animation is S-tier. But, if the story is awful, then, the animation is wasted on it.

Can you sympathise with a chair, really? the short answer is yes. yes, you can. if you want the long answer, settle in. At first, I was sure this movie would be in my watchlist for ages because the last movie of the director didn’t really impress me that much. Then I got bored and scrolled through Netflix and well, I gave it a try. So glad I did! It really is a wonderful movie. I gotta compare this movie to another non-anime related movie that cane out at the same time; Disneys Wish. The movie was the 100th year celebration movie where you would imagine the story to be groundbreaking. This was not the case and Suzume did everything right that Wish did bad. Or so to say. The characters were similar to Wish. You have one main character, a side character of higher interest and a bunch of others that just appeared in the movie. Here we have a good example of how side characters are portrayed right and were made interesting enough to continue the movie. I loved the main character a lot. She was nice and so ambitious which is barely even seen in movies nowadays. It‘s easy to loose such characters and cut them off as boring. (Again which was the case in Wish) I am honestly a bit surprised that they turned the boy into a chair. But. They. Made. It. Work. (Oh god I was rooting for a whole chair lmao) Story-wise, this was insane. I was afraid they’d loose me in the first half of the movie but then everything happened so fast that you couldn’t close the screen. Even the whole roadtrip scene was strangely entertaining and I felt the second-hand embarrassment through the TV. {A good movie makes you feel other emotions than just joy.} I also adored how much fantasy the creators put in the movie. It was creative and finally not something recycled. I cannot begin on how good the animation was because that would take me hours to even comprehend. I‘d recommend this to anyone who is a fan of Ghibli. The worldbuilding and fantasy aspects in modern japan just felt similar to it. They also used a nice factor of morally grey characters where you couldn’t even hate the cat, for instance. It was a nice touch on perspective. The only problem I had with the movie was that I just couldn’t really connect to the characters. Even though death was nicely portrayed I felt like there was a lack of emotion there. I couldn’t even pinpoint the exact reason why, though. Maybe someone else can.

I like doors because every time you watch a new series or read a new series you open a door to the world of this series, so when I watched an animated movie about doors with good animation, I was surprised and it was great! Ive always liked doors, the entry of something new or the end of something passed, doors are truly one of the best thing to exist in this world, when I play video games I like to see how doors open how they work how they look, where do they lead to, and seeing it in animation was truly magical for me, 10/10 would recommend for any doors lovers which is not a lot of people I believe but I dont really know since they probably keep the door closed about what they like. Anyway enough about my love for doors, the movie is pretty interesting and the plot is quite funny and serious at the same time, animation is well, crazy good so yea, MUST WATCH for any doors lovers or not. When I opened this door called Suzume, I saw another world but as every story has an end, I saw its beginning and its end, and in the end the door closed, never to be opened again only showing a part of its world. Suzume Door closed.

Introduction: "Suzume no Tojimari" is another enchanting creation by the renowned director, Makoto Shinkai. As a fan of Shinkai's previous works like "Your Name" and "Weathering with You," I eagerly anticipated this film. Does it live up to the high standards set by its predecessors, or is it a misstep in Shinkai's career? Visuals and Animation: From the very start, "Suzume no Tojimari" immerses you in its mesmerizing world. The animation and visuals are a testament to Shinkai's exceptional talent. The attention to detail, from the decaying ruins to the otherworldly landscapes beyond the mysterious 'doors,' is simply awe-inspiring. Each scene is a work of art, and the film's aesthetic quality is nothing short of breathtaking. Music and Soundtrack: Radwimps, Shinkai's frequent musical collaborator, returns to craft the film's score. While their previous work in Shinkai's films was marked by energetic and moving soundtracks, "Suzume" takes a different approach. The music in this film is somber and otherworldly, perfectly complementing the movie's themes. It may be different, but it's no less captivating. Themes and Characters: The film explores themes of loss and the journey to build new relationships. Suzume, the main character, embarks on a captivating adventure after encountering a man named Souta and being drawn into a supernatural world. Her journey leads to the formation of heartwarming friendships and culminates in a powerful and emotionally charged third act. Suzume is an endearing and relatable character, and her character development is a testament to Shinkai's storytelling prowess. Conclusion: In conclusion, "Suzume no Tojimari" is another masterpiece in Makoto Shinkai's repertoire. While it may not reach the same heights as some of his earlier works, it continues to showcase his talent in storytelling and world-building. The film's exploration of themes related to loss, love, and self-discovery is bound to resonate with audiences, even if it follows a somewhat familiar narrative structure. The exceptional animation and heartfelt character interactions make it a movie worth experiencing. "Suzume" remains a captivating and enchanting addition to the world of anime cinema, and fans of Shinkai's previous works are likely to find it a worthwhile watch.

