Film award season tends to offer a rather samey set of films which one can easily categorise. Therefore, upon my weekly Monday cinema trip, I had a choice to make: Go to another drama (Bombshell was the lead) or vary it up and go with a more left field choice… and that’s how we ended up at Weathering With You.

The Anime genre is not one I have ever really endeavoured into. The only film of this form I’ve watched was Spirited Away (which I maintain to be the best animated film ever and one of the great films), so I was going into this film as a novice, willing to give the film a fair chance. This blog is most fun when I’m watching the more obscure options.

So go with me here: Hodako is a 16 year old boy who runs away from home (I’m not sure why) to Tokyo in the Summer. But something strange is afoot. Despite it being Summer, it’s raining non stop and we’re not naive enough to blame climate change. Anyhow, he keeps running into Hani who had a crazy experience in this rooftop shrine where she was transported into the sky by the rain. Anyhow, Hodako soon discovers that she has magic powers with which she can prayer and the sun stops for a while. They then need to balance this great entrepreneurial opportunity with Hodako’s fugitive status and Hani’s love of spreading happiness. This is against the backdrop of Hani slowly disappearing and us knowing that weather maidens have a tragic ending as the two will eventually have to choose between their love and stopping the eternal rain that plagues the city.

“But Joe, this sound’s silly.”. Yes Oliver/Olivia* you’re right. The whole premise is rather silly, but I would argue that such silliness should be explored in animated mediums. Really, as an audience you have two options: Either roll your eyes at the story and just enjoy how pretty the film looks or against all sense of logic you get swept up in it. The plot just about moves around enough to keep you on your toes.

As I was eluding to, the film is rather great to look at. With the main focus being on the weather, the use of light is great at reflecting the emotions. When things are down, the atmosphere is grey within the sky and buildings with maybe only neon signs providing any light. Yet in the hopeful moments where Hani prays, the emerging sun portrays the mood fantastically. All of this adds up to a wonderful to watch conclusion.

The soundtrack offers some wonderful classical music to complement whats on screen well, usually through the use of a single piano and that’s all sweet. There are also a few “J-Pop” songs (Japanese Pop) which, while not my cup of tea, seem to add to the moments of hapiness. It’s just slightly intrusive when the translations of the songs are on the screen along with the dialogue.

There is a fair bit of awkward cringing humour which a quick google suggests is a regular occurrence in anime. I guess the sort of humour appeals to the usual anime audience, but for what feels like a family film, there is a fair amount of talk about breasts. However, there also was similar obsession in the brilliant Shoplifters, so maybe it’s a cultural thing**.

Summary

While part of you will wonder why you’re watching this “tosh”, a bigger part of you will get swept away in this wonderful looking piece of animation which all culminates in a satisfying ending. [Grade: B]

*Most common baby names in the UK, I used statistics to guess you.

** I really don’t know whether it is, so you are free to challenge/correct me if I’m wrong.