your name movie review

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors.

Now streaming on:

“I feel like I’m always searching for something, someone.” Haven’t we all felt that at some point in our lives? A sense of displacement from our daily lives, and a search for something that would anchor us to a more commonly perceived sense of normalcy? The Japanese phenomenon “Your Name” (it was the highest grossing film of last year in the country and the highest grossing anime film of all time worldwide, passing " Spirited Away ") is about this highly relatable sense of looking for something, someone, someplace. And so much more. It’s a beautiful, captivating piece of work that gets off to kind of a rocky start but achieves remarkable momentum toward an emotional, powerful ending. And you won’t see a better-looking animated film all year.

Writer/director Makoto Shinkai takes what could have been a very cheesy “Freaky Friday”-esque concept and imbues it with melancholy and honesty. The set-up is relatively simple: Mitsuha ( Mone Kamishiraishi ) is a high school-age girl who lives in the fictional Itomori, a gorgeous, quaint village in the Hida region of Japan; Taki ( Ryunosuke Kamiki ) is a slightly older boy living in Tokyo. They are both average kids with their own social circles, but they have no actual connection, and lead very different lives, at least partially defined by their equally gorgeous settings of city vs. country.

One day, Taki wakes up and looks down to see breasts. He’s in Mitsuha’s body. The next day, Mitsuha wakes up back in her own form but with only vague memories of the day before. And, of course, the same thing happens in reverse. Mostly through discussions with people around them about how weird they were acting, Mitsuha and Taki figure out that they’re switching places randomly, only after sleep. Rather than get into wacky hijinks like an ‘80s Disney movie, they work to help each other, leaving each other notes and diaries about what happened when they switched places. For example, Mitsuha has the courage to talk to the girl Taki likes, serving as a sort of body-switching Cyrano de Bergerac. But one day, they stop switching, and Taki can’t get a hold of Mitsuha in any way. He has vague memories of vistas from Mitsuha’s life and he sets out to try to find her. This is when “Your Name” becomes something very unexpected.

To say that “Your Name” is visually striking would be a giant understatement. Shinkai and his team have both an eye for detail and a poetic vision. The settings of “Your Name” somehow feel both lived-in and magical at the same time. Whether it’s the train system in Tokyo, its gorgeous skyscrapers touching the sky, a never-ending horizon in Itomori, or even just a series of streets on a mountainside, “Your Name” is one of those animated films in which one could pick any still frame from it and hang it on their wall. And yet the gorgeous visuals of the film never stifle the storytelling; they’re intertwined with one another. “Your Name” seems to often be saying: city or country, it’s a beautiful world out there and we only need to find our place in it.

Shinkai avoids so many potential narrative pitfalls (that it feels like the inevitable live-action remake will tumble into willingly). For one, Mitsuha and Taki maintain gender differences without feeling clichéd in the boy vs. girl way that Hollywood films so often define. We feel like these two very different people find commonality in gender and class without losing their personalities at the same time. The movie reminded me at times of Roger’s famous quote about empathy, about how film has a gift to put us in someone else’s shoes in ways that nothing else does. Mitsuha and Taki would likely never interact in the real world, but they start to become supportive of each other, and essential to each other’s happiness. The idea that someone you’ve never met and would never otherwise interact with has the same needs, joys, and fears as you is something worth remembering in 2017. It reminded me of “ Arrival ” in the way that film takes an out-of-this-world concept and then ties it to issues with which we can all relate.

Most of all, “Your Name” balances fantastic beauty and grounded reality in ways that are simply impossible outside of animation. Shinkai alternates between detailed visions of Tokyo that feel like they were constructed from real location photos and fantastical images of places that don’t exist in the real world, and never skews that balance too far to either side. It becomes more and more impressive. Few animated films in recent memory have built scene upon scene to such a rewarding final shot. Few animated films in recent memory are this good.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

Now playing

Irena's Vow

Christy lemire.

Art College 1994

Simon abrams.

Monica Castillo

In the Land of Saints and Sinners

Mary & George

Cristina escobar.

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

Peyton robinson, film credits.

Your Name (2017)

Rated PG for thematic elements, suggestive content, brief language, and smoking.

106 minutes

Ryunosuke Kamiki as Tachibana Taki (voice)

Mone Kamishiraishi as Miyamizu Mitsuha (voice)

Masami Nagasawa as Okudera Miki (voice)

Etsuko Ichihara as Miyamizu Hitoha (voice)

Ryou Narita as Teshigawara Katsuhiko (voice)

Aoi Yuki as Natori Sayaka (voice)

Nobunaga Shimazaki as Fujii Tsukasa (voice)

Kaito Ishikawa as Takagi Masahiro (voice)

Tani Kanon as Miyamizu Yotsuba (voice)

Kazuhiko Inoue as Taki's father (voice)

Makoto Shinkai

Writer (based on his novel)

Cinematographer, latest blog posts.

A Good Reason to Be a Coward: Jim Cummings on The Last Stop in Yuma County

Launch Day for My Book, It's Time To Give a FECK! Book Tour Dates, Tamron Hall Show

Short Films in Focus: Floating Through the Nowhere Stream with Director Luis Grané

The Ross Brothers Made a Road-Trip Movie. They Didn’t Come Back the Same.

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

For Parents
For Educators
Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

Get the app
Movie Reviews
Best Movie Lists
Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

Best TV Lists
Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
Common Sense Selections for TV
Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

Book Reviews
Best Book Lists
Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

Game Reviews
Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

Podcast Reviews
Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

App Reviews
Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

YouTube Channel Reviews
YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

Explaining the News to Our Kids

Family Tech Planners
Digital Skills
All Articles
Latino Culture
Black Voices
Asian Stories
Native Narratives
LGBTQ+ Pride
Best of Diverse Representation List

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

Common sense media reviewers.

Stunning but mature animated body-swapping love story.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Reveals how people can help each other, how fallin

Taki and Mitsuha are both courageous and must over

A meteor hits a small town and destroys it, killin

Taki touches Mitsuha's breasts every time he wakes

A few insults and exclamations: "Son of a..." (doe

One older teen/young adult character smokes a ciga

Positive Messages

Reveals how people can help each other, how falling in love is really about truly getting to know someone, who they are, what they think, ane what's important to them. Promotes strong bonds between friends and family members; themes include compassion, curiosity, and empathy.

Positive Role Models

Taki and Mitsuha are both courageous and must overcome their fear of what's happening with their body-switching to help each other and the people of Mitsuha's town. Taki and Mitsuha each have friends who help them on their journeys.

Violence & Scariness

A meteor hits a small town and destroys it, killing 500 people. A character realizes that someone he loves has died. In one sequence, it seems like people have been hurt again. Taki (as Mitsuha) roughly grabs her father by the neck. She also falls off of a bike, and the bike crashes into a ditch. Mitsuha (as Taki) falls off his bed and hurts himself.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Taki touches Mitsuha's breasts every time he wakes up as her, and her sister catches Mitsuha touching "her boobies." Taki looks at "his" (but really Mitsuha's) body in the mirror; the camera angle shows her bare back and underwear. Mitsuha also touches herself between the legs when she wakes up as Taki and momentarily freaks out. Taki has a crush on his co-worker and blushes/is embarrassed in her presence. Taki and Mitsuha begin to have strong feelings for each other and fall in love, but there's nothing sexual. Teshi and Saya are always together and clearly have feelings for each other, but they pretend not to -- until the epilogue.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

A few insults and exclamations: "Son of a..." (doesn't get finished), "pervert," "weird," "stupid," "boobies." A father tells his daughter to "shut up" a couple of times.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

One older teen/young adult character smokes a cigarette. Adult characters drink sake at a gathering, and Taki drinks a shot of a special, sacred form of sake to commune with Mitsuha.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Your Name is an animated Japanese romance (dubbed in English) about two teens -- one a city boy, the other a small-town girl -- who intermittently wake up in each other's bodies. The movie is part sci-fi/fantasy and part romance and is best suited for mature tweens and teens. Although it's animated, the themes and storyline aren't going to appeal to younger audiences, who may not be ready for some of the issues related to waking up in a different body. There are several scenes of Mitsuha touching "his" breasts when he wakes up in Taki's body, and the first time Taki wakes up as Mitsuha, "she" inspects his parts as well. An older teen smokes, adults drink at a gathering, and there's occasional insulting language like "shut up," "stupid," and "pervert." At the same time, themes include compassion, curiosity, and empathy, and there's a clear message about what it really means to fall in love with someone. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

Parents say (19)
Kids say (67)

Based on 19 parent reviews

Reviewing with the 7 Media Keys

Very good story. sends a message to kids that love is not superficial. it is about getting to know who a person truely is., what's the story.

YOUR NAME follows two Japanese teens -- big-city boy Taki ( Michael Sinterniklaas ) and rural girl Mitsuha ( Stephanie Sheh ) -- who mysteriously wake up one morning in each other's bodies. Mitsuha has dreams of life beyond her provincial town and wishes to be a handsome Tokyo boy, and she seems to get her wish. At first she thinks it's just a detailed dream, because the teens don't know when they'll wake up as each other. It lasts only from the time they each wake up until they fall asleep, and it could happen up to a few times a week. Whey they realize it's "really" happening, they begin to leave reports in each other's cell phones, recounting important events. Mitsuha helps Taki get closer to his crush, a beautiful older server at the restaurant where he works, while Taki helps Mitsuha become more assertive, extroverted, and athletic. Eventually, though, they begin to have feelings for each other, since they know each other so well. But when Mitsuha and Taki try to find each other as themselves, it becomes clear something is wrong.

Is It Any Good?

Stunningly animated and well acted, this extraordinary Japanese coming-of-age tale is equal parts body-swap comedy, time-travel romance, and adventure film. Written and directed by Makoto Shinkai and based on his own novel, the story is engrossing enough to appeal to older tweens, teens who might think they've graduated from animated movies, and adults who appreciate well-crafted animation. The parts are familiar: two people who mysteriously trade bodies, a love/hate romance that blossoms from notes and messages, and a disaster film in which a few realize the danger and must convince everyone else. But how Shinkai weaves these pieces together is original, compelling, and unforgettable.

It sounds contradictory, but this is a sweeping love story in which the couple doesn't really meet, yet knows intimate details about each other. Taki and Mitsuha understand nearly everything about each other because they've literally been each other. It's one of the reasons it's so amusing and entertaining to watch the montage of them getting frustrated with each other. And while there's a running gag about Mitsuha "loving her boobies" (when she wakes up as Taki), it's depicted as humorous curiosity, rather than prurient or off-putting. Like the older-skewing Studio Ghibli titles, Your Name is a perfect choice for middle schoolers and up who will appreciate the combination of adventure and romance in a way that younger viewers aren't mature enough to enjoy.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Your Name 's messages. What is the story trying to say about the difference between a big-city teen and one from a small town?

Who do you think is a role model in the movie? What makes them courageous and/or empathetic ? Why are those important character strengths ?

Discuss the love story in Your Name . What age audience is it aimed at? Why do you think that?

What does the movie have to say about gender ? How do the two main characters react to being in the body of someone of the opposite sex? How do you think you'd feel?

Movie Details

In theaters : April 7, 2017
On DVD or streaming : November 7, 2017
Cast : Michael Sinterniklaas , Stephanie Sheh , Kyle Hebert
Director : Makoto Shinkai
Inclusion Information : Female actors
Studio : Funimation
Genre : Anime
Topics : Brothers and Sisters , Friendship , High School , Trains
Character Strengths : Compassion , Curiosity , Empathy
Run time : 107 minutes
MPAA rating : PG
MPAA explanation : thematic elements, suggestive content, brief language and smoking
Award : Common Sense Selection
Last updated : August 2, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

From Up on Poppy Hill

Want personalized picks for your kids' age and interests?

Spirited Away

Whisper of the Heart

My Life as a Zucchini

Studio ghibli movies, offbeat animated movies, related topics.

Brothers and Sisters
High School

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission.

The Stunning Your Name Is a Poignant Body-Swapping Tale

Nobody can draw a cell phone like Makoto Shinkai. The animation director has been fixated on communication over time and distance since his breakout short Voices From a Distant Star, which follows a teenage intergalactic fighter pilot texting her would-be boyfriend from the cockpit during her off hours. Unlike many directors, Shinkai is not afraid to have his characters stare at their phones for long stretches, waiting for news, for reciprocation of feelings, for a connection. Though he paints them in hyperdetailed photo-realism, phones aren’t inert chunks of fiberglass to Shinkai, they are imbued with the hopes and desires and emotions of their owners. In Your Name , his latest film, one serves as both a record and a shared diary. They are a tenuous, hopelessly man-made tether whose connection could be severed at any moment.

Shinkai has been lauded as the “next Miyazaki” since his debut feature film The Place Promised in Our Early Days premiered in 2004. This anointment has seemed a little premature, if not outright unearned, to me, and unfair to Shinkai’s distinct point of view as a director. Shinkai’s trademark is his scenic work — he takes the lushly mundane background work of Ghibli films like Whisper of the Heart and My Neighbor Totoro and cranks up the resolution, offering frame after frame of hyperbolically detailed scenes of city and country life. Everything from a rain-speckled maple leaf to the scuffed edge of a carton of coffee is lovingly, perhaps even obsessively, rendered to look more real than real, and then lit in eternal magic-hour blues and golds bleeding across his bending skyscapes . Watch enough of Shinkai’s films and you start to recognize the meta-gravity in these details; you can feel Shinkai himself grasping to preserve the memory of every little thing in the periphery of his characters’ lives.

As dazzling as this can be, it’s not always been clear how Shinkai’s technique connects with his earnest teen romances. Shinkai’s blissful sunsets, combined with his cosmically emo screenwriting, has led me in the past to sometimes refer to his work as “Instagram anime,” heavy on feels and pretty pictures, light on complete thoughts. Still, his insistence on some common themes — adolescent longing, the wonders and loneliness of space, the idea that something is lost between your teen years and young adulthood — pointed toward a cohesive vision that had yet to fully emerge.

With Your Name , it’s suddenly, overwhelmingly here. Shinkai’s latest, which broke box-office records in Japan last year, brims over with ideas, its synapses firing faster and faster as its initial body-swapping scenario is bound up with notions of time, memory, and loss. It’s a film not just about the connection between a boy and a girl, but the way each of them connect to and relate to their world through their own eyes and each others. It’s only barely a romance, bypassing much of that familiar territory to explore something much more intimate and strange.

Mitsuha is a 17-year-old girl living in the rural village of Itomori; Taki is a 17-year-old boy living in Tokyo. After the appearance of a passing comet in the sky, they mysteriously begin swapping bodies, a day at a time and unexpectedly. They fumble through each other’s lives, and with each other’s bodies, with a mixture of horror and fascination. They begin leaving notes for each other, Mitsuha even sets Taki up on a date while in his body. They’re continually unable to contact each other, so when the swaps stop occurring, Taki travels to the mountains in search of Mitsuha’s home. That’s when the movie delivers its first wallop, which I won’t spoil here.

In the past Shinkai’s leads have tended to feel flatly animated and written. Not here. Taki and Mitsuha feel as vibrant and alive as their hometowns and the comet-strewn sky that hangs above them in all it psychedelic glory. Little details like the inherited rituals of Mitsuha’s life as a Shinto shrine maiden, and the cosmopolitan pleasures of a big stack of pancakes at the cafe Taki and his friends frequent, add up to a pair of perspectives that feel deeply lived-in.

Taki’s journey, to find a town purely through his own memories of it in Mitsuha’s skin, is the beginning of Shinkai’s sprawling inquiry into how places and objects attain meaning. In a way, Your Name is a kind of explainer for all those beautiful sunsets and meticulously recreated train stations and convenience stores. In a scene late in the movie, we see a grown-up Taki, pursuing a career as an urban planner, tell a potential employer that he wants to create “landscapes that leave heartwarming memories.” The translation is a little pat, but it has to do with the Japanese sense of natsukashii , a hard-to-translate word in the neighborhood of nostalgia. It has to do more with a kind of inherent longing; the fond recollection of past places and days is tied to the realization that you can never recapture them.

And what happens when those memories leave you? Taki and Mitsuha frequently find themselves waking up crying from dreams they can’t remember; throughout the film’s twisting timeline they alternately forget each other, or cross paths before meeting. Throughout it all, there’s a sense that the body and soul remember things the mind can’t; this leads the film to its perhaps improbably happy ending. Before then, though, things get tangly, and those trying to diagram Your Name ’s multiplying timelines might get frustrated. But Shinkai paints an assured emotional through line between all the metaphysical business, and as long as you follow it, you won’t be lost for long. What this film has to say about how we experience time and loss overpowers the demands of logic. Perhaps a less uplifting ending may have seemed more honest. But Shinkai’s a romantic at heart, and it’s infectious. By the end, you just want these two crazy kids to get together, no matter whose bodies they’re in.

vulture homepage lede
movie review
makoto shinkai

Editor’s Picks

Most Popular

What is your email.