The hype has already died down, so this review contains some light spoilers, and I don't think anyone cares anymore. Even without reading the synopsis, or watching the trailers, or simply knowing anything about the movie except the poster and the director, it was no-brainer to guess what the movie would be about. This concept has been used twice by the same guy, what will be so original about this one. So, my expectations were extremely low and I was watching it with the preconception that I would hate it. Surprisingly, it didn't happen and I quite enjoyed Suzume. The worldbuilding in Shinkai's works has never been the strongest aspect, especially when it comes to explaining supernatural staff. Instead of always questioning how all of this is possible, it's easier to accept it and perceive it like bits of fantasy. But even bearing that in mind the plot holes always get in the way. Here we have giant worms that live below Japan, infiltrate the surface with gates, and produce earthquakes. It's an interesting concept with a lot of discrepancies in the execution: why Suzume is the only one outside the Munakata clan who can see these worms; why the exact location of the second keystone was hidden from the incumbent "closer"; the first location in the movie Souta checks was sealed by the first keystone, so the strength of the local otherworldly creatures is extremely strong but, for some reason, they relatively easily nail closing the gate. But all that supernatural stuff is here for the sake of the characters. It basically holds true for the world itself, it is not the biggest emphasize in the anime. The characters are good, but their biggest flaw, except Souta for obvious reasons, is complete lack of originality. Suzume is very similar to Mitsuha from Kimi no Na wa including the design and personality, the only thing different about Suzume is that she doesn't want live in Tokyo, that's it. Despite that, even the side characters are compelling and I felt emotionally invested. Shinkai's films have always been gorgeously looking and Suzume isn't an exception. The visuals, the backgrounds, the animation, the cinematography - all of that looks mesmerizing. There are some cg crowds that look out of place but it's literally few seconds out of 2 hours runtime, it would be nitpicking to say it ruined the visuals. In addition, the RADWIMPS soundtrack is beautiful, as always. Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is? Sorry, the wrong line. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Makoto Shinkai figured out the formula of a good film he's followed to a T since Kimi no Na wa. And it still works, at least for me. Plus, given the ratings and revenue of Suzume, he highly unlikely will try something new. If you didn't like Kimi no Na wa or Weathering With You, you won't enjoy this. Even if you are fan of his works, though, it won't hit you as hard as the previous film/films did before due its formulaicity.

