Suzume

When Suzume Iwato discovers a mysterious door in the middle of a ruined town, she inadvertently unlocks a threat that could consume the world.  Accompanying a handsome traveler and guided by a devious feline, Suzume treks across the whole of Japan, tracking down similar doors that must be closed or doom will befall millions.  As she meets new friends and discovers her own hidden strength, Suzume learns that in order to save the world, she must reconcile a tragedy from her past or risk losing everything she holds dear.

Ever since hitting it big with Your Name, Makoto Shinkai has to be under a tremendous amount of pressure to keep delivering hit after hit.  Weathering with You was a worthy follow up even if it didn’t quite measure up to Your Name.  Like those two movies before it, Suzume arrives with a ton of hype and a huge amount of praise and box office dominance from Japan.  If you think the pressure is finally getting to Shinkai, it never shows in Suzume.  Nope, this is a film that, for me, comes close to matching the brilliance of Your Name.  It follows a similar story structure to Shinkai’s other works but Suzume also mixes things up a little and delivers an emotionally resonating experience that really struck a cord with me, so much that I was in tears well after the credits rolled. 
 
Like Your Name and Weathering with You, Suzume takes a two tone approach to its story, with the first half being a fun, lighthearted road trip with purpose while the second is much more serious and bursting with emotion.  What shakes up the formula is Shinkai lays out the mission for Suzume and Sota right away thanks to a gorgeous and exciting opening scene.  Suzume probably has the biggest stakes of Shinkai’s last few projects.  Sure a piece of a comet colliding with a town and the threat of a massive flood are problems to worry about.  But the threat in Suzume is much, much bigger…and design wise I wonder if Shinkai is a fan of Stranger Things (you’ll know what I mean when you see what Suzume is up against).  So there are stakes but Suzume never misses a chance for our titular heroine to enjoy the journey a bit before reaching her next destinations.  Much of the first half is Suzume going from location to location and closing doors but she also meets a fun cast of supporting characters, has some fun new experiences, and you can feel the change happening to her because of all of these fun adventures she has while working to save the world.
 
The bonds Suzume develops on her quest help give this movie a lot of heart but the central friendship/romance between Suzume and Sota is paramount to success, just as it was with Your Name and Weathering with You.  The more places they go to, you feel the world opening up for both of these two who have lived in their own sense of isolation for a long time.  For Suzume, it’s still coming to terms with the loss of her Mother.  For Sota, it’s the overwhelming weight of having to protect the world from an unseen danger like the rest of his family.  Seeing these two together is comforting and I love how they both play off each other and the people around them on their journey.  You want Suzume and Sota to find their peace and be happy together, even if the movie is going to make it seem like an impossible task.  But then again, some of the best romances in fiction are legend because of those impossible tasks and Suzume is more than up to it.
 
It should surprise no one that Suzume looks absolutely dazzling.  CoMix Wave Films has crafted its most perfect looking Anime film to date.  They pull off an impressive mix of hand drawn and CG animation in a way that most Anime TV Series (especially those on the Netflix catalogue) haven’t been able to perfect.  There’s a lot more magic and supernatural elements at play in Suzume compared to its predecessors so there’s a lot of mystical creatures and energies that can pop up on screen at anytime.  Some are truly larger than life and jaw dropping like “the Worm.”  Others are the most adorable little antagonists you’ve ever seen…actually, is it right to call Daijin an antagonist of the movie?  This super cute social media sensation certainly has its sinister qualities but the more you learn about what’s going on with Suzume’s quest, you begin to question that title.  Idk, not sure Daijin was as fleshed out as some of the other characters in the movie.  Actually, one of my more favorite parts of Suzume involves a character turned into a three legged chair.  Wow, you wouldn’t expect to have so much fun watching this thing move around and leap in a weirdly cool magical kind of way, but here we are.  Tl;dr, Suzume is freaking gorgeous, Shinkai’s films just keep looking better and better.
 
I think this bit of dialogues between Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey sums up my thoughts best: “You’ll have a tale or two to tell when you come back.”  “Can you promise that I will come back?”  “No.  But if you do, you will not be the same.”  Suzume is a film that invites you to come on an unexpected journey, shows you some fun visuals and introduces you to some great people, and then challenges the deepest emotions in your heart to the point where you cant help but cry as Suzume and Sota press on against all odds.  This is Makoto Shinkai’s most ambitious film to date, especially in terms of scale.  But even if the emotional beats feel a little familiar, theyre no less powerful and impactful than they have been in the past.  Like Your Name and Weathering with You, Suzume is another Makoto Shinkai masterpiece deserved to be seen by all and loved by all.  This is the kind of tale that Anime excels at and I think I’ve said this before…but I cant wait to see what kind of adventure Makoto Shinkai takes us on next. 
 
9.5/10