If there is anything that we humans have absolutely no control over, it’s the weather. This past March, most of Metro Manila even had a water crisis of sorts due to water in La Mesa Dam reaching critical levels. It was reported that the only way to fix this was for two tropical storms to replenish the water. Imagine how strange that sounds, particularly since we cringe at the thought of strong rains annually. Imagine then what you could do if you could control the weather. With a mere wish or prayer, you could make the rain stop and the sun would come out. That is one of the premises behind the latest masterpiece of director Makoto Shinkai, Weathering with You.
Tokyo has had seemingly non-stop rain for weeks. Sixteen-year-old Hodaka Morishima (Kotaro Daigo) ran away from his tiny village to get to the big city, but he’s having a hard time finding work. Hodaka sometimes sleeps on street corners and barely has money to eat. He befriends a man named Keisuke Suga (Shun Oguri) who gives Hodaka his business card, but the young man thinks nothing of it. On one of those lonely nights that he is alone for dinner, one of the staff, a girl named Hina Amano (Nana Mori) gives Hodaka a free meal out of pity. Eventually, Hodaka contacts Suga and begins working for his small publishing company that specializes in stories about urban legends.
One of the urban legends that Hodaka and Suga’s niece Natsumi (Tsubasa Honda) learn about is the “sunshine girl,” a girl who can control the weather with but a wish. Days go by and Hodaka sees Hina being dragged by a club owner to join him. He saves her and is amazed when Hina shows that she has the ability to clear the skies by praying. Inspired by the sunshine girl urban legend, Hodaka convinces Hina that they can make a profit out of her abilities and she agrees. It turns out that she’s been living alone in Tokyo with her little brother Nagi (Sakura Kiryu) since their mother passed away.
As Hina and Hodaka take on more and more jobs (clear skies for someone’s wedding, no rain for a few hours so the kids can play outside, bring out the sun for my late husband’s spirit to visit me, etc.) word spreads about their business and the two get closer. Meanwhile, Suga and Natsumi investigate more on the urban legend of the sunshine girl and meet a priest who warns them that the more the sunshine girl uses her ability, the higher the risk of something bad happening to her. Apparently, it is inherent in that ability for the girl to eventually sacrifice herself in order for the non-stop rain in Tokyo to finally come to an end.
When police come to Hina’s apartment looking for Hodaka, she not only learns that his parents have filed a missing persons report for their son, a social worker will also be sent to take Nagi away because they’re both minors with no legal guardian. Hodaka convinces Hina and Nagi to run away with him, but how long can they escape the police and how long can Hodaka keep himself from telling Hina how he feels about her?
Known in Japan as Tenki no Ko or Child of Weather, Weathering with You is yet another beautiful film from the mind of Shinkai. Following the huge success that was 2016’s Your Name (Kimi no na wa), it would seem that the director has cornered the animated film market on creating beautifully animated motion pictures with a unique premise, very likeable young protagonists, and a near-impossible situation that keeps those same protagonists apart.
Hodaka is shown as a nervous, unsure teen who is barely making ends meet after running away from his parents and their small village. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Hina, a confident young lady who keeps finding a way to care for herself and her little brother when their mother suddenly passed away. By adding the urban legend of the sunshine girl, a little bit of magic is sprinkled onto those rainy Tokyo streets, and boy, does it ever rain in this movie. It felt like 90% of the film had rain falling either indoors or outdoors, and the buildings and streets of Tokyo are beautifully rendered as it is submerged by the deluge.
Though Shinkai brings literal magic to this story, some of his more poignant scenes are the ones that are quiet, with no music, and with the characters just talking and allowing their voice actors (or seiyuu) to deliver the right emotions needed. Shinkai’s attention to detail is also admirable as he doesn’t skimp on making his rainy Tokyo as close to the real city as possible. The buildings, the architecture, even inside Suga and Natsumi’s little office are a wonder to look at, you’ll want to watch the film again just to admire the artwork. The music for the film, punctuated by the Radwimps track “Ai ni Dekiru Koto wa Mada Aru Kai,” only adds to the overall melancholic mood that most of the film wraps itself in.
However, the core of this film, as with Kimi no na wa, is that gut-punching premise. Hina is such a likeable heroine, someone easy to root for, and when circumstances go beyond her control, it pains the audience to see her and Hodaka about to be separated from each other. For his part, Hodaka is very sincere, really trying to do good without the supervision of his parents, and when he begins to fall for the authentic sunshine girl, you want to root for them till the end.
This is, without a doubt, my favorite film of 2019 so far. I know this was the year of Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home, and of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as well, but Weathering with You just topped them all in my book. The combination of factors I’ve written about here make it a must-see movie, something you definitely should watch on the big screen.