I feel like my thoughts about this movie are my thoughts about almost every Shinkai movie. The story is kind of messy, the editing can be unfitting in places, the characters are kinda shallow even if they do have chemistry with each other, and the movie does feel a little long because of its weird pacing.But visually, it looks really impressive, especially when it combines the 2D animation and the 3D cinematography. The paragraph above was the same one I used for my Weathering With You review almost 3 years ago and it applies to his latest project Suzume. But hear me out, it's not as predictable as I make it sound. Shinkai does take things in a new direction here a little bit and for the most part, he pulls it off very well. Out of his previous three films, I weirdly enjoyed this one the most. It's not perfect obviously, There are issues, but there are also really silly things I enjoyed about the film ironically. STORY- This film is Shinkais most action-packed one yet and I was on the edge of my seat for a lot of it, maybe im a sucker for a road trip adventure film, but I had a lot of fun watching. Even if the pacing takes a hit from all of the random eating scenes, it wasn't too noticeable because of how much goes on in this film. Usually in Shinkai films, there is always that one moment where I struggle to stay awake because the plot slows down to a near stop. But I never had that moment with Suzume. Yes, it still is a Shinkai film so of course there is an insta lovey couple that has really forced chemistry, but I feel like this film is not a romance film as much as it is a family film. The writing at its best is when it adheres to its themes of familial bonds, childhood trauma, grief, and unconditional love. Many side characters in this film relate to these themes in one way or another whether it's Suzume’s aunt, her mom, the friends she meets on the journey, and even the chair she falls in love with. Speaking of, I think turning one of the characters into a chair was ballsy but it played off very well. I focused more on what the chair meant to her in her childhood rather than the random dude she met who got transformed into it. And while their relationship is kind of goofy, i still felt like Suzume’s feelings towards Souta were genuine. Still though, I cannot take the premise seriously because seeing a stupid-looking kiddy chair parkouring around Japan trying to close doors from other dimensions was extremely funny. I cackled like a madman seeing Souta the chair trying to bond with Suzume. There are scenes where she randomly kisses the chair and one scene where she just sits on him,lol.Shinkai knew what he was doing when made that decision. Another thing that got a laugh out of me was the unapologetic product placement all over this movie. There’s even a Suzume-themed MacDonalds commercial that gave Suzume’s mom more screentime than the actual movie lmao. Shinkai definitely starts to lose steam when it came to his lore and worldbuilding because its sloppily explains what most of the antagonist's motives were, the function of the door worlds, and what the kitties are all about. It legit took me till the end of the film to understand what the hell was actually going on.Maybe I was just distracted by the food scenes. CHARACTERS- Suzume herself is as basic as anime protagonists can be. One thing to note is that this girl’s got legs for days. This random teenage anime girl happens to have the calves and stamina of an Olympic athlete. Half the movie is her running everywhere Me and my fat ass were screaming seeing her Forrest Gump her way across all of Japan without getting tired. She straight up turns into a parkour god at moments. It gets really funny at times when the film is just the routine of Suzume running away, not explaining why she ran away, meeting some random person who lets her live with them in exchange for unpaid labor, then she eats a big ass well-animated meal, then a worm appears and she runs away again. Rinse and repeat 3 times and that's like an hour and a half of the film. The main flaw with Suzume is the flaw with the story as well. Suzume loves not explaining things to others. People would genuinely be worried about why she randomly runs off and she’s like “it's a long story you won't understand” Then she just runs away again without saying basically anything else. Suzume comes off as kinda mean sometimes, her aunt has every right to be worried about her, but Suzume just ignores her, and this comes back to bite her in the ass later and causes some really forced conflict. Her aunt just wants an explanation at this point. I mean it's not hard to say “Well, my friend is in danger, and I am going to help him” but no she doesn't say anything and causes more trouble for the people who care for her. IDK if real Japanese society is like this, but some anime depict how innocent people worry about causing trouble for others, but Suzume purposely leaves her aunt worried sick over her rampant behavior. I feel like if there was some more backstory into why she has trouble opening up to her aunt, this would make more sense, but Shinkai’s more popular characters are very stereotypical Japanese teenagers so that would probably be asking too much from him. The moral of the story, be honest with your loved ones, even if it's a little bit. A small explanation is better than none at all. ANIMATION/SOUND- Im wasting my character limit talking about how good the animation is, it's a Shinkai film, and it's really hard for me to even compare his animation quality throughout his filmography because they are all set at such a high ass bar. I see that Miyazaki's inspiration also hints of ufotable inspiration too in some of the settings and 2D effects. Sound-wise I think this film has my favorite Shinkai soundtrack, it feels really whimsical and fantastical and at moments gave me chills. And the sound is epic as well. I kinda wish I got the chance to watch this in Imax or something. I will say that there was one really funny scene where Suzume is running on this terrain and it sounds like the default Minecraft stepping-on-grass sound effect lol. ENJOYMENT- Of course, this film is not the best, but it's a fine watch. I totally get why the film was successful because it's very fun to watch, especially with friends. Yeah sure some of the writing is messy in spots but I feel like a film like this is a good step in a new direction for Shinkai, and his breaking out of his comfort zone is more than enough for me.

I think it might be because I was waiting along long time for the release of this film but even though other people will say its not Shinkai's best work, to me it is. Shinkai decided to take a more serious approach with this film and I loved the concept of it being a Roadtrip style film with many places reflecting disasters or "problems" (as put by Shinkai) that Japan faces. I thought the length of the film was particularly good, it told what it wanted without expanding it unnecessarily. There is a few hidden messages/symbologys that might take some thinking to understand but searching some of it up can be interesting. The music also a lot more serious, following less pop style music and more Traditional instrumentation being used and that was problably one of my favourite components of the film. It comes together really well and it makes it special.

