Makoto Shinkai ☔️

I think one of the principles of Makoto Shinkai’s films, which I do not regularly find in other “anime” movies or general media, is his sense of expressing the state of waiting and longing. Of course, his romantic plots can get cringy, hopeless, etc., but in my mind, those plots are always secondary.

Alfred Hitchcock used to say, "Cinema is life with the dull bits cut out"—since almost every director ever took it to heart and loaded their movies with constant drama, plot points, etc., to such an extent, "too slow of a pace" is a common complaint made by a wide range of audiences to some movies.

Weathering with You

That is, of course, understandable because any media is a form of escapism. However, films doubled down on it so much so—they completely removed the feeling of what it means to just live. Life doesn’t happen in three acts, five chapters, or sequels. Even if some things constantly occur, much of it is spent waiting in the grand scheme of things.

Waiting for that promotion at work, waiting before you see your family, waiting for a vacation, or something exciting and spicy if that rocks your boat. Nothing much actually happens throughout those moments in life, which in itself is a beauty that gets ignored in movies and daily life.

Your Name

But should it be? If it’s dull—is it necessary to be avoided or ignored? I would like to disagree and find Makoto Shinkai finding something of a similar thought. Like in Your Name, the big picture was more of noticing the beauty and enjoyment in small everyday things, like taking a subway ride, walking around the city, or hanging out with friends—being somewhat more attuned to temporal moments that we slowly got atrophied to.

And, of course, it’s hard—because it’s hard to keep a sense of novelty with things when they are... well—not new anymore. This sense of waiting for something to happen shouldn’t be shunned but enjoyed in itself. Something along the words of "those who wonder discover that this in itself is a wonder."

Maybe tangential to slice of life, but those are ridiculed with "that bus station arc went hard"—it’s more of intertwining small with the significant, important with the unimportant, niche with the grandiose. This is the feeling I get from Your Name, Weathering With You, and his other works.

Suzume

Just a final note about Suzume—I would consider it his finest piece. However, it is crazy to me that people see it as a romantic movie. Sure, there was a piece of that, but it is far from what is actually explored in it. This is a story of trauma, loss, and remembrance of the 3/11 tragedy, where children were orphaned, and in many cases—they are only young adults at most, probably still kids.

I don’t know—I felt super sad at the depopulation of the countryside, smaller towns, and the sealed memories and emotions of such places. If they are abandoned quickly and violently, what happens to people that once used to call it home and the life that happened there? Suzume explores it as an internal meditation and acceptance of those tragic events and their consequences. ◼︎