This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us.

Sign In To Continue Reading

Create your free account.

Password must be at least 8 characters and contain:

Lower case letters (a-z)
Upper case letters (A-Z)
Numbers (0-9)
Special Characters (!@#$%^&*)

As part of your account, you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York , which you can opt out of anytime.

'Your Name' Review: A Modern Romance That Transcends Space, Time, and Tropes

Whether you're a fan of anime or not, 'Your Name' is not to be missed. Catch it in North American theaters starting this Friday!

If I told you that Your Name , writer-director Makoto Shinkai 's drama (originally titled Kimi no na wa ), was an amazing anime that is sweeping the world thanks to its unconventional storytelling approach, gorgeous visuals, and tear-jerking romance, there's a good chance you'd only hear one word: anime. The word still carries a stigma today, even though the traditionally Japanese storytelling style has steadily become a part of Western culture over the last few decades. Your Name is poised to be a gateway anime film for a whole new generation.

To be fair, some of the tropes that the anime genre has become known for are at play here: The story centers on two high school characters, the juxtaposition of technology and tradition is a big part of their journey, and the memory of a massively destructive event haunts the collective consciousness. However, these common themes found throughout anime exist in Your Name to serve the story; everything else about it is unique and surprising. This makes for a refreshingly entertaining film that will have you invested in the fate of the charismatic leads as they struggle against seemingly insurmountable odds.

In the broadest sense, Your Name is a story about two high school students, Mitsuha and Taki, who have never met but mysteriously begin to inhabit each other's bodies at random times, for random lengths of time, and with no memory of these events. So on the surface, it's an animated body-swapping comedy with romantic and dramatic elements. But it doesn't take long to realize that there is much, much more going on in Shinkai's excellent adaptation of his own novel of the same name.

Mitsuha Miyamizu is reserved and hard-working, both as a student in school and at her family's shrine, where she learns the ways of tradition from her grandmother, alongside her little sister Yotsuha. The demands of tradition and the rather rural stylings of her small town frustrate Mitsuha to the point that she loudly voices her wish to be reborn as a handsome boy in Tokyo, a city full of culture, innovation, and opportunity.

Enter Taki Tachibana, a high school student living in Tokyo who doggedly pursues his interests, whether it's architecture or the affections of his co-worker, Miki Okudera. However, when Taki wakes up one morning to find himself in the body of Mitsuha--and, yes, after hilariously and rather innocently coming to terms with said new body--he finds himself on a path that is very different from the one he has been planning for all along.

To give too much away about Your Name would be a disservice to audiences as it's best to go into this movie as cold as possible. It's much more than a body-swapping comedy; though that aspect is played up for laughs early on, it becomes crucial to the depths of the mutual understanding between Mitsuha and Taki by the story's end. And neither is Your Name only a traditional romantic story about two star-crossed lovers; those elements are there, as is the legend of the Red String of Fate connecting those destined to be together, but relationships develop slowly over time and are born out of understanding and compassion rather than simply overcoming a one-note conflict.

While Your Name does come with the obvious supernatural element of body-swapping, there's a much deeper mythology at play that touches on the contrast between technology and tradition in the film. This is what Your Name does exceptionally well: Introduce a familiar concept or trope, and then flip, twist, and invert it in surprising ways that will keep the audience guessing. You may see some of the twists coming, you might even guess the ultimate ending, but Your Name remains an engaging story throughout and will have you emotionally invested in the fate of the fully fleshed out characters.

On that note, Shinkai's attention to detail and understanding of fans' obsession with character relationships is top notch. Viewers who keep an eye on supporting characters and their flirtations throughout the film will be rewarded with a rock-solid answer to their relationship by the movie's end, though the nature of that relationship may or may not please everyone. As for the relationship between the leads, Shinkai knows just how far to push an audience's patience for the "will they or won't they" game, and you can tell he's having fun teasing it along the way. Those slight sins are wholly forgiven since Shinkai also delivers one of the most earnest, intimate, and admirable romances in recent movie history.

And this is all without mentioning the breathtaking visuals on display, from the Tokyo cityscapes, to rural and urban train stations (another hallmark of anime), to lush and impressive natural landscapes, most of which are inspired by real-world locations . The character designs are charming and practical, far from the over-the-top appearances you might expect when hearing the word "anime." Heightening every emotional beat in the film is the fantastic soundtrack--which is destined to become a playlist in its own right--that occasionally breaks through to become the focus of a scene or sequence. It's honestly amazing to me that all the disparate parts of this film came together so well to make something this unforgettable; to miss it is inexcusable.

Your Name is a wonderful cinematic experience. You don't need to be an anime fan to enjoy Your Name , just like you don't need to understand the historical and cultural significance of kuchikamizake to appreciate its place in the plot (though a familiarity with anime history and Japanese culture certainly helps). At the end of the day, Your Name is a timeless crowd-pleaser that will have you laughing, crying, and loving right along with Mitsuha and Taki for years to come.

Your Name opens in theaters, in limited release, starting Friday, April 7th.

an image, when javascript is unavailable

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

‘you name’ (‘kimi no na wa’): film review | tokyo 2016.

Two body-swapping teens face an eco-disaster in 'Your Name,' Makoto Shinkai’s runaway anime hit.

By Deborah Young

Deborah Young

Share this article on Facebook
Share this article on Twitter
Share this article on Flipboard
Share this article on Email
Show additional share options
Share this article on Linkedin
Share this article on Pinit
Share this article on Reddit
Share this article on Tumblr
Share this article on Whatsapp
Share this article on Print
Share this article on Comment

A shoo-in for highest-grossing anime film of 2016 and a challenger to some of Studio Ghibli’s finest box-office results, Your Name ( Kimi no Na wa ) by up-and-coming Japanese animation director Makoto Shinkai is one wild ride of a film. The paradoxical sci-fi fantasy, whose story is engaging enough if finally incomprehensible, should spark an internet war of interpretations from the teen audiences who are its main target. In brief, it tells the story of a Tokyo boy and a schoolgirl from the sticks who begin having unplanned out-of-body experiences — in each other’s body, to be precise — just as a comet is passing over Japan. Their attempts to remember each other’s name when they return to their own bodies and to physically meet up turns into a bittersweet, impossible romance laced with humor and mystical innuendo.

THR Newsletters

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Glen powell, anthony mackie, laura dern to star in legal drama ‘monsanto’, rebel wilson says she “lost money” on ‘bridesmaids’ after she had to buy premiere dress, new ‘dora the explorer’ movie to star ‘you are so not invited to my bat mitzvah’ actress samantha lorraine (exclusive), why hannah marks spent most of her twenties making ‘turtles all the way down’, mohammad rasoulof lawyer says dissident director sentenced to eight years in prison, flogging by iran court, alexander skarsgård joins harry melling in kinky romance ‘pillion’.

Your Name – The Highest Grossing Anime Film Ever Is Director Makoto Shinkai the next Miyazaki?

February 14, 2017 • words written by Tom Pinchuk • Art by FUNimation

"I wanted to create a centerpiece of entertainment that everyone could enjoy."

This is the mission statement of Director Makoto Shinkai, a rising star in anime who shot into another stratum in 2016. As of this writing, his latest film, Your Name , is the highest-grossing anime feature ever, having just usurped Spirited Away 's number one spot, and it's the fourth highest-grossing film overall at Japan's box office. For a sense of how dramatic his jump to the blockbuster club is, Shinkai's last feature, the Garden of Words , opened in just 23 theaters. Now, he's deflecting suggestions from the press that he may be "the next Miyazaki." This, among other reasons, is why we picked this film for our list of Top 20 Anime of all time , despite its recent release.

Shinkai asserts he didn't set out to make a more mainstream movie, it's just that he finally had the means and instincts to realize his long ambition of telling universal stories. His past films have been received enthusiastically, but they've played more often to an otaku niche. And he acknowledges that before Your Name , he was more concerned with fulfilling his vision as a director than he was with serving the audience's interests.

Since he insists his mainstream shift wasn't calculated – that it just worked out this way – then perhaps we're simply seeing Shinkai's destiny as an artist reveal itself. The movie is a most unusual romance. A unique and striking – yet also charmingly accessible – balance of breezy comedy and philosophical rumination. Call it the thinking person's romcom.

Spoiler alert: although no major plot points or twists are given away, the next two sections talk about the plot and analyze the themes, so if you don't want to know anything about the story, just look at the pretty images and jump ahead to the "Why Tell This Story?" section.

At a key stage in the writing process of Your Name , Shinkai stepped back and realized his plot had gotten carried away with itself. With time travel stories, it's awfully easy for all the alternate realities and assorted paradoxes to knot up. As the director puts it:

"I came up with this very complex timeline narrative structure [but then] I didn't necessarily feel that understanding the complex structure and timeline was necessary for the audience… I wanted to shift the focus to the relationship between the two main characters [because] understanding the complexities… wasn't most important."

In other words, he didn't want Your Name 's script to be too preoccupied with big concepts like his past films might've been. The story needed to be more grounded. Funny. Romantic. Less focused on the metaphysical. So he cut material, giving more breathing room to this story of boy meets girl.

Freaky Fridays

The movie follows Mitsuha, a high schooler in the small town of Itomori. Bored with quiet country living, she makes an idle wish – that she be reincarnated as a handsome Tokyo boy in the next life. Then, a twist of fate grants her wish sooner than expected: she wakes up in the body of a handsome boy in Tokyo named Taki. The pair keep trading places, seemingly at random, and accept their bizarre circumstances the same way they'd play along with a dream.

The film arcs from the careless fantasy of Freaky Friday to the sci-fi esoterica of Sense8…

The couple's "body shock" makes for plenty of humor – at first. Mitsuha's superstitious family casually accepts that she may be dealing with bouts of possession , while Taki's friends raise eyebrows over the country twang he's suddenly picked up. Both kids deal with the awkwardness of having unfamiliar private parts. When the switcheroo keeps happening, though, the two have to accept the reality of their surreal predicament.

They attempt to communicate with each other, to varying success, and have just as unpredictable results when trying to meddle in each other's lives. After he's had enough, Taki decides to take a train to Itomori so he can finally meet Mitsuha face to face. Once he reaches the village, though, he discovers a once-in-a-millennium phenomenon has complicated their connection.

Without giving too much of the twist away, let's just say the film arcs from the careless fantasy of Freaky Friday to the sci-fi esoterica of Sense8 after Taki's impactful revelation. It's a surprising plus that Your Name invites comparisons to such a broad spread of body-swapping, mind-melding fiction at different turns. Even when venturing into stranger territory, it keeps a brisk pace and a spring in its step – exploring deep thoughts without brooding on them.

Talking with Shinkai

Shinkai may have avoided making this movie too ponderous, but he still couldn't resist his symbolist's touch. Your Name is full of metaphors, both visual and thematic. Usually, viewers can only speculate at the meaning of such symbolism, but I got to ask the director about what he was going for in person, at a Beverly Hills press junket. His answers revealed the many currents that were bubbling under this cute romance.

Ties That Bind

Strings appear all throughout the film, from the ribbons that Mitsuha's family uses in their braiding business to an ominous comet and its tail that resembles string stretching across the sky. The shooting stars falling off it seem more like frayed ends of yarn. At one point, there's even a vision where string connects to a fetus' umbilical cord in the womb. Given all the talk of fate that comes up during Taki and Mitsuha's odd courtship, I suspected the director was making some point about the ties that bind. Turns out, I was warm.

"…I wanted a symbol that connected the two of them. In Japan, there is always this talk about the 'red thread of fate' that links two people, and that's where the idea of the thread came from."

A little online search found some information on this "red thread." The idea is that the gods tie this string – linking two people together by their pinkies. It may actually have something to do with how an artery directly connects those fingers to the heart. A duo connected by this thread are not necessarily soulmates, but their meeting is still destined for great significance, no matter what twists keep them apart.

Online Connection?

This romance may tap into primordial currents, but it's still very much a story of our times. Taki and Mitsuha leave memos in each other's smartphones. And once they collect enough basic info, they of course look each other up online to learn the rest. Even more pointedly, friends start interpreting the odd, secretive behavior of their body-swapping as a cover to hide the potential embarrassment of – what else? – online dating.

I suspected that last bit maybe tipped Shinkai's hat a little more obviously than he'd intended. It's easy to read this fantasy romance as an abstraction of how OK Cupid or Match.com work. Total strangers finding love, though they're separated by great distances, and from completely different walks of life, and surely wouldn't have met under any other circumstance. The delay of a proper meeting even seems to mirror the way online correspondences often shake out. Prolonged ping-pong messaging, with highly personal secrets being shared long before either party actually knows the other.

Turns out this speculation was colder, but Shinkai did realize at a later stage that the audience might infer such subtext. He even anticipated viewers asking, "Well, why didn't they just meet online?" But that wasn't his plan going in. In his words:

"No commentary about online dating is intended."

Well then, it's a fun way to read the movie. Like any resonant fantasy, Your Name can still reflect the moment of its release in ways its creator didn't consciously intend.

The Force of Natural Disasters

Shinkai admits he was partly inspired by 2011's Fukushima disaster. As he put it:

"When I did research, that earthquake is said to come approximately once every 1,000 years… so a natural disaster sort of uprooting people from where they live was the theme that I came up with. [It] allowed me to discuss the theme of people who must move from what they once called home because of natural disasters…"

A comet coming between Taki and Mitsuha returns to cause hardship once every bunch of lifetimes, too. While he didn't go into more detail, it seems Shinkai was struck in particular by the notion of the past having unexpected and unpreventable influence on even the most modern parts of the present.

Why Tell This Story?

Stacking conjecture on something aimed as an accessible comedy could be excessive, but not for a film whose director made a point of asking crew and cast about whether they believe in destiny. Of the many choice quotes Shinkai offered at the junket, this one had to be the most telling. Really, it's the stuff of mantras.

"If we all knew the reasons for our birth, there'd be no reason to tell stories."

Shinkai has a deep interest in the notion of fate, even if he'll plainly state his disbelief in it when asked. He wants Your Name to show the circumstances of one's birth – and specifically the conditions under which we meet a significant other – actually having a world of meaning. The aim is to shoot much higher than typical romance, clearly, and to offer more than just sci-fi escapism.

Reasons for a Rush

Any comparisons to Hayao Miyazaki really don't hold in regard to Your Name 's style. Characters don't have the rosy-cheeked faces, nor does the scenery ask the audience to mediate on its painterly brushstrokes. Shinkai directs CoMix Wave's animators as if leading a live film crew, moving the frame fast, and always in the interest of the plot at hand. Every set has such startling detail (even Taki's bachelor pad shelves are packed with dozens of detailed books), and is "lit" with a care for lighting design unusual in anime. It's so overwhelming to keep up with every intricate composition, in fact, that you quickly forget you're watching animation.

One of the few knocks against the film: the portion where Taki and Mitsuha adjust to body swapping can feel like an abbreviated edit of a longer anime series. When their mishaps are shown in a fast montage, escalating to a reveal of the logo (that's accompanied by a song cue, no less), it feels enough like a TV show intro that nobody would be faulted for expecting an ad break.

The hurried pace is by design. Shinkai flings concepts out fast to keep the attention of over-stimulated young people who might be distracted by social media. A question at the junket, about whether he'd ever do a TV show, proved more telling about that sensibility, actually. The director is only interested in finite series, needing a sense of closure in his stories, and such focus on endings may explain this rush to get to the finale (as stirring and moving and clever as it is).

A Rising Star Shifts Stratum

Shinkai describes Hollywood as a faraway stratosphere, far removed from whatever cult corner he's worked in up until now. And though the director insists this isn't an intentional bid at American moviegoers, his distributors know a crossover hit when they've got one, and they're definitely angling for that audience. The film premiered at Los Angeles' Anime Expo in summer 2016 – before screening in Japan. If the intent wasn't to consciously make a movie that would expand his audience and reach a broader mainstream then – again – perhaps it's just Shinkai's fate. He speaks of making the film as if some current were acting through him.

"This movie isn't a response to the film market, rather [it comes] from a feeling that 'I finally feel ready to do this,' which has been with me since the proposal stage."

Your Name is a delight with plenty of insights; a unique fantasy that gets laughs and stirs emotions as often as it provokes thought. The director may not seek to be the Next Miyazaki, but he's still made an anime that's accessible like few offerings outside Studio Ghibli manage. Shinkai has shown he's one to pay more attention to as his filmography continues to unfold – and his name ought to be familiar to more than just otaku in America.