Whilst being new to whole anime adventure, I was introduce to this mesmerizing movie by my best friend and it did not disappoint. Not sure why the negative reviews on this movie? The storyline was romantic, wholesome and anime visuals were beautifully done. There's plenty of funny parts and has a mixture of emotions, which i totally enjoyed. I found myself captivated and wanting more. Looking forward to watching more movies by Makoto Shinkai. A lovely story of a girl (Suzume) who chances on meeting boy (Souta) who dedicates his life by keeping special doors around japan closed, so a worm monster can't create devastating earthquakes. This chance meeting, ends up them saving the millions of lives and both falling in love with each other.

Suzume is a seesaw full of admirable highs and disappointing lows. "Suzume" is exactly what you expect from Makoto Shinkai's narrative, with characters having shallow personalities and poor character development resulting from the non-existence of dimensional depth. Anything they do feels sudden and forced, lacking proper motivation. Because of this, it plagues itself with melodramatic scenes in the climactic act. And like every other Shinkai film Suzume has a bucket load of irritating plotholes. But Suzume is something more than that, The problems aside Suzume is Shinkai's most masterful film to date. This film is full of gorgeous frames, artistic visuals, creative camera pans and ingeniously done animated sequences. It has eye-glazing camera composition, tasteful music and skillfully done cinematography. Suzume is the token of Shinkai's trademark direction which he has slowly perfected over the years. I always believed Shinkai is very good at creating moments and Suzume just strengthened my belief more. It has these narratively rich detours involving various side characters and stylised road trip scenes. Getting enhanced by these moments' chemistry between the characters works despite them having zero-dimensional depth. Anyway, Did I enjoy Suzume? the answer is yes. But it's sad. Suzume had many emotionally compelling moments, yet it falls short of evoking my emotions when it really needed to. It really made me sad that despite loving about many things I did not care about the moments this film wanted me to care most about. But I think we are getting there, It's not so far for Shinkai to make something really amazing and Suzume is the first step of that. I am waiting for that day to come.

Movie is perfectly OK at a popcorn-level, but despite touching on a lot of themes does not develop any of them with the kind of depth needed to be more emotionally resonant than it is. Despite enjoying it overall, was the first time I've finished a Shinkai movie and had no lingering feeling afterwards, even Weathering With You left me with some after-watch feeling - although mainly as the main guy was such an annoying character. It's all following what has now become the 'Shinkai blockbuster formula', and while he does push at the edges of the formula (the chair), very few risks are being taken creatively. Character animation is down a couple of notches from previous efforts with very generic character designs, Your Name in particular, although backgrounds remain as gorgeous as ever - although the CG was patchy and design of the 'worms' was very generic and made it look like a lower-end marvel movie at times. Music was also not bad, not great, but timing just seemed a little 'off' at times.

Let me start off by saying that Makoto Shinkai must have run out of ideas or something, because this movie feels like the same movie he's made twice before. But, it's not all bad. The animation and music are top-notch, thanks to RADWIMPS, but other than that, everything else was mediocre at best. As usual, every single character was a letdown. Makoto Shinkai just can't seem to create decent characters, it's like he's allergic to them. Furthermore, the premise of the story was bizarre and felt like it was trying too hard to be deep and philosophical. The concept of Closers fulfilling their duty was interesting, but the execution fell flat. The most ridiculous part was when Suzume decided to go after Souta purely because he was attractive, despite fulfilling his duty and being told not to. Like the grandpa told her that he did what he was supposed to do, and she just completely ignored him. It feels like Shinkai couldn't think of other way to have Souta's grandpa in a scene so he did this, but the scene makes no sense. She literally just went to the hospital, told him everything, didn't even try to listen and just went off. The cat, oh my dear God the cat. She was literally just bored and gave us a whole movie, and then went back where it belongs to. One thing that really stands out about Shinkai's movies is how similar they all feel. The storylines, the characters, and even the endings are all eerily similar. Speaking of the ending, it's pretty much the same as in every other Shinkai movie. The main character is walking, lost in thought, and suddenly gets shook when they hear the voice of the second character. The camera then turns around, and there they are, standing behind them with a "welcome back" look on their face. It's almost like Shinkai just decided to copy and paste the ending from one movie to the next. In conclusion, "Suzume no Tojimari" is an entertaining movie, but only if you can ignore the ridiculous plot and lack of character development. The music and animation are the only saving graces, but even then, they're not enough to make up for the flaws. If you're a die-hard Makoto Shinkai fan, you might enjoy it, but for everyone else, you're better off spending your time on something else.

