Review: Kimi no Na wa (2016)

Casts:

Taki Tachibana - Ryûnosuke Kamiki

Mitsuha Miyamizu - Mone Kamishiraishi

Plot: A mystery of switching bodies happened between two high school students, Mitsuha who’s a girl living in the countryside called Itomori; and a city boy named Taki who is living in Tokyo. After realizing that they are swapping their bodies while they are asleep, they start to communicate with each other by leaving notes in their mobile phones. However, their personalities are different that the people around them has noticed their changes. As time passes, the body swap became common until they stopped switching on the day that a comet was expected to pass close to Earth.

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Commentaries:

Watching this film constitutes the moments where I have dreamed of watching an anime movie in the big screen. This year, I’ve seen plenty of anime movies at home such as The girl who leapt through time, 5 centimeters per second and Only Yesterday to name a few. So I went to the cinema to watch this movie even though it was my first time watching alone. Of course, there were pleasant reviews that made me decide that it would be my me-time moment watching. As expected, I had a lot of fun even though the usual thing I do when I watch at home is that I pause halfway for a break which you can’t do in the cinema so I had to hold my bladder for 2 hours that never happened before. Indeed, a very memorable film to me.

Review: Only Yesterday

Plot (From RT): It's a 1991 movie presenting the story of Taeko, 27 year old, single woman who has lived her whole life in Tokyo. She decides to visit her relatives in the countryside, and as the train travels through the night, memories flood back to when she was in the fifth grade: the first immature stirrings of romance, the onset of puberty, and the frustrations of math and boys. At the station, she is met by young farmer Toshio and the encounters with him begin to reconnect her to forgotten longings. From Academy Award nominated director Isao Takahata (The Tale of The Princess Kaguya) and general producer Hayao Miyazaki, Only Yesterday is a masterpiece of time and tone, rich with humor and stirring emotion, and beautifully animated by one of the world's most revered animation studios.

Comments:

I just found out about this film yesterday, thanks to rotten tomatoes’ recommendation. Like the positive feedbacks from the site, I share the same praise and applause for this film. It’s a very nourishing story that we could relate to as it shows how our previous experiences would influence the person that we are today. As a viewer, you just have to agree to how the character has developed from the day to day course of our unique upbringing in life. It also goes to show how childhood is a big factor to become the adult that we used to imagine when we were young kids. Furthermore, it’s a film of affirmation that we are the sum of the experiences we’ve had in the past. But that’s not everything there is in the film, because the execution of the message was wonderfully done like when you let life unfolds itself in front of you. Hence, it is also done in a comforting manner that in some ways, our choices would make a difference to our life. However, we only have to wait and be the person who’s ready in taking a risk. Overall, this is a beautiful film that you’d love to indulge with when life gets confusing and when you just feel bored. Thus, I feel that in general without being too focused on the story, you would enjoy the totality of the film because of the beautiful background that we always witness in animated films from Japan. Having said this, the cinematography was superb like in Hayao Miyazaki films. But I also have to take note of the amazing sequencing in this film as it goes along well with the present and old story of Taeko.  

Anime Recommendation: Boku dake ga Inai Machi (Erased)

Episodes: 12

Status: Currently Airing

Aired: Jan 8, 2016 to Mar 25, 2016

ErasedTrailer 2

SYNOPSIS c/o MyAnimeList (MAL):

A struggling manga artist and pizza boy extraordinaire in his late twenties. Seems like your average Joe, right? Wrong. The protagonist of Boku dake ga Inai Machi, Satoru Fujinuma, possesses a very special gift. His supernatural ability, which he calls "Revival," triggers a time leap, sending him back to right before certain life-threatening events occur, allowing him to prevent these tragedies and save the day.

After a devastating incident in his present day life caused a sudden "Revival," Satoru was sent back to when he was a young, elementary school student, one month before his classmate Kayo went missing. He is forced to solve the mystery behind the serial kidnappings in his hometown and protect his childhood friends.

Boku dake ga Inai Machi is a thrilling series that explores the past and present of the main characters in a unique way.