Kanae’s Review 9/10

Because of the reviews and sales of the movie, I was really curious. Among the ton of anime out there, Shinkai Makoto’s work has its own style and originality. Personally, the detailed backgrounds based on real locations in Tokyo moved me, and it made me want to go on a pilgrimage to the locations . Also the music by Rad Wimps (who I spend my high school years listening to) matched the story and emotion well. The story wasn’t predictable, so I think it was one of the reasons behind the movie’s huge success.

Your Name by Makoto Shinkai

Evocative visual symbolism
Accessible angle on metaphysics
Unique, realistic scenery
Well-tuned balance of humor and drama
Anime that non-otaku can easily enjoy
Concept might be too big for a single movie

Overall Rating

Additional information.

Your Name's website

Film Review: ‘Your Name.’

Rising anime talent Makoto Shinkai concocts an outlandish — and enormously entertaining — romance whose central couple spontaneously begins body-swapping.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

‘The Three Musketeers – Part II: Milady’ Review: Eva Green Surprises in French Blockbuster’s Less-Than-Faithful Finale 3 weeks ago
‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’ Review: Henry Cavill Leads a Pack of Inglorious Rogues in Guy Ritchie’s Spirited WWII Coup 3 weeks ago
‘Challengers’ Review: Zendaya and Company Smash the Sports-Movie Mold in Luca Guadagnino’s Tennis Scorcher 4 weeks ago

'Your Name' Review: Thrilling Time-Travel/Body-Swap/Disaster-Movie Mix

Whereas so many movie romances begin with a charming meet-cute and progress from there, audiences can never be quite sure whether the central couple in “Your Name” could ever meet, even though they have a weird habit of waking up in one another’s bodies. An endearingly loopy mix of time-travel, body-swap, and disaster-movie ingredients that’s already a massive hit in its native Japan, this unconventional romance hails from the imagination of Makoto Shinkai , a talented up-and-coming animation director who launched his career with the ultra-indie “Voices of a Distant Star,” and who has dedicated himself to creating some of the country’s most stunning anime ever since. Not that Westerners even know his name. Now they will, thanks to this wildly inventive new feature, which began its international travels in competition at the San Sebastian film festival (following a way-below-the-radar premiere at Los Angeles’ Anime Expo last July).

Because neither Newton’s Laws nor traditional genre rules apply here, “Your Name’s” fantastical premise skips the usual love-at-first-sight cliché and introduces its would-be couple — big-city Tokyo teen Taki (voiced by Ryûnosuke Kamiki) and provincial schoolgirl Mitsuha (Mone Kamishiraishi) — under far more intimate circumstances: Taki’s first impression of Mitsuha is how strange it is to suddenly awaken with boobs, and he can’t resist groping “himself” in what becomes a running joke. So, rather than worrying about all the things that could potentially come between them, as we normally would in a romantic drama, here, the suspense hinges on whether these two characters will succeed in figuring out who one another actually is — and from there, why the cosmos have seen fit to connect them in the first place.

Popular on Variety

Initially, Taki and Mitsuha can’t even be sure the body-swapping is actually happening, mistaking days spent in a complete stranger’s skin as vivid dreams — that is, until their friends’ and family’s reactions reveal that while they’ve each been away, someone else has been eating breakfast, riding the bus/subway, and going to school in their place. Of course, neither has any clue how to handle being thrust into the other’s life, surrounded by strangers in a city far removed from their own home. It takes a few such switches before they even learn to communicate, and longer still before they discover how to use the arrangement to their mutual advantage.

Imagine all the fun (and confusion) you could have if suddenly thrust into the same situation, and to his credit, Shinkai manages to playfully compress many of those ideas (some of them a little saucier than a teen-targeted live-action movie might permit) into a series of energetic early montages, each set to songs by Japanese rock band Radwimps. Taki has never been good with girls, for example, but makes progress relating to a sexy co-worker while Mitsuha is “visiting” — which complicates the long-distance crush Mitsuha seems to be developing on her host.

Sooner or later, this playful setup gives way to a far more elaborate supernatural scenario, one that exploits a feeling not unlike déjà vu, only stronger, as neither character can seem to hold onto the memory of what they did while out-of-body for long. Meanwhile, the puzzle becomes increasingly clear to us, the audience, as we gradually come to understand the significance of a gorgeous atmospheric condition teased in the film’s opening seconds.

Audiences would be hard-pressed to find any animator capable of rendering more beautiful skies, or landscapes, than Shinkai. Though much has been written in recent years about the fear that hand-drawn animation’s days may be numbered, especially with the retirement of Studio Ghibli greats Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, Shinkai’s work just goes to show that the tradition of hand-drawn animation isn’t dead. His earlier film, “Journey to Agartha” or “Children Who Chase Lost Voices,” is the single most beautiful animated feature ever made — and an obvious tribute to Miyazaki’s oeuvre. Granted, no cels were harmed (or even so much as painted) in the making of “Your Name,” though the director and his team have found a way to keep the aesthetic alive — to heighten it, even — while doing all of their drawing on tablets and screens.

Among the innovations of Shinkai’s self-taught, all-digital approach are the director’s signature hyper-realistic backgrounds, which are more than mere paintings, but shimmer and change perspective in ways that the old cel-based techniques never allowed. In “Your Name,” that allows for the film’s most breathtaking moment: Like Richard Dreyfuss, carving Devil’s Rock out of his mashed potatoes in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” Taki has taken to sketching what looks like a giant round lake formed by the crater of a meteoric impact. For years, he hasn’t known what to make of these drawings, since physically speaking, he’s never so much as ventured beyond Tokyo. But once he finally musters the momentum to investigate his time spent as Mitsuha, the search leads him to the lake in question, which has dramatically changed shape since the last time he saw it.

Only then does he realize that his old body-swapping buddy may have been the victim of a long-ago comet strike, and through a series of time-travel paradoxes that never quite make sense, he spends the rest of the movie trying to save her so that one day they can be together — the tragedy being that even if he succeeds, there’s no guarantee he’ll even be able to remember anything about it, much less the name of the stranger with whom he shared this vicarious adventure. Meanwhile, this vividly realized and emotionally satisfying feature ought to make Shinkai a household name — certainly in Japan, and with any luck, in other countries as well.

Reviewed on DVD, Los Angeles, Sept. 20, 2016. (In Anime Expo, San Sebastian, Busan, London, Tokyo film festivals.) Running time: 106 MIN. (Original title: “Kimi no na wa”)

Production: (Animated — Japan) A Toho Co. production. (International sales: Toho Co., Tokyo.) Producers: Noritaka Kawaguchi, Genki Kawamura.
Crew: Director, writer: Makoto Shinkai. Camera (color): Masashi Ando. Editor: Shinkai.
With: Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi.

More From Our Brands

Steve albini, noise rock pioneer and ‘in utero’ engineer, dead at 61, home of the week: cara delevingne’s childhood home in london lists for nearly $30 million, murdoch mum on ‘spulu’ venture’s name, reaffirms fall launch, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, ncis: origins adds patrick fischler as boss of pendleton office, verify it's you, please log in.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

Upcoming Movies and TV shows
Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

What's the Tomatometer®?
Login/signup

Movies in theaters

Opening this week
Top box office
Coming soon to theaters
Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

Fandango at Home
Netflix streaming
Prime Video
Most popular streaming movies
What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

The Fall Guy Link to The Fall Guy
I Saw the TV Glow Link to I Saw the TV Glow
The Idea of You Link to The Idea of You

New TV Tonight

Doctor Who: Season 1
Dark Matter: Season 1
The Chi: Season 6
Reginald the Vampire: Season 2
Bodkin: Season 1
Blood of Zeus: Season 2
Black Twitter: A People's History: Season 1
Pretty Little Liars: Summer School: Season 2
Hollywood Con Queen: Season 1
Love Undercover: Season 1

Your Name Reviews

It’s a contemplative and introspective film that uses the body-swapping gimmick to explore growing up and experiencing life from another perspective, and it celebrates how connections to culture and family shape who we are.

Full Review | May 4, 2024

Sustains an aching adolescent yearning that plays like a Ryusuke Hamaguchi drama with an animated teen cast.

Full Review | Apr 4, 2023

Your Name (Japan, 2016)

Your Name ’s first half is magical. There’s a richness of human comedy and whimsy in the way Mitsuha and Taki navigate their day-to-day lives without knowing in whose body they will awaken. Taki’s curiosity about “his” breasts creates one of many lighthearted moments and the ways in which the pair communicate – and learn to love one another – is presented with economy and a deftness of touch. Your Name loses some of that clarity and appeal during its second half as mystical and quasi-science fiction elements creep in. The travel back-and-forth between Tokyo and Itomori and Mitsuha’s attempts to avert disaster feel like unnecessary distractions incorporated to add “action” to an otherwise contemplative film. Some plot elements – specifically the means by which Mitsuha and Taki are able to communicate face-to-face – are a little confusing.

Despite Your Name ’s success in Japan and at international film festivals, it received only a perfunctory North American release and was largely unavailable to U.S. audiences until it debuted on DVD. The home video version offers both the original Japanese version with subtitles and an English dub. The latter, despite (or perhaps because of) not featuring any well-known names, is significantly better than any of the Miyazaki dubs and Radwimps (credited with the music) recorded English-language versions of the songs. Regardless of how you watch it, however, Your Name is worth the time. Plot hiccups aside, it’s a visually impressive experience with endearing characters and a unique story.

Comments Add Comment

Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Grave of the Fireflies (1993)
Shrek (2001)
Grinch, The (2018)
Quest for Camelot, The (1998)
Emoji Movie, The (2017)
Godzilla Minus One (2023)
(There are no more better movies of Ryunosuke Kamiki)
(There are no more worst movies of Ryunosuke Kamiki)
(There are no more better movies of Mone Kamishiraishi)
(There are no more worst movies of Mone Kamishiraishi)
(There are no more better movies of Masami Nagasawa)
Before We Vanish (2018)
(There are no more worst movies of Masami Nagasawa)

Skip to primary navigation
Skip to main content
Skip to primary sidebar

Film Colossus

Your Guide to Movies

A colossal explanation of Your Name (Kimi no Na wa)

Everything you need to know to understand this body-switching, time-traveling movie

Several fragments of a comet fall through the sky. Most of them won’t collide with Earth, but one breaks off and hurtles directly towards the town of Itomori. Soon, everybody there will be vanquished. The parents, the children, the teachers, the politicians, the businessmen will all be gone.

And that includes Mitsuha Miyamizu.

During these opening moments of Your Name (Kimi no Na wa) , we don’t realize Mitsuha is going to lose her life. All we know is that Mitsuha and Taki Tachibana, despite not knowing each other and being miles away from one another, have somehow bonded over this celestial event that has captivated Japan. Together, they recite these opening lines:

“Once in a while when I wake up, I find myself crying. The dream I must have had I can never recall. But the sensation that I’ve lost something lingers for a long time after I wake up. I’m always searching for something, for someone. This feeling has possessed me I think from that day when the stars came falling. It was almost as if a scene from a dream. Nothing more, nothing less than a beautiful view.”

Immediately, Your Name opens with a cryptic, ambiguous scene—a trend that will continue throughout. Despite its charm, success, and visceral power, Your Name has a very convoluted story that’s difficult to grasp, that has left many wondering if it’s a mess of a movie that doesn’t work.

I’ve spent hours cycling through the questions people have posted about this movie, and yes indeed, there is PLENTY of crazy stuff to explain (which I’ll do) in this movie. But before I get into explaining the plot of Your Name , let’s remember that opening quote from Mitsuha and Taki and what it represents. Because understanding the movie’s intentions will help shape how we make sense of its complicated parts.

What is Your Name about?

I think it’s very easy to get wrapped up in the logic of Your Name ’s narrative. Naturally, you want to pick apart every story development and plot hole to find out if the story’s foundation is sound. If a moment steps outside the movie’s logical structure? It triggers something in your brain. You start to focus on plot details, like how the Red String of Fate functions, or how Mitsuha’s and Taki’s realities could possibly intersect when they live three years apart, or how drinking kuchikamizake connects the two teenagers.

Essentially, you could become so enraptured with what all those elements represent on a rational level that we ignore the emotional core. So while many people on the Internet have attempted to explain the coherence of the plot, I think it’s essential to also include the human elements of the story. Like, what does this movie say about you and me? About the experience of finding love?

And our key insight into what Your Name is about? That quote from the beginning of the movie. Right off the bat, we’re introduced to two people who feel a connection to someone else…but don’t know who that someone is. There’s an emptiness both Taki and Mitsuha feel. There’s something missing. They are incomplete. They are, in that quote, expressing their desire to find their better half.

To find love.

Mitsuha and Taki’s description of what they feel when those comets fall through the sky isn’t specific, or logical, or definite—it’s ambiguous, and cryptic, and enigmatic. Love isn’t something you can explain, but it’s something you feel . And Your Name treats that feeling as an ethereal one. Love is not bound by space or time, but instead by the individuals who are inextricably connected no matter where they are.

I think this is an important mindset to have heading into a plot explanation of the movie. Because while all of the confusing plot elements of Your Name can be explained, I believe they gain power and even more meaning when we can connect those explanations to Mitsuha and Taki’s desire to find love—a feeling we can all empathize with.

A quick plot summary of Your Name

Part of the confusion people have with Your Name is it’s structure. Because Mitsuha exists three years behind Taki, and because the movie randomly jumps between those time periods, the story doesn’t flow in chronological order. Many times it can feel like Your Name is purposely leaving out information to trip you up.

But I PROMISE: all of the details are there. And I think the movie’s plot can be much better understood if we lay out all of its main components in chronological order.

Below is a timeline of the movie’s event in jpg form. You can use this for a bare-bones explanation of Your Name ’s plot. I’ll also list all of this out in text form below the image if you’d rather read it that way.

The rest of the article will go into much more detail on each part of the timeline.

1. The First Comet Strikes

Hundreds of years ago, a comet struck Earth and created the lake that Itomori now rests upon.

2. Mitsuha’s Mother Passes Away

After the passing of Mitsuha and Yotsuha’s mother, their father becomes detached from them and engrossed with politics. Their grandmother takes over parenting.

3. Mitsuha Performs the Kuchikamizake Ritual

Mitsuha and Yotsuha perform a ritual and create kuchikamizake, which they offer to their god at a shrine. She wishes to be a handsome Tokyo boy.

4. Mitsuha’s Body Switch

Mitsuha randomly wakes up as Taki, who lives three years in the future. This switch continues on random days for several weeks.

5. Mitsuha Finds Taki

Mitsuha tracks Taki down in Tokyo. Before being pushed out of the train, she manages to throw her red yarn bracelet to him.

6. The Comet Strikes Again

A fragment of another passing comet strikes Itomori. Taki watches from afar, while Mitsuha is vanquished.

7. Taki’s Body Switch

Taki now randomly wakes up in Mitsuha’s body in an alternate timeline three years before she passes away.

8. Taki Learns About Itomori

Taki decides to go looking for Mitsuha. He learns that she was from Itomori, which was destroyed by the comet three years earlier.

9. Taki Visits the Shrine

Taki visits the shrine he remembers from his time in Mitsuha’s body. He drinks the kuchikamizake. He then goes back in time and wakes up in Mitsuha’s body on the day the comet is set to strike Itomori.

10. Taki Tries to Save Mitsuha

Taki enlists help from Mitsuha’s friends to get everyone out of Itomori before the comet strikes.

11. Taki and Mitsuha Meet

At “tasogare-doki”, a time of day when different worlds blur together, Taki and Mitsuha switch back to their bodies and meet at the shrine. Taki gives Mitsuha her red yarn bracelet back, severing their connection.

12. Mitsuha Saves Itomori

Mitsuha travels back to Itomori and saves almost everybody.

13. Taki and Mitsuha Forget

Because Mitsuha never passed away, she and Taki now exist in present day. But because Taki gave Mitsuha back her red yarn, they forget one another.

14. Years Pass

As the years go by, both Taki and Mitsuha can’t shake the feeling that something (or someone) is missing from their lives.

15. Taki and Mitsuha Find Each Other

Taki and Mitsuha pass by one another on the train. They feel a connection and chase after each other. Finally, they meet, and each ask for the other’s name.

A detailed plot summary of Your Name

Now we’ll go through each of those events in more detail. By thinking about the movie in chronological order—as opposed to the jumbled order we experience when watching Your Name —I think we’ll be able to find a lot of answers to a lot of questions.

Explaining what the first comet strike means

It’s important to start from the beginning—like, the very beginning . Hundreds (or maybe even thousands?) of years before Mitsuha and Taki existed, a comet struck Earth.

It could be that two different comets struck Earth at two different points in time, but I’ll assume that, based on what happens to present-day Itomori, that the first comet split into several fragments as well. One of those fragments created the lake that Itomori would one day rest upon, and the other established a crater that houses the Miyamizu Shrine.