It's an enjoyable popcorn-flick, enjoyed it a lot more than more than the visually gorgeous but muddled Weathering With You, although less than Your Name - or any of Shinkai's previous works. While the backgrounds are as gorgeous as always, the Character acting/animation is noticeably more generic than Your Name, and character design and writing are similarly generic - Suzume's design and overall character reminds me a lot of the protagonist from Roujin Z (a positive!), Souta a dark-haired Howl (this is played with well in the early section of the film, less so later on), although rest of characters are cut+paste from any generic anime, and the overt Ghibli references are kinda distracting. Shinkai does not need them, and the story - although maybe less so the commercial appeal - would likely be better without them. Plot is fine, but again very much in a popcorn-flick context, thinking about it too much would likely prove frustrating and feels very much by-the-numbers to delivery on audience expectations of a Shinkai film. Pacing is uneven, movie feels 20 to 30 minutes too long, maybe more production constraints - or screenwriting help - would help deliver a more tightly plotted and paced movie. Soundtrack wasn't bad, just seemed out of place at and heavy-handed at times, surprising as usually a Shinkai strongpoint. Positives are that it is engaging, it was an easily enjoyable watch, the road-trip format and the characters they meet along the way is interesting - and some of those being fleeting encounters is kinda what it's like, and well captured - but overall it just didn't have that 'X-factor' that takes it from 'good' to 'great'.

When I say It was a journey, I really mean it. I felt a literal shivering through my entire body while the movie wasn’t even started. It was a well executed opening story design I’ve seen in a long time. This movie is a masterpiece on it’s own though we can’t neglect some of the minor deficiencies this movie is having. This movie is absolutely able to attract watchers in its beauty & keep them busy with desired entertainment. "A restless journey through mesmerizing fantasy" Explanation: The central topic to focus here was the delivery of the story. And I have to admit I’M IMPRESSED TO MY CORE the every single watcher can feel the force this movie emits. The story doesn’t involve any vast confusion, which might feel strange considering the previous works from the same director. But, the simplicity of this delivery was enough to consider it as a masterpiece. This 2 hours and 2 minutes long film is a “Road-Trip” movie category, where the film present constant action & a free atmosphere. This piece was truly consist of some heavy adventure action & comedy scenes. The development of the story is very human, even being an imaginary world & fantasy story, an watcher can easily relate with the actions taken by the protagonists in the movie. The fact that with that busy storyline this film beautifully describe a deep & sad meaning behind it. (That You’ll have to find out on your own) Animation: The thing that mostly achieved my attention during the movie is its incredible “screen-direction”. Though this term is more used in ‘Live-Action’ industry but, Sir Makoto Shinkai did a very nice work this time. As most of us already know how he’s famous for his animation quality, and this time it wasn’t an exception either. How the animators played with the water waves, hair lines, shadow textures & light reflections are just an exquisite form of art in my eyes. The colour palette was mostly an winter-spring sight which matches the theme of the movie (semi-urban and urban) very well. Now lastly the main point I want to discuss about the animation in Suzume was it’s restless atmosphere. The movie run in a decent pace with a lot of things going on in the screen at a time, the animators really utilized the whole screen very creatively giving every corner to do some work. This type of creativity is rare in animation since it takes much efforts, even previous Shinkai movies didn’t had this level of aliveness, and it really amaze me the most to able to watch this level of work outside “Ghibli Studio” (Must include, the background animation content wasn’t distracting at all, it even gives a different touch to the overall production). Recommendation: I'd recommend this movie to the whole community, especially the new watchers. This could be the best choice to start your anime journey, since it goes through all the different plots in such a short time, giving the watchers an compact piece of entertainment. The people who likes to watch a chain of action, but want to avoid fighting scenes in the process or the people who just want to experience an animated movie with the glory of the whole industry, the people who would love to experience a story filled with fantasy. But, I should tell you its not a movie you’d want to watch alone, though it is a movie that needs a complete attention on each changing screen, but it involves a set of comedy circumstances to make you laugh hard (you might want to joke in the middle of the movie or discuss a comedy scene with someone instantly, and you could miss this opportunity if you’re alone. And also suggest to watch it as a evening refreshment with friends after a hard day at office or college.

