Movie Review: Your Name

I enjoy anime. Most of it is mediocre to boring, the good stuff is REALLY good. Anime is known for being original, experimental, and breaking new ground. It is film first, animation second. That's what I like so much about it.

Your Name is a 2016 romantic adventure anime involving time travel. It is rated PG and is appropriate for most ages.

The Good

Animation. This film is gorgeous. The visuals alone are worth watching this movie for.

Exploration of Themes. This film tackles very common ideas of identity, time travel, and love, but does it in such an original way that I was truly inspired by it. It' so original and fresh.

Pacing. This movie started off slow (like most anime), but it picked up the pace and felt like a western film early on.

The Bad

Exposition & Setup. This film began a little slow and confused. I wasn't sure what was happening. The director could have shown what time it was to better orient the viewer. Also, the characters figured out they were switching bodies pretty quickly and just accepted it. As realistic and the characters and motivations were, that part was a little far fetched. No rational person would ever think that or accept that without mountains of evidence.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish the beginning had had more development, showed how the characters discovered they were switching bodies, and explored the differences of boys and girls. All of that was rushed thru.

Overall

Your Name is a fascinating, beautifully animated film that after a slow start had me at the edge of my seat. It explored relationships, identity, and time travel in ways I've never seen before. I give this movie 4.5 boxes of popcorn out of 5.