Even though the first comet isn’t given much attention in the movie, I think it’s important to address that first comet, as I think it shares both a divine and a metaphorical connection with the future comet that will destroy Itomori.

Think of the first comet splitting into two parts as a severed connection between two people—this is a key metaphor for the love shared between Mitsuha and Taki. The bond those two comet fragments share creates an otherworldly link between the lake and the shrine, and Mitsuha and Taki must use that connection to save Itomori from the future comet.

Explaining the Miyamizu family’s spiritual abilities

Early in Mitsuha and her sister Yotsuha’s childhood, their mother Futaba passed away. We learn this later in the movie when Taki visits the shrine.

From Taki’s vision, we learn that the death of Mitsuha’s mother devastated Mitsuha’s father, Toshiki. Blaming himself for not being able to save her, he becomes detached from the Miyamizu family and its traditions. One of those traditions was visiting their god at the Miyamizu Shrine. In effect, he abandons the Miyamizu family, leaving his daughters to be cared for by their grandmother and Futaba’s mother, Hitoha.

We later learn from Hitoha that all of the women in Miyamizu family line have spiritual ties with random people (which explains the link Mitsuha shares with Taki). However, for both Hitoha and Futaba, those connections faded over time and eventually became hazy memories. Essentially, nobody has ever come as close to meeting their spiritual partner as Mitsuha came to meeting Taki.

This is interesting, because it raises the question: was Toshiki actually “the one” for Futaba? Was Toshiki the person she shared a spiritual connection with? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe the person you share a spiritual connection with doesn’t have to be your “soul mate”, but instead someone you simply share a deep bond with.

More importantly, though, this reveals the film’s underlying obsession about the consequence of abandoning tradition. In Hitoha’s mind, respecting traditions and rituals are important, even when you don’t understand them. She breeds that attitude in Mitsuha, but is unable to have Toshiki carry on with the Miyamizu customs. So even if Toshiki was Futaba’s spiritual connection, the fact that he abandons Miyamizu traditions keeps him from re-establishing his connection with her—unlike Taki, who visits the Miyamizu Shrine and retains his connection with Mitsuha even after she passes away.

I think this information about the Miyamizu family exposes a celestial link between the first comet and the second comet. The first comet created the shrine that the Miyamizu family uses to pray to their gods. And in that shrine, the Miyamizu women perform a ritual where they leave “half” of themselves to the gods by creating kuchikamizake—a rice-based alcohol that uses human saliva as a fermentation starter. That other half then connects with someone else after you perform a ceremony.

This gives the Miyamizu family’s mystical abilities an actual purpose. These spiritual connections existed for generations so that, eventually, someone would be able to alert the Miyamizus about the second incoming comet (or at least some sort of future danger). This is why Hitoha wouldn’t allow Toshiki to tear Mitsuha and Yotsuha from family traditions—Hitoha understood the importance of leaving these customs intact. Which is why Hitoha has her granddaughters perform a ceremony where they make kuchikamizake and twine a red yarn thread.

Explaining the red yarn thread and the kuchikamizake ritual

During the ceremony where Mitsuha creates kuchikamizake, she dances with a piece of red yarn.

Mitsuha’s grandmother explained the significance of the red yarn that Mitsuha was twining just before the ceremony:

“Listen to the thread’s voice. When you keep twining like that, emotions will eventually start flowing between you and the thread. One thousand years of Itomori’s history is etched into our braided cords. Two hundred years ago, sandal maker Mayugoro’s bathroom caught on fire and burned down this whole area. That shrine and old documents were destroyed, and this is known as (The Great Fire of Mayugoro). So the meaning of the festivals became unknown and only the form lived on. But even if the words are lost, tradition should be handed down. That’s the important task we at Miyamizu Shrine have.”

A couple things to take away from that quote.

First, on a plot level, this information tells us quite a bit. The Miyamizu family used to know a lot more about their abilities, but everything was destroyed by The Great Fire of Mayugoro. Which means their “knowledge” has continued to pass down through the traditions and rituals they perform. So while the Miyamizu women have continued to experience spiritual connections with other people, they’ve never known what the connections mean or how to act upon them (which is why they eventually just become “hazy memories”).

It just so happens that the second comet strike occurs during the annual festival. To me, this means that the festival was always meant to serve as a warning of the second comet. Perhaps the festival took place on the anniversary of the first comet strike? Perhaps it was always known the second comet would strike, and that knowledge was passed down from generation to generation? Who knows. All we know is that that information was likely destroyed in the Great Fire.

And second, we gain some insight into Mitsuha’s character.

Her grandma says, “When you keep twining like that, emotions will eventually start flowing between you and the thread. One thousand years of Itomori’s history is etched into our braided cords.” Mitsuha forms some sort of ethereal connection with Itomori’s history when creating that thread. She becomes one with its past and its future—she becomes one with her home. And because she’s given the red yarn thread to Taki, she’s capable of maintaining this connection with her home even when she’s dead.

Building a life with someone means inviting them into your home, into your life, and then building a new home and life with them. So when she hands that thread to Taki later in the movie, she’s not just creating a spiritual link—she’s offering half of herself to someone she shares a bond with.

Ah, young love!

Explaining the logic of Mitsuha and Taki’s body switching

While performing the kuchikamizake ceremony, Mitsuha’s classmates make fun of her. Embarrassed, Mitsuha runs away from the ceremony and screams, “Please make me a handsome Tokyo boy in my next life!”

Remember: the kuchikamizake represents “half” of Mitsuha, and the red yarn carries with it Mitsuha’s connection with Itomori. The ceremony then triggers the connection between Mitsuha and Taki. Because Taki is three years in the future when Mitsuha is dead, the body switching then becomes Mitsuha’s “next life.”

SIDE NOTE: A lot of questions have been raised about how Mitsuha never realized she was three years in the future, or how Taki never realized he was three years in the past. Of course it’s never explained in the movie, but I think there are plenty of simple explanations for why this happens:

First and foremost, please remember: THEY ARE SWITCHING BODIES. That would make any normal person go insane…which makes me think you probably wouldn’t notice that the day you think it is (say, August 22, 2013) isn’t the day it actually is (August 22, 2016).
To repeat a point from above: I don’t think it’s super unreasonable to never check what year it is? 2013 looks like 2016, if you ask me. I mean, how often do you see the current year printed somewhere, or have to write down the year? Maybe if you’re writing a check or something. But I don’t think it’s that crazy for neither Mitsuha or Taki—who are, once again, VERY DISTRACTED BY THE FACT THEY’RE IN ANOTHER PERSON’S BODY—to not really worry about if it’s the same year.
One last point: what if they DID know they were three years apart? That’s never stated in the movie, but it also might not be relevant information to them. That would only be important to Taki if he knew Mitsuha was from Itomori (he didn’t), and if he knew Itomori had been destroyed by the comet (he didn’t).

SECOND SIDE NOTE: There’s also confusion about how Taki never realizes Mitsuha lives in a town called Itomori…I wish I had a good explanation for that one! Seems hard to defend. The only defense, I guess, is that body switching is a stressful event, and he had other things on his mind than checking what town he’s in?

Explaining how Taki restarts the body switching with Mitsuha

Even after the body switching ends (that’s why they both start crying when they wake up), Taki remembers Mitsuha. He can picture her face. He can sketch her hometown so well from memory that people recognize it as Itomori. Even though Mitsuha is dead, Taki’s connection with her remains—all because of that red yarn thread.

Remember: that thread carries with it Mitsuha’s connection with Itomori. So when Taki returns to where the town once stood, he knows to return to the shrine where Mitsuha left her kuchikamizake.

Also remember: Mitsuha created the kuchikamizake, but it was Taki in Mitsuha’s body that offered the kuchikamizake in the Miyamizu Shrine.

When Taki arrives at the shrine in Mitsuha’s body, Mitsuha’s grandma says:

“In exchange for returning to this world, you must leave behind what is most important to you—the kuchikamizake. You’ll offer it inside the god’s body. It’s half of you.”

So Taki isn’t leaving behind half of himself, but the half of Mitsuha that Mitsuha had created with the kuchikamizake. This is what severs his body switching days with Mitsuha.

But back in the future where Mitsuha is dead, Taki is in his own body when he visits the shrine and drinks the kuchikamizake. This re-establishes the body switching and allows Taki—who then inhabits Mitsuha’s body the day of the comet strike—to save Itomori.

I believe this to be a poignant commentary on love. Even when someone is gone…they’re never truly gone from your life. You remember how they move, how they talk, how they act. And I think that Taki’s passion for finding someone he shared such an intense bond with represents how that kind of love can transcend time and space.

Explaining how tasogare-doki allows Mitsuha and Taki to finally meet

The climactic moment of Your Name is when Taki and Mitsuha finally meet. You might wonder how their bodies are suddenly able to transcend time and space to meet in the same spot, but this meeting was actually set up much earlier in the movie.

The first day after the body switching, Mitsuha wakes up in her body with no recollection of the previous day. Everybody keeps talking about how strange she was acting. And while she’s trying to piece everything together, she looks down in her notebook and reads a message from Taki: “Who are you?”

In a movie called Your Name …I mean, c’mon. This is an important moment, right? It’s the first instance of Taki and Mitsuha trying to figure out who the other is. The question isn’t necessarily “What is your name?” but instead “Why have I formed this strange connection with you?”

It just so happens that while Mitsuha is reading this message from Taki, her teacher is explaining the meaning of “tasogare-doki”.

“‘Tasokare’ means ‘who is that’ and is the origin of the word ‘tasogare-doki’. Twilight, when it’s neither day nor night. When the world blurs and one might encounter something not human.”

She then has an interaction with a student that you may not have caught, or may not have thought much of—but it’s important:

Teacher: “Old expressions include ‘karetaso-doki’. Karetaso/Kawatare = Who is that and ‘karetaso-doki.’”

Student: “Question! Why not ‘kataware-doki’?”

Teacher: “Kataware-doki? I think that’s a local dialect. I’ve heard that Itomori’s elderly still use classical language. We’re in the boonies, after all.”

When Taki and Mitsuha finally meet, their bodies travel through time to finally converge in the same time and space. This occurs at twilight (aka tasogare-doki) when their worlds blur together. Even though they’re three years apart, the connection between the first comet and the second comet that destroyed Itomori has allowed for two different timelines to merge—the world with Itomori, and the world without Itomori.

And that interaction the teacher shared with the student shows that tasogare-doki has carried different translations with it throughout time. The old expression, kataware-doki, is a “classical” language, meaning it was a term used often by elderly members of the community.

So why would the term kataware-doki be so prevalent at one time? Remember: that term is a local dialect. And it was substituted for tasogare-doki, indicating it had a similar meaning: a combination of “who is that” and the time of day when worlds blur together. At one time, the idea of different timelines merging was so important to the people of Itomori that they created their own word for it .

But, again, everyone has forgotten about the term kataware-doki. I think this, once again, exposes the film’s underlying message about the importance of tradition. This is why Toshiki was never able to retain his connection with Futaba after she passed away like Taki was able to retain his connection with Mitsuha—Toshiki rejected tradition, while Taki embraced it. Toshiki refused to visit the shrine and carry the Miyamizu tradition, while Taki decided to visit the shrine and re-establish his spiritual link with Mitsuha.

The abandonment of the word “kataware-doki” is symbolic of the history of Itomori being abandoned, only leaving behind elderly’s grasp on tradition. Taki and Mitsuha’s embracement of tradition allows them to retain their connection, regardless of time or space.

With all that in mind, I think that because the documents contained in the Miyamizu Shrine were destroyed by The Great Fire of Mayugoro, the knowledge of the phrase went with it. That term lived on as long as it could through the generations, but now only the elderly even remember the term.

I assume the word was created because the Miyamizus once understood the importance of the spiritual connections they shared with others. They knew that the land where the first comets struck was sacred, so they built a shrine there and housed all of their documented beliefs there as well.

Remember my theory about the first comet? That it shares both a divine and a metaphorical connection with the future comet that will destroy Itomori. Just like Taki and Mitsuha, the past and future comets that will strike Itomori are bound together, regardless of space or time. Just like there is a link between the lake and the shrine, there is an unbreakable bond shared between two young people in love.

This gets at the title of the movie, and highlights the importance of the classroom scene when Mitsuha sees the message from Taki. The movie is not about two people finding out each other’s names—it’s about truly understanding someone else. When Taki writes his “name” in Mitsuha’s hand, he doesn’t actually write his name—he writes “I love you.”

Love is hard work and requires two people to invest in one another. So even when Taki gives Mitsuha back her red yarn thread and their memory of one another is severed…they never really forget one another, right? They have this feeling that the other is still out there. And at the end of the movie when they pass by each other on the train, they know something is there and chase after each other.

So in that final shot of the movie, when Mitsuha and Taki ask for each other’s name, what they’re really doing is starting their life together. It takes a lot of courage to invite someone into your life like that, and you only do it when you feel something special with that person.

In effect, the entire movie becomes a defamiliarization of finding your true soulmate. You never know the name of the person you’ll end up with—but you know the person , right? You know the kind of person that will make you happy, that will become your other half, that will complete you. All you need is the courage to finally invite them in when you find them.

Editor’s Note: If you have more questions about Your Name , or if you have a theory of your own, hit me up in the comments section!

Travis is co-founder of Colossus. He writes about the impact of art on his life and the world around us.

Like Your Name?

Join our movie club to get similar movie recommendations and stories delivered to your inbox every Friday.

Phone This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

We hate bad email too, so we don’t send it or share your email with anyone.

Reader Interactions

June 1, 2019

Wow! I’ve been blogging about this movie for a year and I still picked up some fresh insights here. Thanks!

September 19, 2019

Travis actually failed to realize that that the whole phenomenon is actually the mountain god’s doing. I already understood what was going on after a few rewatches and let me explain it by detail here, but hey these are just my opinions you can debunk it:

First off as all of you know the Miyamizu Family has been worshiping Musubi, the mountain god. Unknown to them however the god actually has the ability to to switch the consciousness of two people in different places of time as vaguely explained by the grandma when she, Taki (within Mitsuha’s body) and Yotsuha went to the shrine. Her line states: Musubi is the old way of calling the local guardian god. This word has profound meaning. Typing thread is Musubi. Connecting people is Musubi. The flow of time is Musubi. These are all the god’s power. So the braided cords that we make are the god’s art and represent the flow of time itself. They converge and take shape. They twist, tangle, sometimes unravel, break, and then connect again. Musubi – knotting. That’s time.

This explains a lot why this is happening to Taki and Mitsuha, it wasn’t caused by a wish Mitsuha wanted, it was the god’s power. Every line about Musubi in that paragraph can be related to what happened to the both of them.

They converge, take shape, twist, tangle = Taki and Mitsuha switching bodiesand forming a bond. Sometimes unravel, break = the timelines not in step, and the eventual hindrance of body switching. Then connect again = Taki being able to swtich with Mitsuha for the last time when he drinks Mitsuha’s rice wine (which by the way can be explained by saying that it is half of her and Musubi since it was created during the ritual).

Second, the comet isn’t a time glitch. Its just a natural phenomenon, there’s nothing really special about it. It is only relevant because the FIRST comet drop was where Musubi’s shrine is located, the SECOND is where the town of Itomori stands and the THIRD is supposed to destroy the town. At this point you’ll be able to say that Musubi is deliberately trying to save the people of Itomori or the Miyamizu family from the inevitable wipeout that will come in the next 1200 years by switching the eldest daughter of the family (probably Musubi’s rules) with a random boy somewhere in Japan after the ritual.

Taki and Mitsuha falling in love was Musubi’s intentions all along and we can say that he was actually hoping for it to happen but it wasn’t relevant enough until the third comet drop actually happened.

Why hasn’t the god just switched them the time of day before the comet dropped you might ask? Simple theory, Musubi’s powers has expirations. Or the god is actually wanting and hoping for Taki to figure out why he is drawn to a town he hasn’t been before which resulted to him finding that the town is destroyed and Mitsuha is already dead. Then comes the reswitch of the both of them happening after Taki drinks the wine offering which RECONNECTS him to the god and Mitsuha.

Also I think that switch during the day when Grandma, Yotsuha and Taki (within Mitsuha) went to the shrine was intentional cuz if ever his will to fill that missing piece of him is strong he knows where to look.

Third, Kataware doki; and I will restate it here, THE COMET IS NOT MAGICAL, I’m sorry I can’t help it. But yeah, the term Kataware-doki isn’t really something to focus on, the phenomenon that happened when Mitsuha and Taki meets at the shrine is just another trick Musubi pulled off for the both of them. He wouldn’t be a good god if he wasn’t gonna atleast make them see each other. It also makes sense that the god made them meet at the edge of the crater where the shrine is, it could mean Musubi’s powers is more powerful there. Also the sunset 6 o’clock… Look at the hands hmmmm.