Never have I ever wanted to be a 3-legged chair before in my entire life. Here we go, my first review on MyAnimeList. Let's see how this goes. Makoto Shinkai brings yet another masterwork into the animation medium. The film Suzume no Tojimari is brimming with breathtaking visuals that encapsulate the beauty and the horror that prevails over the country of Japan. The set-pieces are gigantic, detailed and resemble the real life locations really well. The score fits the theme of the movie and elevates the overall ethereal experience of the world within it. Radwimps has done it again. The story follows Suzume, a bright cheerful girl, and Souta, a mysterious man, on a cross-country adventure. Their goal is to close the enigmatic doors spread across the locations that have been locked away by the people. The movie does well in explaining the various rules that govern these mysterious doors, and establishes the surreal events that take place thereafter masterfully. On her journey, Suzume comes across multiple people who guide her and provide assistance along the way. Though it's the main duo, or should I say "trio", that carry the film. Suzume's backstory is one to pull at your heartstrings, and it works. Such is the charm of Shinkai's works. The film also has the usual rom-com nature that is present in Shinkai's movies. It makes for a good way to relieve oneself from the trauma and depressing world that is prevalent throughout. Though the romance could have been portrayed better, since it plays a "key" role in the decisions made by the endearing characters.  The film shines in portraying the consequences of disasters. The loss, helplessness and despair that follow are effectively captured here. It's an experience that must be had on a big screen. My first Shinkai film in a movie theatre, and definitely not the last.

Makoto Shinkai is a one-dimensional filmmaker and Suzume no Tojimari is a strong example of his limits as a creator. Your Name was a smashing success: so good, in fact, that many believed this would usher in a new Studio Ghibli-esque era of Japanese animated films. While those expectations seemed fair at the time, Shinkai's ceiling has now been set after two consecutive disappointments in Weathering With You and Suzume no Tojimari and it is very safe to say that he is not capable of repeating his success in means other than recycling past ideas. It seems to me like Makoto Shinkai is desperate to recreate the feeling viewers had when watching Your Name for the first time through his new works: grasping onto the remnant coattails of his one and only masterpiece. What made classic Studio Ghibli films so great and attractive were the particularly quirky traits within each movie: a moving castle, an aerial broomstick, a hot spring town occupied by living spirits, etc. Miyazaki's passion and imagination, his meticulousness and his tolerance only for perfection burn through the screen to create fiery, inspiring experiences; along with the help of Joe Hisaishi, the final product is an unforgettable, lifelong memory. Makoto Shinkai checked off all the boxes in which a great animated movie might possess with Your Name, his magnum opus, but unfortunately he has struggled to separate his new films from his past. Make no mistake though, this is a self-inflicted wound. Shinkai's films are all much too similar to one another. You cannot step into the shoes that Hayao Miyazaki once occupied by recycling the same ideas over and over and over and over and over... From 5 Centimeters Per Second to Suzume no Tojimari, only minor differences separate these films and the overlapping themes are abundant in number. I can't help but think that Makoto Shinkai is a man obsessed with shots of purple, starry skies, romantic relationships with ethically questionable beginnings, rain, and completely unrelatable teenage characters because quite literally all of his movies each revolve around these things. I forgot about the shots on the subway when the MC travels from a rural area of Japan to an urban area (which is pretty much always Tokyo) after running away from home to go save the person they met and fell in love with just a few days ago. Yeah, all of these things are present in this movie too, btw. Suzume no Tojimari is a very appealing film aesthetically, oftentimes I would find myself immersed in its beauty: but that was to be expected from a Shinkai film. If I only wanted to admire beautiful art/animation, I can sate that desire by watching one of many other shows with appealing aesthetics. This is not a trait reserved for Shinkai films only, yet this is also Makoto Shinkai's one and only saving grace as a filmmaker. He is a weak writer, which at this point is irremediable because of the clear limits bound to his imagination and passion as a creative mind. There is so much potential and space to grow from the foundations that Shinkai has set but there seems to be no effort to diverge from the norm, which is honestly a rational decision from a business standpoint. I'm sure most people can enjoy watching this movie just because its looks so impressive but from a critical perspective, Suzume no Tojimari was a massive let-down for those of us wanting more from Shinkai.

