Toki

This movie is the "Fireworks" movie which is a million times better than what everyone had wanted and wished for, which is also on an another level from 'Your Name' in terms of its message and connection it has with its audience. I walked into the cinema, sat down and saw all these amazing scenes with Hina. Then I got blasted with gushes of emotion and tension instantly with the Theme of Weathering with You. There is no OP, but it might as well be as good as Your Name with Yumetourou. It felt very grand and it contrasted well when Hodaka was the focus. One major consensus of the movie is that not only did the Japanese audiences resonate with the movie, Hong Kong audiences seem to resonate with the story even more. I am from HK and I also felt this connection with these conflicts and messages and how it accurately reflected our own society. This movie is what the youth needed in Hong Kong, a sign telling them "This world was already messed up, so do whatever you feel is right!" I got the lucky chance to see it and all I can say is this movie is definitely not what I expected it to be. It's not a love story, it's about a boy and a girl who are dealing with devastating events on their own and who have been met with serious moral conflicts. Their ways of resolving these issues leads to the final act where they [insert something big and impactful]. Nearly every single named character has a say and are faced with moral conflicts, it is extremely thought provoking and touching. Edit: I rewatched it and I realised Keisuke (the middle-aged guy) has a really nice story and it added to the story as a neat little subplot that contrasts Hodaka's storyline. Shinkai is getting older and I feel like he relates to this character the most, because his problems and conflicts are very grounded, unlike what Hodaka is dealing with. It felt like two short stories crossing over one another. Kinda like 5 cm/s with separate stories but is instead in one big timeline. However, Keisuke's story could have use 5-10 minutes more screen time. My only suggestion for Shinkai is to evolve the third act into an even more extreme moral conflict and to tweak the ending so that the audience feel the impact of what happened even more. Otherwise, art style is on point, I couldn't tell if it was a video or hand-drawn animation for certain scenes. The voice actors are superb. The messages, themes and symbolism used are so incredibly deep yet simple. However, do note there will be references that the ordinary non-Japanese (and non-Chinese viewer) wouldn't understand, and you might lose a few good laughs because of it. The concept of hareonna didn't translate well in subbed English (I think). Also minor spoiler for Your Name fans: Apparently a lot of Your Name's characters appeared in the movie. Maybe these movies exist in the same world, Shinkai Cinematic Universe? Edit: I rewatched and here is what you have to take notice of. - When Hodaka goes shopping, Mitsuha is the salesperson. She has a name tag which says "Miyamizu" This is hard to miss. - Taki could be seen with an old woman. Nothing confirms that he is indeed Taki. This is extremely hard to miss because it's actually a part of the story.

[SPOILER] If you rewatched it or understood the parallel world concept the first time, then you will realise this story is way more enjoyable. It resonates with the audience because we all always wanted to change the past, right? Have you ever regret on a decision and you always wanted to take it back? This movie illustrates what would happen when this kind of power is placed in the hands of a high school boy who just wants to have a happy relationship with a high school girl. And also brings out why "changing" the past is a bad idea. Nevertheless it's not a perfect movie, nor a bad movie. One example is the motif of trial and error. This movie's use of time travelling allows Norimichi to correct his mistakes to arrive to his desired ending. But even if he successfully corrects all of his mistakes he still cannot reach his goal which is to be with Nazuna forever. This makes both of them understand that they only can accomplish their end goal in their own world. One of the themes in this story is acceptance. Norimichi has the power to travel to a parallel world to relive the same moment again, and he uses this to alter the course of the world, because he cannot accept the truth, for example he cannot accept that Nazuna will have to be taken away by her parents, so he goes to a world where he can dodge a punch from a grownup to try to prevent her parents from doing so, yet this world he travels to is still not the real world, it's just another fake world. In the end, he accepts that he cannot continue to live in this fake world and has to create his own path in the real world. Symbolism is very important to the story. The story uses fireworks as a symbol of reality. Fireworks, in reality, explode in a sphere. But when Norimichi uses the crystal ball to travel to a parallel world, the fireworks do not explode in a sphere, maybe they are flat or the shapes are different. This symbolises the world they are currently in. Too bad all of this is thrown down the drain because of the romance and intentions that wasn't explained much, this is why the themes, motifs and symbolism don't work as well as intended, because we don't get to understand the reasons behind Nazuna and Norimichi's affections. We also don't understand why Nazuna wants to run away with Norimichi knowing that they are still kids. Did she have terrible parents? That doesn't seem to be the case. Does she love Norimichi so much she cannot tolerate long distancing? That wasn't explained. If we knew what she was thinking in her head this story would have been ten times better. Basically if you think a bit more while watching this and if you have a good attention span you might like this movie more. Don't expect it to be a compelling love story, enjoy it for its themes and ideas, also for its animation.