Fourth, Taki doesn’t realize Mitsuha lives in Itomori until he wanted to. He just didn’t care until he fell inlove which means he’s almost forgotten everything and is just clinging onto that feeling he has been having.

Fun fact: IF Mitsuha didn’t switch with Taki who had a crush, the date will never happen. Which means they will almost never realize they’ve fallen inlove with each other, which also means Mitsuha will stay dead.

January 29, 2020

You and the author of this page both missed an important point.

The reason they forgot each other was explained by grandma when they first went to the shrine to drop off the sake; “past this point is ‘kakuriyo’; the underworld! In exchange for returning to this world, you must leave behind what is most important to you.”

Kakuriyo also means “world of the gods” or basically the “hidden world”.

That is the reason they lost their memories. They met up at that location a second time. Leaving it required leaving their memories of each other; the thing that was most important to them.

Likewise, you forgot that the inside of the shrine to their god depicts the comet itself.

“MUSUBI” IS THE COMET.

That’s why they drew it inside the shrine. That’s why the shrine is its first impact site. Musubi IS the comet.

Besides, Shinto doesn’t have “gods” in the way you describe. A Kami is a prevailing spiritual existence whose manifestation is the unique character of a particular location or thing. A Kami is something that you must understand and work with, possibly even bribe, trick, or appease through rituals.

Because a Kami IS the place, it IS the thing. When you treat the kami of your coffee table right, it means you give it the necessary maintenance, place it in the right location, and use it according to tradition – which makes it last longer and stay unbroken.

When you give the “powerful” kami of the forest respect it means you don’t trample through it at night with impunity or you are likely to be punished for your hubris by tripping on something you didn’t see, breaking a leg, and getting eaten by chipmunks… which makes YOU last longer and stay unbroken.

In modern Itamori (where they have LOST ALL RECORDS) the defining characteristics are the Hida mountains and Musubi is a mountain kami/god.

In truth, it is not a mountain god and the mountains are not the overwriting characteristic underlying the spiritual character of that land. It is the Comet that comes every 1200 years. The comet whose crater they live in. The comet whose center holds the shrine to their Musubi. Not the mountains.

“Musubi is the old way of calling the local guardian god. This word has profound meaning. Typing thread is Musubi. Connecting people is Musubi. The flow of time is Musubi. These are all the god’s power. So the braided cords that we make are the god’s art and represent the flow of time itself. They converge and take shape. They twist, tangle, sometimes unravel, break, and then connect again. Musubi – knotting. That’s time.”

The Comet and its tail appear as a braided cord. It returns and breaks, connects (with your town) and leaves again. It is like time at Kakuriyo, it twists, tangles, unravels, breaks, and connects again. Time Is a knot at Kakuriyo and Kakuriyo is the manifestation of the Comet where Musubi’s shrine resides. Inside the shrine is a mural of Musubi: the Comet.

The comet is 100% the source of this phenomenon. There have been not one, not two, but at least 3 impacts there. First, the one that created the shrine of Musubi, then the one that created the lake, then the one that destroys Ishimori.

We could not even make a weapon that could strike so accurately as that comet does every 1200 years.

That comet’s accuracy is honestly so unbelievable that if you said it was an advanced alien weapon it’d be more plausible statistically.

The rituals are a covenant with Musubi that bring them to that crater in that way every autumn before the comet is to return on its 1200 year cycle. If you dispense with all the god talk, then the sake and the shrine are just props that lure both subjects to the crater so they can coordinate.

In that case the god is whatever remnant of the first impact is causing the phenomenon and the rituals are a means of taking advantage of that phenomenon.

Shintoism is then a methodology for surviving or using the Kami – the spiritual manifestation of the prevailing character of a region. In this case it was exceptionally successful.

BTW: sunset at that location in 2016 on oct 22 was 16:56 – comet impact was 20:42

April 25, 2020

That was a very great explanation I did watch the anime when it came out in Japan, but yeah i kept thinking about it a lot! LIKE A LOT!!! Anyhow um yeah i just have to say that Itomori means ‘Thread Guard’

January 5, 2021

Hoyt, Please, how did you find that the sunset was at 16:56? I can’t

October 22, 2020

I agree! Honestly, I understood the story’s concept on the Musubi part. I mean, that word alone can explain a lot of the strange events happening to the both of them. Japanese language is truly amazing.

December 31, 2022

Thanks, Glitchygoo!

June 22, 2019

thank you very much for this, i just watched this with my son, i was so confused, love the movie but just didnt get some parts

June 24, 2019

Thanks.. A decent explanation.

June 26, 2019

one question.. were Mitsuha and Taki the same age? refering to the scene where Taki saw the list of victims of the comet strike, Mitsuha was 17. the present (when he saw the victim list) Taki was 17 too wasn’t he? so they never really have the same age right? on that case, Mitsuha is 3 years older than Taki isn’t she? please do educate me on this, I’m so dying to know.

November 2, 2019

Yes. Mitsuha is 3 years older than Taki.

July 10, 2019

Taki is actually 3 years younger than Mitsuha (and teshi and sayaka too) This is shown on multiple instances in the movie 1. Mitsuha goes to tokyo one day before the comet and meets taki in train, Taki here is clearly younger than her (check their heights) 2. At last scene, they meet each other finally, these days taki is job hunting while mitsuha is already working on her job and dressed up like a regular working adult 3. When taki sees teshi and sayaka, in the cafe they’re planning their wedding(which doesnt just happen after your college) while taki has just finished his college/education

July 11, 2019

One thing I think you neglected to point out of the beginning and during your timeline explanation.

Taki forgot Mitsuha because in the cave – the grandmother said “In exchange for returning to this world, you must leave behind what is most important to you.” At that moment in time, Mitsuha is what matters most to Tak and vice versa. So once he and Mitsuha leave the crater, they forget each other – leaving each other behind.

Ignore my original comment I somehow skipped over the part where you explicitly referred to the quote i mentioned.

ha, it’s all good!

March 29, 2022

2 questions

First in the png it says mitsuha experiences the switching then after she died taxi starts switching bodies does that mean mitsuha was switching bodies first/before taxi started switching. I always thought that they both were simultaneously switching bodies just in different time periods

Second in the png it’s says taxi wakes up in mitsuha body in a alternate timeline. How is there a alternate timeline? Were did it come from?. I believed that they were switching bodies at the same time so the scenes with mitsuha show what she went through before her death

Plz answer I NEED ANSWERS

First, “Your Name” is a Japanese animated film directed by Makoto Shinkai. It was released in 2016 and became a worldwide phenomenon, grossing over $300 million at the box office.

The story follows the lives of two high school students, Mitsuha and Taki, who live in different parts of Japan. Mitsuha is a girl living in a rural town in the mountains, while Taki is a boy living in Tokyo. One day, they both start experiencing strange occurrences where they wake up in each other’s bodies. They begin to communicate through notes and messages, and they start to develop feelings for each other despite never having met in person.

As they continue to switch bodies, they try to find a way to meet and figure out the mystery behind their strange connection. Along the way, they must also confront a series of challenges and dangers that threaten to keep them apart.

“Your Name” is a heartwarming and emotional tale of love, friendship, and the power of human connection. It has received widespread acclaim for its beautiful animation, compelling storytelling, and thought-provoking themes.

Secondly, “Your Name” is a Japanese animated film directed by Makoto Shinkai. It was released in 2016 and became a worldwide phenomenon, breaking box office records in Japan and earning critical acclaim.

The movie follows the story of two high school students, a boy named Taki and a girl named Mitsuha, who live in different parts of Japan. One day, they suddenly begin to switch bodies randomly, waking up in each other’s lives and trying to navigate the challenges of living in a foreign body. As they continue to switch bodies, they try to communicate with each other and figure out what is happening to them.

As they search for answers, they also begin to develop feelings for each other, and they struggle to find a way to meet and be together in person. The film explores themes of fate, longing, and the power of human connection, and it features stunning animation and an emotionally powerful score. If you enjoy romantic dramas with a touch of fantasy, “Your Name” is a must-see.

July 19, 2019

Nice explanation. I originally watched this in a theater in Tokyo without any English subtitles, and I just got around to watching it with English, so it is really nice to see a decent attempt to explain the contents.

While reading this, I wondered if kataware could be related to the splitting of time and identity. My first instinct was that “かたわれ” (kataware) might be interpreted as 方 (kata – person) 割れ (ware – split). I looked it up in a dictionary and also found 片割れ (kataware), which means fragment. It all depends on the Chinese characters that are chosen to write it.

July 22, 2019

hi i think the event when mitsuha whishes being a boy is after she switch body for the first time. Tessie-Sayaka explain she is weird yesterday->going to so called cafe (mitsuha went straight to her place) -> she’s dance at shrine while made sake -> the wishes. That what i thought, cause for the first switch they thing it’s only a dream. And i assume that whole scene were happen in one day (morning-night)

July 24, 2019

I can contribute a bit more with the cultural background.

The Miyamizu family deity is Musubi. Musubi may refer to: Musubi-no-Kami, the Shinto Kami of matchmaking, love, and marriage, similar to the Chinese Yue Lao.

Yue Lao (Chinese: 月老; pinyin: Yuè Lǎo; literally: ‘old man under the moon’) is a god of marriage and love in Chinese mythology. Yue Lao appears at night, and unites with a silken cord all predestined couples, after which nothing can prevent their union. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Lao )

That’s why Taki and Mitsuha are connected by the red cord and met at twilight.

September 12, 2019

Interesting, with the context of 月老 in place, that totally explain the red thread. It works in mysterious ways I guess!

Another tell from the poem on the blackboard.

The poem reads – Please dont ask me, “who’s that in the gloom?” I am waiting here for my love, in the September dusk.

The author is unknown, but it is from Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves.

Mitsuha’s name in Japanese means three leaves, and her sis is four leaves and grandma is one leave.

Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves is a collection of poems from their ancestors.

August 10, 2019

I don’t remember exactly but I think it may be japanese, but it’s this theory of the red string. It’s the red threat of fate. It’s believed that a god ties the red string to each other and that is your soulmate. And the scene where Taki falls and is seeing Mitsuhas life is all connected by a red thread and it’s connected through space and time.

August 12, 2019

In Sweden there is the idiomatic expression “the red thread”. It is used when discussing a story and if the story can be easily followed by the reader. For example if you say that a story lacks a red thread it means it is incoherent. I’m guessing the expression somehow found it’s way here from Asia. Alternatively Wikipedia also says that Theseus rescued himself from the Minotaur with a red thread. Maybe all these three things in three different places on earth come from the same origin?

August 17, 2019

Thank you for explaining, but I still have a question and I’d like to hear your opinion. How did Mitsuha leave notes in Taki’s phone, if she was from the future? I am so confused.

August 25, 2019

They were literally switching bodies, and as the movie description states, it’s a fantasy animation that incorporates science fiction — which gives the idea of time travel. As Mitsuha traveled through time into Taki’s body and vice versa, they were actually living in each other’s “current time” for those days. Because the instances where Taki switches bodies with Mitsuha is before the comet strikes her town, I think we can presume that she isn’t dead, which allows them to leave those feelings and memories within each other, no matter whose body they’re in (sort of like it’s engraved into their hearts).

August 26, 2019

Twin flames

September 8, 2019

Did taki and mitsuha ended up being together? Because at the Movie Weathering With You they aren’t shown together though..

September 11, 2019

finally, someone is talking abt that. I mean… Mitsuha was at work, but i wanna believe that they are together XD

There are many cameo appearances; Taki and Mitsuha probably being the most prominent. Chronologically it seems like it could have been around the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. The new stadium has been completed in the movie, but it’s still under construction at the moment (Aug. 2019). We see Mitsuha working at a jewelry store wearing the name tag “Miyamizu”, so she isn’t married to Taki. Chronologically Taki and Mitsuha didn’t know each other yet in 2020 so they meet after the events of the movie. But considering how Tenki no Ko ends, it breaks space/time continuity. I’d prefer not having cameos if they don’t fit the world.

Source: https://medium.com/@crean/what-i-think-of-tenki-no-ko-67c7a0f23e1

July 27, 2020

In japan, It is not an obligation for women to have their husband’s last name. Conversely, when a surname remains only on a woman, the man can use his wife’s surname, and the surname is not lost in history. So, we can imagine that they are together and that he adopted her last name. ^.^

May 20, 2021

Refer to the time lines. Weathering with you happen before taki and mitsuha meet each other( They meet physically on 2022 april 8 in manga) . Weathering with you happen in 2021 after 8 years from the commet strike. ( dates can be clearly seen in a poster in WwY and in text messages) Referance: https://kiminonawa.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline

October 5, 2019

Hi, thanks for this. I have seen the movie 3x and actually read the book but still i was shocked to know that there’s a 3 year gap on their age ?. Anyhow, i what i really want to know is how did mitsuha managed to convinced her dad to evacuate the townspeople?? ?

October 2, 2021

As far as I understand it, the first time Mitsuha (Taki in Mitsuha’s body) attemped to convince her dad to evacuate Itomori her father didn’t believe her because he could tell that it wasn’t Mitsuha. After they switch at the shrine, and it is Mitsuha (Mitsuha back in Mitsuha’s body), and she falls over and realises that Taki loves her as he wrote it on her hand, I’m under the impression that her father decides that she isn’t lying or mad, now that he can tell it is truly his daughter and not someone else in her body.

October 12, 2019

So Ycamzep, Just my current train of thought here. But im guessing Mitsuha ‘simply’ explains her connection with Taki, their meeting at the crater and how that took place after Taki drank the sake. Perhaps her father tried to do the same after Mitsuha’s mother died but was unable to bring her back, which is why he blames himself for her death and turned his back on becoming a priest. As he no longer believed in the spiritual connection since it failed for him, meaning he was not her ‘true’ love as determined by the gods. The grandmother said earlier that they hadn’t met with the ones they were connected to earlier on so this would make sense. Back to Mitsuha explaining to her dad, he has the realisation of what has happened since he would have known about the traditions, gods etc. So it’s not out of the blue for him to do a 180 and save the town because he already has an understanding of the rituals involved and the near legend of the spirits.

Anyways really wanna go visit some the locations if I ever get the chance to go to Japan.

November 5, 2019

Does anyone else get lsd vibes from this? I saw it for the first time not long after acid and just the whole look of it is similar especially and the circle place they meet. The fact it is a circle for a start ya know. Also does anyone else realise the swap is always 12th & 13th? Does anyone know why. After closer look in to these numbers 12 is related to 666 and obviously 13 is seen at the unlucky number. However some places suggest 13 is an angel number and the meaning is misconclued. Just very interesting how me and the current girl I’m seeing are born on these dates. Myself 13th of 6th and her 12th of 11th. We found it impossible to watch the film until it got to the time of 6 first time we watched it which was recently. Then I realized anime is an anagram of name with an i added and her name is anna which is similar to anagram and anime. We both have a large interest in anime and we met through instagram. If this makes sense to anyone else please reply because is it just me or does it all add up a little too well? Are some people caught in the loop of 5 and others the loop of 6

November 8, 2019

Why movie is named as your name

November 26, 2019

Could there also be a metaphor here for a separation from God/heaven, and the love shared between Earth and heaven?

November 28, 2019

1) yeah, as someone noted: the wish to be a boy in her next life comes after the ritual. At lunch after the first switch (apparently) which she couldn’t remember, Sayaka mentions the upcoming ritual. And this was after finding the “who are you?” note.

2) I totally don’t think it was two comets. It totally seems to be the same one comment that fragmented when it passed by earth 1,200 years ago, and again in 2013.

February 2, 2020

If the thread is equal to the twisting of time it makes since when Taki unravels it and give it to her meaning the timeline is broken but is fixed when she ties the thread back together as a different timeline on her body.

February 4, 2020

Love all of it. I do, however, want to share my opinion on why they forgot each other. At first, I also thought it was the time paradox that created the memory loss but when I think about how the Miyamizu shrine requires an offering or “equal exchange”, I thought the reason why they forgot about each other is because Taki and Mitsuha came to the Underworld without any offerings. Because of this, the Underworld took something of equal importance; their memories of each other.

June 22, 2020

i love ure brain bro

February 19, 2020

Do someone knows why Mitsuha nor remember his meeting and body switches with Taki after she saved the town? Why they remember it as “a disaster exercise” after the fact?

March 21, 2020

they’re in different timelines, right? Mitsuhaya and Taki met on top of the mountain but after the twilight they return to their perspective timeline. If mitsuhaya was back in her timeline (2013) she would be alive with Taki in her timeline (the Taki who didn’t know she exist by the time) . And on the other hand the Taki we see on the top of the mountain was back in his timeline (2016) where he no longer have mutsuhaya as his counterpart Coz in that timeline mitsuhaya died.