This makoto shinkai’s most recent work. It’s an amazing story about a girl and a guy that have to shut doors to stop disaster coming to Japan. With amazing animation and a decent story. The story on it’s own is a 7/10 but with the amazing animation it brings it up to a solid 9/10. Not perfect but great in its own right. I feel like anyone who likes any of Makoto Shinkai’s other works would enjoy this and also anybody that likes great animation. I would say this will go down in history as a animated masterpiece of a film with great ideas.

I have seen three Makoto shinkai movies, Garden of words, your name, weathering with you and now this one. If you like his style then this a no brainer. It is a very fun movie. Presentation: Again no brainer here, its fucking great. Radwimps again was good, and animation was really vivid. I will say I still think Garden of words is shinkai's best looking movie. This does lean a bit towards a bit more of a typical animation style compared to shinkai's usual style with a lot more 2d animation compared to something like garden of words, still really great. Writing: the script is snappy and tight. No slow moments. Its kind of funny and cute. It is a great road trip adventure movie with a heavy emphasis of fantasy. I love a great sense of adventure in movies and this scratched that itch. I feel his last two movies were more supernatural and pseudo fantasy whereas this movie goes all in with the fantastical themes which works really well. I like all the details and plot devices regarding the fantasy elements, all very engaging and cool. There was one weird thing plot device that seemed to not make sense, maybe it was something i missed, its got something to do with a cat for those wondering. I also felt the climax was a bit underwhelming, still solid though. The subplot regarding the main character's mother could have been a bit more fleshed out but still works for the most part. Overall just a fun movie it wont change your life but you will have a good time watching it. I watched with a friend who doesnt watch anime and he liked it a lot. So yeah go check it out, in theaters is recommended.

this is Shinkai at his most Ghibli, and i mean that in the best way possible. from the first five minutes you know that this will be a different Shinkai movie. there's no brooding male protagonists pining over potential/lost loves, barely any Radwimps needledrops, but instead it's brimming with a sense of whimsy and adventure, with Shinkai going full tilt with its fantastical elements. everything from its surface conceit of a girl hopping across Japan in chase of a magical cat to its symphonic and swooning fantasy scoring (the best one in a Shinkai film yet), has very clear and overt Ghibli influence. but what makes this movie so special is that Shinkai isn't channeling only the great master found in Miyazaki, but also more importantly, the quiet masters of Takahata and Kondo. it really feels like Shinkai is trying to push himself as a filmmaker here, drawing upon influences and wearing them on his sleeve, remixing and implementing elements of past masterpieces to create something wholly unto its own. in doing so, Shinkai creates a world of magical realism; not quite an isekai like <i>Spirited Away</i> but more of an urban fairy tale a la <i>Whisper of the Heart</i> (which gets a namedrop!) and <i>Kiki's Delivery Service</i> (which gets a needledrop!!). Shinkai's stylistic inclinations shine in this regard, due to how beautifully these worlds of his contrasts the magical and arcane. it never feels like Shinkai is veering AWAY from the style he's cultivated, instead he BUILDS UPON it: the rendered spaces and minutiae of Shinkai's candy-colored hyper realism feel more lived in than ever, not just high definition backgrounds or clips to put in a tiktok compilation, but spaces where people have lived, where every crack and layer of rust isn't just there to look aesthetic but to evoke entire lives, whispers of past occupants and users bound to the inanimate. it's even more impressive then, that not only is Shinkai able to weave his signature romantic tropes with the more brisk pacing and fantasy elements of a Ghibli location-trotting adventure, he's also able to seamlessly ground the film by incorporating central themes of grief and collective trauma. Shinkai is not one for subtext, this is clear in his monster hit <i>Your Name</i> and probably why a lot of people hate that movie lol. so of course in <i>Suzume</i> he states his main goal of the film outright: this is a movie about 3/11. from the beginning, you could already tell where things are going, but it was still flooring to watch how Shinkai so tastefully highlights the effect this event had on Japan and how its youth is still haunted by it though they would prefer to just forget about it. <i>Your Name</i> resonated so much with Japanese audiences not only because of its core romance, but because it was an escapist fantasy that evoked 3/11 imagery, a saccharine "what if love erased disaster? what if love can make us all forget?". <i>Suzume</i> is a rejection of that. instead it asks Japan to NEVER forget, and instead to remember TOGETHER, using that collective trauma as a way to connect with others to heal, but to also forge a new future. it could have been so easy for a film dealing with such heavy subject matter to come off as hokey, as hamfisted. the way <i>Suzume</i> addresses such things explicitly and still manages to feel like it's not forcing anything is really masterful work. Shinkai accomplishes this by focusing on the BONDS made through collective trauma instead of the trauma itself; it felt like a healing film. i can't imagine how it'd feel for the Japanese audiences. aside from its themes, Shinkai succeeds in translating that catharsis on a universal level through the way he structures his narrative, but more specifically, how he focuses on the characters. one of the main problems i have with Shinkai even though i love his work is that a lot of the time his female characters just don't have agency or depth. they're always damsels (even if they have superpowers) and they always feel like some sort of goal to be attained by the titular protagonist. this translates well when it comes to his films about longing and male ideation of women, but it gets trite and exhausting when its done straight-faced over and over. flipping the dynamic here to have a female lead was the best decision he could have possibly made. i love the how much focus was put into the feminine perspective in this entire film. the first half is such a comfy road trip movie where you get to meet an ensemble cast of colorful characters (predominantly female) across Japan. that time spent with the plot put on vibe mode breathes so much life into this world, and really brings home the theme of connectivity, of ghosts in our midst, of collective trauma as a cohesive whole made up of millions of remembered fragments of lives past. it's astounding how perfectly Shinkai balances his tendency to linger on beautiful landscapes and rendered backgrounds with the need to give context to them, filling them with a soul that makes them feel more than just eye candy. Suzume herself is a wonderful protagonist. her empathy and her spunky attitude has you really root for her from the beginning, and her chemistry with the male lead doesn't feel anywhere near as contrived or one-sided as his previous films. sure, the male lead doesn't have much depth or much to do, but it serves to highlight all the other characters we meet along the way, and also serves to give Suzume more screentime to flesh her out. but yeah i've been a Shinkai defender for the longest but <i>Suzume</i> is what truly feels like a graduation for him as an auteur. the last time i got this feeling was Peele with <i>Nope</i>: all of their influences are crystallized and distilled, all their auteurisms and stylistic flourishes are refined and more potent than ever. it doesn't try to reinvent the wheel by any means, but when you succeed Gen Z spiritual successor to <i>Whisper of the Heart</i> then you're nothing short of a master director in my eyes.

