Your Name

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (out of five)

Your Name is Makoto Shinkai’s (Garden of Words; 5 Centimeters Per Second) latest work, and particularly notable for its domestic and worldwide success, coming in as the 4th highest grossing movie in Japan of all time and having already overtaken Spirited Away. Shinkai is referred to as “The New Miyazaki.”

In North America we had to wait almost a year for it to hit our shores, but it was worth the wait. Your Name is delightful. It works in a healthy dose of the supernatural while successfully relegating it to the background as nothing more than a mechanic to advance the plot. The movie’s focus stays on the development of its two main characters, and the story of their developing love.

The art and animation are top tier, with an incredible attention to detail applied to every scene. It’s a little strange to recognize an iPhone 6 on screen because its been drawn in such sharp relief. This more traditional art form and works a lot better in so many places, and we’re all very lucky that the anime industry didn’t follow in the path of the gaming industry by embracing 3-D modeled art exclusively.

Your Name is the easiest recommendation that I’ve made on this blog. It’s a movie that will not only make you feel, but feel a little better, and a little more optimistic about life. Go see it.