So the Taki and mitsuhaya we saw in the ending(stair scene) is the Taki and mitsuhaya of 2013 . So in this timeline we have a saved mitsuhaya while on the other we don’t.

April 9, 2020

I was very hooked in the plot of the story and I find it very interesting but the ending is lacking for me. ?I really want to read or watch their happy ending/ their reunion. Can I have a copy?

April 24, 2020

If Taki and Mitsuha were 3 years apart,how did they communicate to each other while switching bodies through notes,phone diaries and when they write on their skins asking their names?

May 8, 2020

Can you explain what was meant when the grandma said to taki(in mitsuhas body) “you’re dreaming”. i didn’t understand this part.

June 25, 2020

I don’t think it’s timeline for forgetting each other…. Your think that mitsuha alive and therefore timeline changes… it’s wrong bcz if the timeline why he go to the itomori Village…. He go to itomori but he didn’t remember why..???

According you saying the timeline changes…. I assume ur theory then I think if it’s timeline changed then he didn’t go to itomori Village…..

The reason why they forget each bcz it’s like a dream they don’t remember….. Her grandmother also said …that too that she also switches but she also don’t remember…

June 26, 2020

When they switch, they would both put notes in the person’s phone. Which means, If Taki switches with Mitsuha, he is in her body. His way of communicating with her is by writing some notes on her diary since he knows she will check up on it. When they switch back, Mitsuha is back on her body. She will go to her diary and see what he left on their or check on other places where he could have written it like notebook, arm, face, etc.

They couldn’t communicate by calling each other’s phones (shown that it fails when Taki was trying to call Mitsuha) because they are in different universes so their numbers will be unregistered or will be someone else’s phone. So the only communication is writing on each other’s phones when they switch. Its just like switching notebooks with your classmate and you write a note for your classmate to see. When you switch back, your classmate will see it and they will write back.

Sorry if I’m repetitive.

July 2, 2020

This website was… how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I have found something that helped me. Thank you!

July 11, 2020

is taki change the past because of what he drink at the shrine?

August 8, 2020

My only question here is, is there any particular reason why Mitsuha’s time travel is 3 years to the future?

August 13, 2020

How did Taki and Mitsuha meet in 2021? Their time frame doesn’t match the same

September 10, 2020

Thanks . Can anyone explain me what happened to mitsuha when she was in taki body first time ? I’m so confused about why mitsuha noticed body switching in second time after seeing ‘who are you?’ that taki asked in first time.

October 25, 2020

Please tell me this, do they remember what all they have been through at the end when they re unite on the starcase.

January 12, 2022

no they don’t remember everything. They just know that there is a weird connection between them. Taki recognises Mitsuha’s hair tie (the red thread) and feels the connection he has with her through it. He finally says something to her at the end on the stairs because of this connection and she feels the same. Their past isn’t remembered by either of them, however.

November 2, 2020

Ohk.. I understood everything abt the 3 years gap from the movie itself.. But the thing that triggers me is was there really an alternate timeline.. I mean this could have also happened( mitsuha exchanges Taki’s body,goes to tokyo but is unrecognized by taki,comet hits then she dies.. Leaving the taki of same 2013 witnessing the comet.. Then after 3 years taki exchanges body of the same mitsuha that died on Oct 4 2013.. But since he exchanged her body in the time before she was killed.. He was able to experience the same mitsuha’s body who was going to be killed.. Then in this case, why would we need an alternate timeline

November 10, 2020

Makoto shinkai is really amazing he had remained the story at thier main points so that we can develop our on Theories

December 1, 2020

I think the most certain point of the story is that Taki associated with mitsuha to save itomori from the past.

December 17, 2020

in the part where taki and his friends searching for itomori like in his dream i dont remember what is called like dreaming a past event that happened and then trying to find it and then its already gone like in itomori town

January 9, 2021

Loved the film! Finished watching it 2 nights ago and everything about it is brilliant. From the story, the animation, the art, the love and comedy! Thankful I found this site because reading through this post and the comments definitely helped answer a couple of questions I had.

It would be good to think that after they finally meet at the end of the film and ask for each other’s name that their memories come back. But at least if not, they can continue forward with each other starting with a strong connection. When they lost their memories first time I didn’t think too much of it but losing the memory the secone time I was confused as to why. I can accept that leaving the shrine meant their memories were also taken due to stepping into the underworld and also Taki returning the red strand. When Taki wakes up at the crater, it is now an alternate time line where Mitsuha survives, but I think I missed the part where her age was next to her name.

Losing memories is one thing but their messages from their phones disappearing I am not sure if that should have happened, maybe it should. But how could they both lose memories the first time when only one went to the shrine, perhaps because half of Mitsuha was left behind technically, or due to Taki losing his, she also lost her due to the connection.

Lots and lots of themes in this anime film. I never did catch that they were 3years apart. This element really added to the film. They switched bodies at the same age but I wonder how their relationship would unfold now that they met and are not just 3yrs apart, but one is a working adult and one just finished college looking for work.

Truly a masterpiece and great time travel film.

January 25, 2021

Hi. I have 4 questions regarding Your Name.

Why did Taki suddenly forget Mitsuha’s name while researching about her town, but remembered it later when he went into the shrine?

Why did Taki forget Mitsuha and the fact that she was the person who gave him the red braided string when he met her 3 years ago?

They say, they forget memories of the switch after waking up, but there are instances where they remember. For instance, Mitsuha remembers that she set up a date for Taki when she swaps back to her own body. Another instance is that Taki retains his memories of the day he visited the shrine in Mitsuha’s body. I assume here they retain the memories because it was their final switch or because Taki swapped back in twilight?

What are the conditions for swapping and swapping back? I know they wake up in each other’s bodies but Taki switched back into his body when he was awake in Mitsuha’s body.

April 7, 2021

Hi Rick! My responses:

1. It seems that Taki is slowly forgetting Mitsuha’s name the longer she has been dead. So he needs to keep reminding himself of her name. But as time passes, it gets harder and harder. That’s why we see it come and go.

2. That is funny. My guess is that the memory was just a fleeting one. He remembers that he received the string more than he remembers her exact face.

3. Do they retain the memories in full? They write down everything for each other. So we’re not always seeing them retaining memories, but instead hearing them speak the words they wrote down in a voiceover. I admit, though, it’s kinda confusing. I’m not sure there’s a clearcut answer.

4. Did Taki switch back while he was in Mitsuha’s body? I honestly don’t remember that. Anyway, it just seems like they switch randomly, right? I’m not sure there’s a clear reason or pattern when it comes to the switching.

Hope that helps!

June 6, 2021

To add on, it is entirely possible to not remember how one received a gift and somehow regard it as a “lucky charm”.

Taki may not have thought much of it after receiving, and put it aside until 1-2 years later. He could have found it again in his belongings, thought it’s nice and kept it as his lucky charm.

I say this, because I recently found a very nice token gift when I was going through my stuff, but I really couldn’t remember how or who I got it from. So yea.

Anw thanks Travis! I like your analysis of the movie and appreciate that you took the time to share your thoughts!

March 11, 2021

Bro I never watched and read their story explanation like this …but I had one question when taki went searching for mitsuha he didn’t remember her name but when he saw her name in the book of death people how he remembers and finds mitsuha name in the book. How?

March 21, 2021

He doesn’t remember he jst got this feeling of grief…. He doesn’t really understand y tho

To be honest I don’t remember this moment in exact detail. But I think he starts to forget her name, then looks through every name in the book, then when he notices her name he suddenly remembers it. Right? It’s like when Taki had to write his name down for her. They need to see the names to remember each other after a while.

“But I think he starts to forget her name, then looks through every name in the book, then when he notices her name he suddenly remembers it. Right?”

Well Travis Bean, there are many reasons why people might forget things. Some common causes of forgetfulness include:

Lack of attention: If you didn’t pay much attention to something when you first learned it, it’s more likely that you’ll forget it later.

Interference: Sometimes, new information can interfere with your ability to remember something that you learned previously. This is known as “interference.”

Absentmindedness: People are more likely to forget things when they are distracted or preoccupied with something else.

Stress and anxiety: Stress and anxiety can interfere with your ability to remember things.

Aging: As we get older, our brains naturally become less efficient at forming new memories and retrieving old ones.

Sleep deprivation: Not getting enough sleep can affect your memory.

Substance abuse: Alcohol and certain drugs can impair memory function.

Medical conditions: Some medical conditions, such as depression, anxiety, and certain neurological disorders, can affect memory.

Medications: Some medications, such as benzodiazepines and antihistamines, can cause memory problems as a side effect.

Remembering things can be a complex process, and there are many factors that can influence it. If you’re having trouble remembering things, it’s important to talk to a doctor or other healthcare professional for help.

March 29, 2021

Haha. Nice!!

August 2, 2021

If mitsuha died in taki’s time 3 years ago and then taki return to itomori and travels back to mitsuha’s body the day before the comet strikes and save the people. Why did taki go in itomori 5 years ago as said in the near ending when he’s talking to ms. Okudera and said to sleep in the mountain if mitsuha never died in that timeline? Does this mean that all of the people change their memories regarding to the comet strikes that killed all the people to miraculously nobody died because they are practicing an emergency evacuation in school

August 12, 2021

November 12, 2021

Thanks for unraveling this complex plotline. Appreciate the art of the movie much more after your explanation. One suggestion though, please delete “Just like how celebrating Thanksgiving allows us to connect with Pilgrims who happened upon America”. Remembering the Pilgrims and the beginning of genocide against native Americans isn’t the analogy you are looking for.

November 21, 2021

Wow so much to take in what a great story. I may have felt my Spidey senses couple times there. I’m happy to have read it. Thanks

December 20, 2021

Bonjour Mais a la fin , elle est censé être morte . (3 ans dans le passé). Pourtant elle est toujours en vie puisqu’elle croise Taki . Merci pour toutes vos explications.

July 1, 2022

I Talk To Her Name FREDLYNE MAXI or Nothing or Other ?

January 17, 2023

I watched this movie this morning. I thought I was just not paying attention to the movie but turns out it was very hard to follow. After I rewinded and watch part of the movie again I realized Taki was 3 years ahead of Mitzuha. This article helped me confirm that. Thanks for your help!

You are very welcome! Thanks for reading!!

June 14, 2023

When Mitsuha and Taki would switch bodies how did they not notice which year they are in. As later we learn that Taki was 3 years ahead of Mitsuha.

July 29, 2023

Hey Dynamo! Not Travis but the other person on this site. You ask a very good question lol. That’s what we call a logic gap. It’s not necessarily a plot hole as a plot hole is an absolute impossibility given the rules of the world. But a logic gap is when something could have a reason but we’re just never told what it is. Some logic gaps are completely fine and we don’t worry about them. Others, like this, can be kind of gamebreaking. I’m guessing the filmmakers just hoped that people wouldn’t think too much about it. You can also explain it as they’re both so caught up by how strange all of it is that they never notice? Another theory could be that it’s part of the “spell”. The same way that Mitsuha and Taki eventually forget one another because of how the spell works, it’s possible that details like the exact year are foggy or something they forget. That’s the blessing and the curse of logic gap issues. You can usually find some kind of reason to give the story the benefit of the doubt, or it can just sound absurd lol.

April 10, 2023

I have watched the movie at least 6 or 7 times, each time I catch something I hadn´t before. After reading this I am ready to watch it again with a much deeper understanding. Thank you for the hours invested in writing!

November 15, 2023

I did not read through all of the comments but I wanted to mention how the text messages had disappeared. One reasoning I cam to was how the grandmother had said that the thread comes apart and is put back together. You might look for her saying this when she is weaving, but I think she talked about how fates intertwine and unravel and intertwine again when they were walking up the mountain to leave the rice wine. This is my theory anyway. Thank you for sharing all of your insights I look forward to watching it again.

November 20, 2023

That is beautifully put! I love that. It modernizes a very ancient and traditional idea. Makes the connection between past and present feel eternal. So cool.

February 26, 2024

That’s a good theory!

January 4, 2024

Did Taki change the past when he switched bodies again later to warn about the comet and did everyone from year 2016 or smth forgot that in year 2013 the comet killed 500 people I’m so confused about that. And was 2016 the present or the future

April 3, 2024

What a great showcase of this masterpiece, thank you alot for summarizing this beautiful piece of art!

April 9, 2024

You are very welcome! Glad you enjoyed our insights 🙂

Write a response Cancel reply

Your Name Review

18 Nov 2016

106 minutes

Makoto Shinkai. Get used to that name. Within the next few years, if there is any justice in this crazy universe, it will be as synonymous with culturally transcendent Japanese animation as Hayao Miyazaki is right now. And there’s a good chance he will also be holding an Oscar early next year. Either for Best Animated Feature, or Best Foreign Language Film. Or why not even both?

If any film has the right to be called this decade’s Spirited Away, it’s this one.

Shinkai’s been making movies since 2004, such as 2011’s fantasy-tinged adventure romance Children Who Chase Lost Voices , but his fifth, Your Name , has proven a true breakthrough for the 43-year-old former graphic designer. At the time of writing, his gender-switching meta-romance is on its sixth consecutive week at the top of the Japanese box-office and has earned north of 13 billion yen ($126 million), a level of success for an animator only previously enjoyed by, yes, Hayao Miyazaki. And it’s not just us making comparisons – his countryfolk have already started proclaiming him ‘the new Miyazaki’.

With good reason. Just like the now-retired head of Studio Ghibli, Shinkai exhibits a preternatural attention to detail; every frame of Your Name is a richly teeming composition, whether breathing in the vast sweep of a lush, crater-scarred landscape, tracing the aurora-tailed path of a sky-slicing comet, or focusing on the weaving of threads as they are nimbly braided into colourful cords. Whether blazing with sunlight, or shadowed by storm clouds, the film glows with an inner life that the hard, plastic sheen of CG animation so rarely attains; one awesomely trippy-cosmic sequence is even realised using pastels and chalks.

If you only see one Japanese animated feature this year, see this one, and see it more than once.

And playing out in front of all this delicate artistry is... a J-pop-soundtracked body-swap comedy? For teenagers? Don’t worry, we’re not getting just another Freaky Friday . Or The Hot Chick . There may be a lightness to the film’s early body-switch scenes, with a running gag about teen boy Taki (Kamiki) fondling ‘his’ breasts whenever he wakes up as Mitsuha (Kamishiraishi), but the comedy of biological displacement quickly evolves into an odd kind of long-distance love story, with Taki and Mitsuha leaving each other messages via journals and smartphone diary apps, while also charmingly setting each other rules about what they can do while in each other’s bodies. There’s a unique tension to their relationship. In one sense they are closer to each other than would normally ever be possible, literally sharing lives, yet in another they couldn’t be more separate. No doubt there’s a metaphor here for the simultaneous joys and horrors of adolescence.

The mystery of their predicament is found less in the reason it’s happening than the revelation of its purpose. There is a bigger story here, one that is fed by Japanese culture’s understandable preoccupation with mass destruction, almost switching sub-genres. To say more would be to deny you the joy of discovering the film’s secrets. So we won’t.

Shinkai’s brazen narrative boldness, his dextrous handling of alternating, equally likeable lead characters, and his mastery of hand-drawn visuals all weave together to form a profoundly gorgeous cinematic experience. If any film has the right to be called this decade’s Spirited Away , it’s this one.

Movies | 17 02 2019

Movies | 28 09 2017

Movies | 09 04 2017

Screen Rant

Your name ending explained (in detail).

Your changes have been saved

Email Is sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

10 Behind The Scenes Facts About Your Name

15 awesome time travel movies that aren't back to the future, your name is great because it subverts a classic trope.

The ending of Your Name might be confusing due to its complex time travel plot involving body-switching and two timelines.
In the emotional Your Name ending, Taki and Mitsuha do not remember each other but feel a strong connection, hinting at a new beginning.
Despite memory loss, Taki and Mitsuha, drawn together by fate, meet again in Tokyo, suggesting their love story will continue.

The ending of Your Name explained the end of the beautiful and emotional story, but it also seemed somewhat confusing due to its time travel storyline. In Your Name , Taki and Mitsuha are two high school students who seem to have a strong bond even though they do not know each other. The way Your Name explained its narrative is not exactly linear. Still, despite its complex time travel plot, Your Name charmed audiences with a heartwarming story about a connection so strong that it could travel time and space.

Your Name earned $382 million worldwide at the box office (via Box Office Mojo ), which ranks alongside films like one of the best Studio Ghibli movies Spirited Away . With a story spanning from 2013 to 2021, Your Name explained from the start that Taki and Mitsuha are somehow switching bodies , but the reasons why and how are only revealed towards the end of the movie. More than the body-switching, the key to understanding the Your Name ending is to better comprehend its two timelines.