"You see Suzume, no matter how sad you are right now, you are going to grow up" Makoto Shinkai has always been someone who has moved me immensely with his visuals, there is something so magical about his art, the mood it creates stays with you for a long time, but over his last few films he has evolved so much as a storyteller and a director and has created characters who have a lot of depth. 'Suzume' is perhaps Shinkai's most accessible film, it's entertaining from start to finish, it is perfectly paced and I did not feel the movie was lagging even once. Even with all the metaphors and symbolisms, it's light and easy to follow, It's got some really good action and chase sequences and it's often hilarious, infact I would say one of the most redmeeing factors of the movie is it's sense of humor, throughout it's 2 hour runtime it offers so many good laughs. But even so, underneath all the warmth and tenderness, there is something so tragic about Suzume. Especially coming after the covid pandemic, it hits a little harder, about the trauma of the survivors, the dead who are forgotten due to calamities. So many kids have to grow up without parents and entire familes, which is why the climax hit so hard, it was like as if Suzume was talking directly to all these kids, I clenched my teeth so hard but I had to shed some tears. I think that's where Shinkai deserves so much more praise, he consistently delivers these kind of scenes where he is able to convey something so dark in a very subtle, light and hard hitting way, and through interesting means. In the opening scene of Isao Takahata's 1988 masterpiece 'Grave Of The Fireflies', we see a station worker throw away a candy can containing the ashes of one of our protagonist, symbolizing how these kids are forgotten and cast away. After many years I've now seen Shinkai come somewhat close to that same impact about depicting forgotten people, although of course, 'Grave Of The Fireflies' is in a league of it's own and is the saddest movie I've ever seen. 'Suzume' is a superbly animated film with a great story. It's a moving adventure of Suzume, fighting for what she loves, meeting new people and coming to terms with her own trauma. It's another gem from Makoto Shinkai that deserves to be seen on the Big Screen.