A film packed with story telling in different settings that captivates anime fans with ease.
Makoto Shinkai is back with his 7th feature film Suzume and has yet again delivered another movie for anime fans to add to their list. The film makers’ name has been a standard on its own when it was announced last year, April 2022, that Makoto Shinkai will be releasing another film right after his blockbuster hits “Kimi no Nawa” (Your Name), and Tenki no Ko “Weathering with You”. With the release of its trailer last year, anime fans have been teased once more with the eye-candy visuals, breathtaking hand-drawn animation of landscapes, and seamless blending of all those elements.
Suzume has been hyped in its home country with its $100 million total sales since its opening last November 2022 and has internationally premiered at the Berlinale.
Synopsis
Suzume (voiced by Nanoka Hara), is your typical Japanese high school girl whose life went into a full 360 when she crossed paths with a mysterious handsome man named Souta (voiced by Hokuto Matsumura) asking her for any doors in the area, or some door in some ruins. Later on, it was revealed that Souta comes from a long lineage of “Closers”, people who are responsible for finding these “doors” to another world where an evil worm-like entity is trying to escape and bring “chaos” to our world. Souta’s duty is to prevent this entity from crossing our world as its presence can bring natural disasters like in this case, tremors and strong earthquakes. Suzume then joins Souta in searching for these doors to prevent any more damage from this entity and to save millions of lives.
Movie Overview
The Technicalities
Makoto Shinkai never disappoints when it comes to stunning visuals and eye popping colors that would make any anime fans hold on to their seats and hold on to their breaths with all the blending of these elements. 3D CGI has been introduced in this film but it is not something for fans to stick their topic into. The scenes where there is 3D CGI have been overshadowed by the intensity of what is happening at that moment, whereas you would not be bothered by it but would focus on the storytelling that Makoto Shinkai excels at.
The signature cinematography of a Makoto Shinkai film is pretty obvious now where you will notice how the protagonists meet at the start of the movie, even from the trailer itself. As for its musical scoring, despite it being heavily influenced by RADWIMPS once again, it kind of lacked in the dramatic scenes. But overall the theme song did not fail to leave a unforgettable signature for the movie, the humming and the breaths in the intro of its main song is what made a lasting impression, definitely good combination for a RADWIMPS soundtrack and a Makoto Shinkai film.
The Plot
For those who are wondering if Suzume is connected to Weathering with You, it is a completely different movie that stands on its own. We may have been surprised with the cameos of Taki and Mitsuha on Weathering with You, Suzume on its own bring you on a completely new universe. What you see on the trailer is what you get, the movie is a “roadtrip” to different parts of Japan where theres a completely different story telling on each place Suzume visits. From Kyushu, to Kobe, to Tokyo and Fukushima where the tragic March 11 devastating earthquake happened was shown in the movie. Makoto Shinkai excels at this aspect of story telling where he incorporates real life events into his “Shinkaiverse” as I would like to call it.
What is also fascinating in his story telling is how he incorporates the frequent tremors that is happening in Japan, is connected to this evil worm-like entity causing the earthquakes. This is where the “Closers” become an important factor in the movie. Little did the citizens know that there are “guardians” or as what they call it in the movie, “Keystones” that keep the disasters at bay. Suzume also brought us in all of the elements present in our surroundings, the film brought us on air, water, land and fire which was a little detail I almost missed to notice that is a nice touch if you are observant.
Suzume also is not that focused on the love story and romance staple which we have been fed from Your Name and Weathering with You. Instead, the movie is focused on relationships with people and “closure”. We will leave this comment for the readers and would be viewers for the film on what we were talking about here. The only thing that would be similar from Weathering with You and Suzume would be the question of “what would you choose” at the heat of the moment. I would not mince details but this is at the climax of the movie which was executed beautifully that left me holding my breath and waited in anticipation for whats going to happen next.
Overall Verdict
Suzume is definitely a must watch movie and Makoto Shinkai did not fail to deliver. A movie with his direction is an absolute block-office hit no doubt. The story revolved around a high-school girl who got caught up with the supernatural accidentally and made a decision to make things right. With obstacles along the way she still stayed true on what she believes is right and her self-growth was something to admire in the movie. There is still an aspect of romance if that is what you are looking for in a Makoto Shinkai movie. There are still those cringey lines and one-liner jokes for the comedy. Everything is a moderate touch of its own which made Suzume a film to remember for 2023. Do not expect too much but it will also not leave you disappointed with the lessons Makoto Shinkai always tell us along the way. Suzume sticked with realism story telling where conflicts with people are tackled and how important attachments to places are in our everyday lives.
Check out Setsu-Ani’s advanced screening coverage for Suzume for more takes from anime fans on whether Suzume is a film for you to watch on the big screen!
Catch Suzume on Philippine cinemas as it is still showing on cinemas going on its first week!
SetsuAni would like to thank Warner Bros. Philippines, Encore Films and SM Cinemas for the opportunity and invitation to be one of the first to watch Suzume here in the Philippines, through the advanced-screening held in Cinema 4 at SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, on the 4th of March 2023.
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