Your Name is the highest grossest anime movie of all time and with good reason. Here are some behind the scenes facts about the instant classic.

Why Taki Didn’t Recognize Mitsuha In Tokyo

Mitsuha only experienced taki's future.

Time travel can make any story tricky , and that is not different for Your Name . After realizing she had feelings for Taki, even though they still hadn't met, Mitsuha decided to go to Tokyo and introduced herself to the person she had been switching bodies with for weeks now. Your Name explained that Mitsuha failed to realize that whenever she would wake up in Taki’s body, it was 2016, not 2013 , meaning that the fragment of Taki’s life she was experiencing was happening three years in her future.

Your Name explained that Taki and Mitsuha were not only switching bodies, but their consciences were also traveling through time. While the movie presents Taki and Mitsuha’s days in each other’s bodies, Taki himself would only experience the switch three years after Mitsuha. That is why Taki does not recognize Mitsuha in Tokyo, as it would still take three years before he started experiencing the body switch seen in the 2D animated movie.

The prospect of time travel has always ensnared audience attention, and there are a lot of great movies besides Back to the Future that feature it.

When Did Mitsuha Die?

Mitsuha passed away in 2013.

Your Name explained that Mitsuha died in 2013 after the Comet Tiamat split while entering Earth’s atmosphere and hit the town of Itomori. From Mitsuha’s point of view, the comet would only hit Itomori after she switched places with Taki several times and tried to visit him in Tokyo. From Taki’s point of view, the destruction of Itomori by the comet happened three years before he switched bodies with Mitsuha.

That is why Taki does not take any interest in the news of the comet at first and why he is so shocked to realize Mitsuha had been dead for the past three years in the Your Name ending.

How Did Taki Restart The Switch (After Mitsuha’s Death)?

The destruction of Itomori and the death of Mitsuha in the Your Name ending, a moment in which Your Name 's soundtrack turns into silence, meant the end of her and Taki’s body-switching. Once time “caught up” with Taki, Your Name explained that the messages from Mitsuha disappeared from his phone as if they never existed. After Taki comprehended that Mitsuha and all of Itomori’s citizens had died, the character found one last hope by remembering what Mitsuha’s grandma had taught her about the flow of time.

"Taki managed to once again wake up in Mitsuha’s body."

Although Taki was not sure that his plan would work in the Your Name ending, he still went to the cave in which Mitsuha’ kuchikamizake had been kept for all those years. By drinking it, Your Name explained that his special connection with Mitsuha, represented by the red string and its many forms, was reactivated — and thus Taki managed to once again wake up in Mitsuha’s body. In a sci-fi time-travel movie twist, he had returned to 2013, after Mitsuha had cut her hair short, but before the comet hit Itomori.

Why Didn’t Taki Write His Name On Mitsuha’s Hand?

The anime's body-swapping came with caveats.

As strong as the bond between Taki and Mitsuha was, Your Name explained that neither of them would be able to hold the memories of the body-switching days for long. That seemed to be a consequence of the body-switching process, as Mitsuha’s grandmother, who also had strange dreams about another life, could not remember her own experiences. Taki was aware he and Mitsuha were going to forget each other after the “magic hour,” and he suggested they both write their names on each other’s hands.

Taki decided to write, “I love you,” instead.

However, Taki decided to write, “I love you,” instead, which turned out to be the right decision in the Your Name ending and the perfect symbolism for one of the best romance anime stories . Even if Taki had written his name on Mitsuha’s hand, she would have quickly forgotten the context of it. By writing, "I love you," in Mitsuha’s hand, Your Name explained that Taki made sure that she could at least know that he was in love before she lost all of her memories from their time together.

Makoto Shinkai's film Your Name was a hit with fans, and it's because it took one of the most common media tropes and subverted it in the best way.

How The Town Was Saved In Your Name

Knowing about the fate of itmori allowed taki to act.

Taki wakes up in Mitsuha’s body the day the comet will hit the town and tries to warn everybody of what is going to happen but without success. Still, Your Name explains he kicks off a plan with Sayaka and Katsuhiko to evacuate as many people as possible. After the magic hour, Mitsuha returns to her body, and as in some of the best time travel movies , she knows what is going to happen. In the Your Name ending, she completes Taki’s plan by convincing her father, the mayor, to evacuate Itomori.

Did Taki And Mitsuha End Up Together?

The pair find eachother despite the memory loss.

In the Your Name ending, Mitsuha and everyone else in Itomori are saved, but neither Taki nor Mitsuha can remember each other . Eight years after the comet fell, Mitsuha lives in Tokyo — which has been a dream of hers since the beginning. For Taki, five years have passed since he visited Itomori for a reason he could no longer remember. Fate had been one of the central themes of Your Name , and, as such, Taki and Mitsuha ran into each other in Tokyo.

Your Name explained their emotional connection as the two stopped dead while passing one another, immediately drawn to the other. Neither Taki nor Mitsuha could remember each other, but they could still feel that the other person was special for some reason, similar to The Adam's Project 's Adam and Laura story . That is why Taki and Mitsuha introduced themselves at the stairs as if they had been looking for each other for the last few years.

It was a highly emotional scene, as audiences expected the two to never see one another again. However, this moment provided hope that their love story would continue. Even if they never remember their experiences, the Your Name ending suggests that Taki and Mitsuha started a new history together right at that moment.

Your Name (2016)

International edition
Australia edition
Europe edition

Overwhelming passion… Timothée Chalamet, left, and Armie Hammer.

Call Me By Your Name review – gorgeous gay love story seduces and overwhelms

Set during an endless Italian summer, this ravishing drama starring Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet is imbued with a sophisticated sensuality

T he debt to pleasure is deferred in exquisite style for this ravishingly beautiful movie set in Northern Italy in the early 80s: a coming-of-age love story between a precocious teenage boy and a slightly older man. Their summer romance is saturated with poetic languor and a deeply sophisticated sensuality.

The film is directed by Luca Guadagnino (who made I Am Love and A Bigger Splash ) and adapted from the novel by André Aciman by James Ivory, who had originally been slated to co-direct and has a producer credit. Ivory’s presence inevitably calls to mind his film version of EM Forster’s Maurice , to which this is frankly superior. For me, it brought back Alan Hollinghurst novels such as The Folding Star and The Spell. Call Me By Your Name is an erotic pastoral that culminates in a quite amazing speech by Michael Stuhlbarg, playing the boy’s father. It’s a compelling dramatic gesture of wisdom, understanding and what I can only call moral goodness.

Stuhlbarg plays Perlman, a middle-aged American professor of classical antiquity living with his stylish wife Annella (Amira Casar), in a handsome Italian house with their son, Elio – a remarkable performance from Timothée Chalamet – who is a very talented musician, spending his time transcribing Schoenberg and composing piano variations on JS Bach. Theirs is a cultured household, in which everyone is proficient in English, French, Italian and, for Annella, German. The family is also Jewish. Elio calls them “Jews of discretion”, a sense of otherness that is to serve as a metaphor for concealed sexuality.

Elio slopes and mopes about the huge house as the long hot summer commences, grumpy and moody, not knowing what to do with himself or his directionless sexuality, shooing away flies, frowning over paperbacks, dressed mostly in nothing more than shorts, all shoulder blades and hairless calves. Every year, his dad invites a favoured grad student to spend the summer with the family to help him with research. This year it is the impossibly handsome and statuesque Oliver, played by Armie Hammer , who never wears a pair of long trousers in the entire film. He establishes his academic credentials early on by presuming to correct Perlman’s derivation of the word “apricot”. Both Elio and Oliver are to have romantic associations with local young women, but it is more than clear where this is heading. And when the main event arrives, Guadagnino’s camera wanders tactfully away from their bed, gazing thoughtfully out of the window at the hot summer night.

A life of leisure … from left, Michael Stuhlbarg, Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer.

What is perhaps so incredible is the concept of leisure, a cousin to pleasure, pure gorgeous indolence and sexiness for six whole weeks. No one appears to have very much to do in the way of dreary work, despite the references to typing up pages and cataloguing slides. People sunbathe; they impetuously jump up and go swimming, have unhurried meals al fresco, cycle into town to drink in bars, or play volleyball. The main work-related activity is when Perlman and Oliver go to inspect a sensational discovery: parts of a classical statue recovered from a lake. Hellenic sensuality is resurrected in concert with the not-so-secret sexual tumult emerging all about.

At any one time, nothing is happening, and everything is happening. Elio and Oliver will catch each other’s eye in their adjoining bedrooms or downstairs in the hall; they will casually notice each other changing into swimming costumes. Each of these intensely realised, superbly controlled and weighted moments is as gripping as a thriller. Hammer’s Oliver is worldlier than Elio, but not a roué or a cynic; in an odd way, Elio is more cosmopolitan than Oliver. The visiting American looks like a mix of Tom Ripley and Dickie Greenleaf.

Chalamet’s performance as Elio is outstanding, especially in an unbearably sad sequence, when he has to ring his mum from a payphone and ask to be driven home. (In that scene, Guadagnino contrives to show an old lady fanning herself in the right-hand side of the frame. Was she an actor? A non-professional who just happened to be there? Either way, there is a superb rightness to it.) And then there is Stuhlbarg’s speech advising against the impulse to cauterise or forget pain: “We rip out so much of ourselves to be cured of things faster than we should that we go bankrupt by the age of 30.” There is such tenderness to this film. I was overwhelmed by it.

Call Me By Your Name
Peter Bradshaw's film of the week
Romance films
Drama films
Luca Guadagnino
Armie Hammer
James Ivory
Timothée Chalamet

Comments (…)

May 8, 2024

Brandon 17° C , Cloudy with wind

Full Forecast

Advertising Contact
Send a Letter to the Editor
Submit a News Tip
Subscribe to Newsletters
Create Account
Compact View
Brandon Sun
Westman This Week
Newspapers In Education (NIE)
Special Sections
All Newsletters
National News
Agriculture

Entertainment

Science & Technology
Local Sports
Latest at the Brier
High School
Wheat Kings
Post-Secondary
Other Sports
Letters to the Editor
Send a letter to the Editor
Westman this Week
The Royal Manitoba Winter Fair
Classifieds
Photo Store
Photo Order Form
Readers Choice Results
Advertising
Fund Raising
Job Opportunities
Terms and Conditions
Access To Information
FP Newspapers Inc.
Local Journalism Initiative
Privacy Policy

Quick Links

Coronavirus Coverage

Newsletters

Newsletters Home
Beyond the Wall
About E-Edition
Opinion home
Point of View
Recent Awards
Employee Code of Conduct Policy
Supplier Code of Conduct Policy
Report on Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains

Notification Settings

This browser doesn't support push notifications at the moment. Check browsers features, update your browser or try to use one from the list of recommended to manage your notifications settings:

Firefox (27+)
Google Chrome (30+)
Safari ( MacOS 13+ with browser 16.1+ and iOS 16.4+ ) / Note make sure Push API support enabled under Settings > Safari > Advanced > Experimental Features
Microsoft Edge

If you wish to manage your notification settings from this browser you will need to update your browser's settings for this site. Just click button below and allow notifications for this site

Note Safari 16.4+ working on iOS devices also need this site app to be installed at device's Home Screen for Push Notifications to work

Notifications are blocked for this site. If you wish to manage your notification settings from this browser you will need to update your browser's settings. Usually you'd need to click on site options icon to the left of address bar and change notifications preferences/permissions from there

Learn more about Free Press Advertising solutions

Movie Review: ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ finds a new hero and will blow your mind

Advertise with us

Fans of the “Planet of the Apes” franchise may still be mourning the 2017 death of Caesar, the first smart chimp and the charismatic ape leader. Not to worry: He haunts the next episode, the thrilling, visually stunning “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.”

Read this article for free:

Already have an account? Log in here »

We need your support! Local journalism needs your support!

As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.

Now, more than ever, we need your support.

Starting at $14.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.

or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.

Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!

Read unlimited articles for free today:

We actually start with Caesar’s funeral, his body decorated with flowers and then set alight like a Viking, before fast-forwarding “many generations later.” All apes talk now and most humans don’t, reduced to caveman loin cloths and running wide-eyed and scared, evolution in reverse.

Our new hero is the young ape Noa (Owen Teague ) who is like all young adult chimps — seeking his father’s approval (even chimp dads just don’t understand) and testing his bravery. He is part of a clan that raises pet eagles, smokes fish and lives peacefully.

This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Proximus Caesar, played by Kevin Durand, in a scene from

That all changes when his village is attacked not by humans but by fellow apes — masked soldiers from a nasty kingdom led by the crown-wearing Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand, playing it to the hilt). He has taken Caesar’s name but twisted his words to become a tyrannical strongman — sorry, strongape.

Unlike the last movie which dealt with man’s inhumanity to animals — concentration camps included — ape-on-ape violence is in the cards for this one, including capturing an entire clan as prisoners. Proximus Caesar’s goons use makeshift cattle prods on fellow apes and force them to work while declaring “For Caesar!”

Screenwriter Josh Friedman has cleverly created a movie that examines how ancient stories can be hijacked and manipulated, like how Caesar’s non-violent message gets twisted by bad actors. There’s also a lot of “Avatar” primitive naivete, and that makes sense since the reboot was shaped by several of that blue alien movie’s makers.

The movie poses some uncomfortable questions about collaborationists. William H. Macy plays a human who has become a sort of teacher-prisoner to Proximus Caesar — reading Kurt Vonnegut to him — and won’t fight back. “It is already their world,” he rationalizes.

Along for the heroic ride is a human young woman (Freya Allan, a budding star) who is hiding an agenda but offers Noa help along the way. Peter Macon plays a kindly, book-loving orangutan who adds a jolt of gleeful electricity to the movie and is missed when he goes.

The effects are just jaw-dropping, from the ability to see individual hairs on the back of a monkey to the way leaves fall and the crack of tree limbs echoing in the forest. The sight of apes on horseback, which seemed glitchy just seven years ago, are now seamless. There are also inside jokes, like the use of the name Nova again this time.

Director Wes Ball nicely handles all the thrilling sequences — though the two-and-a-half hour runtime is somewhat taxing — and some really cool ones, like the sight of apes on horseback on a beach, a nod to the original 1968 movie. And like when the apes look through some old illustrated kids’ books and see themselves depicted in zoo cages. That makes for some awkward human-ape interaction. “What is next for apes? Should we go back to silence?” our hero asks.

The movie races to a complex face-off between good and bad apes and good and bad humans outside a hulking silo that holds promise to each group. Can apes and humans live in peace, as Caesar hoped? “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” doesn’t answer that but it does open up plenty more to ponder. Starting with the potentially crippling proposition of a key death, this franchise has somehow found new vibrancy.

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” a 20th Century Studios release that is exclusively in theaters May 10, is rated PG-13 for “intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action.” Running time: 145 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.

This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Freya Allan in a scene from

MPAA Definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Online: https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/kingdom-of-the-planet-of-the-apes

Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Supported by

What to Know About ‘Unfrosted’ and the Real History of Pop-Tarts

In his directorial debut, Jerry Seinfeld tackles the history of the fruit-filled pastries … kind of. Here’s the real origin story, along with a bonus quiz.

Share full article

Jerry Seinfeld, in a blue suit, stands smiling at a lectern. Next to him, in front of a big red K, are five men standing at a table including a chef.

By Sarah Bahr

Sarah Bahr’s favorite Pop-Tart flavor is Frosted Wild Berry.

First, there was the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos biopic (complete with an Oscar-nominated song). Then came “ Tetris ”; “ Air ,” about Nike Air Jordan sneakers; “ BlackBerry ”; and “ Barbie .”

It is, in other words, a golden age for product-origin-story movies.

The latest is “Unfrosted: The Pop-Tarts Story,” a satirical history that Jerry Seinfeld has expanded from his stand-up act. The film, which he directed and stars in alongside Jim Gaffigan, Hugh Grant and Amy Schumer, arrives Friday on Netflix. Unlike its predecessors, it’s not really concerned with actual events. Here’s what to know about the true history of the Pop-Tart — and what the movie gets right and wrong.

But first, how did Kellogg’s and Post both end up with headquarters in Battle Creek, Mich.?

You would think ground zero in the Breakfast Wars of the 1960s might be somewhere most people could locate on a map. But Battle Creek, Mich., was home to the Battle Creek Sanitarium, known for its water and fresh air treatments, and managed by Will Keith Kellogg and his brother, John Harvey Kellogg. W.K. Kellogg developed a method of creating crunchy pieces of processed grain for his patients (read: Corn Flakes), and one of those patients, C.W. Post, would go on to start his own company in 1895 selling several foods that were veeeery similar to those at the sanitarium.

W.K. Kellogg noticed Post profiting from his recipes and established his own firm in 1906, the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company. Within three years, it was cranking out more than 100,000 boxes of Corn Flakes a day, and, thanks to the success of Kellogg, Post and many other cereal companies, Battle Creek became known as the Cereal City.

Who were the real Edsel Kellogg III and Marjorie Merriweather Post?

The bumbling chief executive of Kellogg’s, played by Gaffigan, is fictional (thank goodness). On the other hand, Marjorie Merriweather Post — the General Foods owner whom Schumer portrays as a turban-wearing caricature — was one of the first female chief executives and, for most of her life, considered the wealthiest woman in America. (Today she may be best known for building Mar-a-Lago, now Donald J. Trump’s base.)

Did Post really come up with a toaster-prepared breakfast pastry first?

Yes. In the 1960s, Post, then the biggest competitor to Kellogg’s, invented a process of partly dehydrating food and wrapping it in foil to keep it fresh; no refrigeration required. The process was initially used for dog food, but it also allowed fruit filling in, say, a toaster-prepared breakfast pastry to stay both moist and bacteria-free. (And yes, it was actually Post’s idea, not one ripped off from a Kellogg’s employee via a hidden vacuum cam.)

Was the Post product really called Country Squares?

Unfortunately, yes. The name was later changed to its current Toast’em Pop Ups , but is that really much better?

How did Country Squares and Pop-Tarts end up hitting shelves the same year?

Post jumped the gun and unveiled Country Squares to the press in February 1964, four months before they were ready to sell, allowing Kellogg’s time to frantically rustle up its own, much-better-named version.

Did Bob Cabana really create the Pop-Tart?

Nope, the “Unfrosted” flack (played by Seinfeld) is fictional. The man who helped create Pop-Tarts was a manager named William Post (yes, really), who died in February at 96.

What was an actual rejected name for the Pop-Tart?

The ones in the film — Fruit-Magoos, Heat ’Em Up and Eat ’Em Ups, Oblong Nibblers, Trat Pops — are made up. But the real rejected name — Fruit Scones — wasn’t much catchier. The final name, coined by a Kellogg’s executive, William LaMothe, was inspired by Pop Art, the contemporary cultural movement.

Were Pop-Tarts really an overnight hit?

Yes, but the first shipment to stores sold out in two weeks, not 60 seconds, as in “Unfrosted.” Kellogg’s apologized, in advertisements , but this only increased demand. (They were restocked before long.)

Were the first flavors really unfrosted?

Yes. The original flavors — all unfrosted — were Apple Currant Jelly, Strawberry, Blueberry and Brown Sugar-Cinnamon. The first frosted ones — Dutch Apple, Concord Grape, Raspberry and Brown Sugar-Cinnamon — didn’t hit the market until 1967. (William Post came up with the idea, disproving skeptics who believed the icing would melt in the toaster.) The next year, sprinkles were added to some of the frosted ones.

Did Kellogg’s really advertise Pop-Tarts without a mascot?

It did, though the decision didn’t set off a Hugh Grant-led mascot rebellion, as in “Unfrosted.” Kellogg’s rectified the omission in 1971, introducing Milton the Toaster . (The little guy didn’t make it out of the 1970s.)

Which of these flavors are real?

The past few decades have been a smorgasbord of Pop-Tart flavors, some very short-lived. Can you spot the four real flavors here?

Chocolate Peppermint

Froot Loops

Guava Mango

Harry Potter Special Edition: Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, Popcorn

Maple Bacon

Answer: Chocolate Peppermint, Froot Loops, Guava Mango and Maple Bacon Pop-Tarts have all been on shelves at some point. The Harry Potter Bertie Bott’s Popcorn and Twizzlers flavors remain the stuff of our fever dreams.

Sarah Bahr writes about culture and style for The Times. More about Sarah Bahr

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

The Netflix stalker series “ Baby Reindeer ” combines the appeal of a twisty thriller with a deep sense of empathy. The ending illustrates why it’s become such a hit .

We have entered the golden age of Mid TV, where we have a profusion of well-cast, sleekly produced competence, our critic writes .

The writer-director Alex Garland has made it clear that “Civil War” should be a warning. Instead, the ugliness of war comes across as comforting thrills .

Studios obsessively focused on PG-13 franchises and animation in recent years, but movies like “Challengers” and “Saltburn” show that Hollywood is embracing sex again .

If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime and Hulu to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Sign up for our Watching newsletter to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

Thanks For Rating

Reminder successfully set, select a city.

Nashik Times
Aurangabad Times
Badlapur Times

You can change your city from here. We serve personalized stories based on the selected city

Edit Profile
Briefs Movies TV Web Series Lifestyle Trending Medithon Visual Stories Music Events Videos Theatre Photos Gaming

Gujarati web series 'Satya' unveils intriguing motion poster star: 'The game is set’

Gujarati web series 'Satya' unveils intriguing motion poster starring Hiten Kumar: 'The game is set’

9 popular K-Drama actors to follow on Instagram

Ranveer Singh reveals he was secretly engaged to Deepika Padukone three years before marriage; here's what the actress hilariously called it

Koffee With Karan Season 8: Will cousins Kajol and Rani Mukerji reunite after 14 years? Here is what reports say

10 records Jung Kook broke ahead of GOLDEN album launch

Lee Dal, Song Joong Ki, Chen: Korean stars who married non-celebrity partners

Matsya Kaand - An MX Original Series

Sabka Sai - An MX Original Series

Samantar 2 - An MX Original Series

Indori Ishq - An MX Original Series

Runaway Lugaai - An MX Original Series

Ramyug - An MX Original Series

Hello Mini 3 - An MX Original Series

Bisaat - An MX Original Series

Hey Prabhu 2 - An MX Original Series

Chakravyuh - An Inspector Virkar Crime Thriller - An MX Original Series

Filmfare OTT Awards

Dark Matter

A Man In Full

Specter: Black Out

The Big Door Prize

Dead Boy Detectives

The Sympathizer

Baby Reindeer

Inspector Rishi

Cheran’s Journey

Koose Munisamy Veerappa...

Vaazhvu Thodangumidam N...

Sweet Kaaram Coffee

Modern Love Chennai

Story Of Things

Mad Company

Victim: Who Is Next?

Dead Pixels

Anger Tales

Bhoothakaalam

Keshu Ee Veedinte Nadha...

Kanakam Kamini Kalaham

Thinkalazhcha Nishchaya...

Advocate Achinta Aich

Dadur Kirti

Chemistry Mashi

Jaha Bolibo Shotto Boli...

Mobaroknama

Abar Proloy

Parasyte: The Grey

Queen Of Tears

The Bequeathed

Behind Your Touch

King The Land

Barracuda Queens

Royalteen: Princess Mar...

Amber girls school, your rating, write a review (optional).

Web Series /

Would you like to review this movie?

Cast & Crew

‘Amber Girls School’ brings a breath of fresh air, yet it's not immune to clichés that could have been avoided. Set in Chandigarh in 2008, the series packs in Bollywood songs and cultural references from that time, effectively enhancing its appeal.

Videos left arrow right arrow

Amber Girls School Trailer: Celesti Bairagey ...

Photos left arrow right arrow

Visual Stories

Isha Ambani's glorious garden act at Met Gala

In pics: Classic look of Priyanka Kumar

12 benefits of eating custard apple

Entertainment

Wamiqa Gabbi's love for sarees

Tripti Dimri slays the cutout trend in black and silver high-slit gown

Sonakshi Sinha shines in pictures from her 'Heeramandi' look test

Alia Bhatt to Isha Ambani: South Asian stars who stunned at Met Gala

8 bizarre Japanese food trends you didn't know

10 benefits of eating 1 Khajoor everyday

In pics: Pallavi Ramisetty sets the temperature soaring

Latest Reviews

Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar

Gujarati web series 'Satya' unveils intriguing motion poster star: 'The game is set’

Popular K-Drama actors to follow on Instagram

Actress Puja Joshi announces an exciting new Gujarati web series; see pictures

Pratik Gandhi kicks off shooting for the Vitthal Teedi 2' web series; see pic

Malhar Thakar talks about his three recent projects - Exclusive!

The Puja Joshi and Maulik Chauhan starrer ‘Kokila Case’ wraps up the shoot

Promoted Stories

IMAGES

Movie Review: Your Name. (2016)
Your Name Movie Review
Movie Review: Your Name
Your Name movie review & film summary (2017)
YOUR NAME: Movie Review
'Your Name' Movie Review: A Poignant Body-Swapping Tale

VIDEO

Your Name
Your Name (2016) *EMOTIONAL* MOVIE Reaction and Review!
Meh... Bekar Nahi Hai (Not A Masterpiece) ⋮ YOUR NAME
Your Name Anime Movie Explained
UNBELIEVABLE! The Most Emotional and Mind-Blowing 'Your Name' Movie Review EVER! 😭💔
YOUR NAME

COMMENTS

Your Name movie review & film summary (2017)
This is when "Your Name" becomes something very unexpected. To say that "Your Name" is visually striking would be a giant understatement. Shinkai and his team have both an eye for detail and a poetic vision. The settings of "Your Name" somehow feel both lived-in and magical at the same time. Whether it's the train system in Tokyo ...
Your Name
Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/01/24 Full Review Selvaraj C This movie is a masterpiece but if you watch the movie more than one time you may see some plot holes.This movie is a ...
Review: 'Your Name' Takes Adolescent Identity Crises to Extremes
Directed by Makoto Shinkai. Animation, Drama, Fantasy, Romance. PG. 1h 46m. By Manohla Dargis. April 6, 2017. It isn't until well into "Your Name," a wistfully lovely Japanese tale about ...
Your Name Movie Review
Based on 19 parent reviews. thekgal91 Adult. October 10, 2020. age 11+. Reviewing with the 7 Media Keys. Your Name is a romantic fantasy movie directed by Makoto Shinkai that was released in 2017. It has an MPAA rating of PG, but I was unable to find a USCCB rating for this movie. It was distributed by Toho.
Your Name
Your Name is a genuine delight of a movie, an emotional adventure that crosses multiple genres. Shinaki seamlessly blends romance with science fiction to incredible effect. Full Review | Original ...
'Your Name' Movie Review: A Poignant Body-Swapping Tale
After the appearance of a passing comet in the sky, they mysteriously begin swapping bodies, a day at a time and unexpectedly. They fumble through each other's lives, and with each other's ...
Your Name review
Your Name review - a beautiful out-of-body experience. With this dazzling body-swap romance, Makoto Shinkai confirms his reputation as Japan's new animation king. Mark Kermode, Observer film ...
Your Name Review: Timeless Romance Transcends Tropes
Writer/director Makoto Shinkai's anime 'Kimi no na wa'/'Your Name' goes far beyond the tropes of a body-swapping film to get to the heart of humanity.
'your name.' film review
October 29, 2016 2:29am. Tokyo Intl. Film Festival. A shoo-in for highest-grossing anime film of 2016 and a challenger to some of Studio Ghibli's finest box-office results, Your Name ( Kimi no ...
Your Name.
The day the stars fell, two lives changed forever. High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki's body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other. Yet, somehow, it works. They build a connection and communicate ...
'Your Name' Movie Review: A Visually Stunning Masterpiece With ...
Since Your Name was released in Japanese theaters over last Summer, the film has gone on to be one of the most successful anime movies of all time. ... 'Your Name' Movie Review: A Visually ...
Your Name Movie Review
In other words, he didn't want Your Name 's script to be too preoccupied with big concepts like his past films might've been. The story needed to be more grounded. Funny. Romantic. Less focused on the metaphysical. So he cut material, giving more breathing room to this story of boy meets girl.
'Your Name' Review: Thrilling Time-Travel/Body-Swap/Disaster-Movie Mix
Whereas so many movie romances begin with a charming meet-cute and progress from there, ... Film Review: 'Your Name.' Reviewed on DVD, Los Angeles, Sept. 20, 2016. (In Anime Expo, San ...
Your Name
Your Name Reviews. It's a contemplative and introspective film that uses the body-swapping gimmick to explore growing up and experiencing life from another perspective, and it celebrates how ...
Your Name
Your Name, the2016 animated film from Makoto Shinkai, was a critical and commercial successin its native Japan, where it became the fourth-highest grossing film of alltime and second highest-grossing anime (behind Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away). ... September 21, 2018 A movie review by James Berardinelli. Your Name, the 2016 animated film ...
A colossal explanation of Your Name (Kimi no Na wa)
December 31, 2022. First, "Your Name" is a Japanese animated film directed by Makoto Shinkai. It was released in 2016 and became a worldwide phenomenon, grossing over $300 million at the box office. The story follows the lives of two high school students, Mitsuha and Taki, who live in different parts of Japan.
Your Name Review
Your Name Review. A small-town high-school girl named Mitsuha (Mone Kamishiraishi) and a Tokyo boy of the same age named Taki (Ryûnosuke Kamiki) inexplicably start possessing each other's ...
Your Name Ending Explained (In Detail)
Your Name earned $382 million worldwide at the box office (via Box Office Mojo), which ranks alongside films like one of the best Studio Ghibli movies Spirited Away. With a story spanning from 2013 to 2021, Your Name explained from the start that Taki and Mitsuha are somehow switching bodies , but the reasons why and how are only revealed ...
Your Name Movie Review: This film by Shinkai is a deep narrative that
Your Name Movie Review: Critics Rating: 4.0 stars, click to give your rating/review,In the current landscape of superhero films, sequels, and remakes, 'Your Name' stands as a towering
Official Discussion: Your Name [SPOILERS] : r/movies
r/movies. The goal of /r/Movies is to provide an inclusive place for discussions and news about films with major releases. Submissions should be for the purpose of informing or initiating a discussion, not just to entertain readers. Read our extensive list of rules for more information on other types of posts like fan-art and self-promotion, or ...
Call Me By Your Name review
T he debt to pleasure is deferred in exquisite style for this ravishingly beautiful movie set in Northern Italy in the early 80s: a coming-of-age love story between a precocious teenage boy and a ...
Meh... Bekar Nahi Hai (Not A Masterpiece) ⋮ YOUR NAME
As beautifully animated as it is emotionally satisfying, Your Name adds another outstanding chapter to writer-director Makoto Shinkai's filmography. #YourNam...
Movie Review: 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' finds a new hero and
Movie Review: 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' finds a new hero and will blow your mind By: Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press Posted: 10:23 AM CDT Wednesday, May. 8, 2024 Last Modified: 10 ...
What to Know About 'Unfrosted' and the Real History of Pop-Tarts
It is, in other words, a golden age for product-origin-story movies. The latest is "Unfrosted: The Pop-Tarts Story," a satirical history that Jerry Seinfeld has expanded from his stand-up act.
Amber Girls School Web Series: Review, Trailer, Star Cast, Songs
Amber Girls School Review: Ojasvini, a ninth-grade student at Amber Girls School, aspires to become the next Head Girl. However, her ambitions become tangled amidst the turmoil of her quarrelling ...
Sing Sing Review: Sensitive Prison Drama Finds Healing in Theater
Movies Reviews a24 30 miles north of New York City, situated directly on the bank of the Hudson River, lies Sing Sing, a maximum security prison that has been operational for nearly 200 years.

Movie Reviews

Brian Tallerico

Now playing

Irena's Vow

Art College 1994

Monica Castillo

In the Land of Saints and Sinners

Mary & George

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

Your Name (2017)

Writer (based on his novel)

A Good Reason to Be a Coward: Jim Cummings on The Last Stop in Yuma County

Launch Day for My Book, It's Time To Give a FECK! Book Tour Dates, Tamron Hall Show

Short Films in Focus: Floating Through the Nowhere Stream with Director Luis Grané

The Ross Brothers Made a Road-Trip Movie. They Didn’t Come Back the Same.

Or browse by category:

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

Common Sense Selections for Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

Explaining the News to Our Kids

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

A Lot or a Little?

Positive Messages

Positive Role Models

Violence & Scariness

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Parents Need to Know

Where to Watch

Community Reviews

Reviewing with the 7 Media Keys

Is It Any Good?

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Suggest an Update

From Up on Poppy Hill

Spirited Away

Whisper of the Heart

My Life as a Zucchini

The Stunning Your Name Is a Poignant Body-Swapping Tale

Most Viewed Stories

Editor’s Picks

Most Popular

Sign In To Continue Reading

'Your Name' Review: A Modern Romance That Transcends Space, Time, and Tropes

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

site categories

Deborah Young

Related Stories

THR Newsletters

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Your Name – The Highest Grossing Anime Film Ever Is Director Makoto Shinkai the next Miyazaki?

Freaky Fridays

Talking with Shinkai

Ties That Bind

Online Connection?

The Force of Natural Disasters

Why Tell This Story?

Reasons for a Rush

A Rising Star Shifts Stratum

Kanae’s Review 9/10

Your Name by Makoto Shinkai

Overall Rating

Film Review: ‘Your Name.’

Peter Debruge