I recently had the chance to see this film on a trip to Japan, and it inspired me so much that I created an IMDb account just to review it.
As a long-time Makoto Shinkai fan, I loved Your Name but was disappointed in Weathering With You. I can confidently say that Suzume is an absolute masterpiece. It's the best Shinkai movie so far!
Suzume is a film about a protagonist who goes on a journey to "close the doors" on disasters. It should be noted that this is not a romance movie. While I won't spoil whether any romantic elements come into play, this is primarily a story about Suzume's adventure and finding closure/moving on in life.
This is also very different from Your Name and Weathering With You. Gone are the RADWIMPS insert songs; in their place is a phenomenal orchestral score (my personal favorite soundtrack in a Shinkai film). While Your Name was a masterpiece in its own right, this one is on a whole new level.
While there are some structural similarities, I would caution everyone not to expect Your Name 2.0 as that is not the kind of movie Suzume is trying to be. I will also say that a certain traumatic event in recent Japanese history has a role in this one, so some Japanese audience members might have a hard time with parts of the story. Finally, I didn't catch any cameos from his previous entries (unless they were hidden in the background somewhere?). If these three points do not deter you, I would highly recommend watching it in theaters (whenever it is available in your location).
Suzume is the most visually stunning anime film I have ever seen: I can't overstate just how incredible it looks! And Suzume and Sota are my favorite leads in a Shinkai work as well. If you have already watched this masterpiece, I implore you to sign on here and rate it a 10/10 -- it deserves a score much, much higher that the 8.0/10 it currently has on IMDb. Not only is this my new favorite anime film, it's one of my favorite films of all time, period.
As a long-time Makoto Shinkai fan, I loved Your Name but was disappointed in Weathering With You. I can confidently say that Suzume is an absolute masterpiece. It's the best Shinkai movie so far!
Suzume is a film about a protagonist who goes on a journey to "close the doors" on disasters. It should be noted that this is not a romance movie. While I won't spoil whether any romantic elements come into play, this is primarily a story about Suzume's adventure and finding closure/moving on in life.
This is also very different from Your Name and Weathering With You. Gone are the RADWIMPS insert songs; in their place is a phenomenal orchestral score (my personal favorite soundtrack in a Shinkai film). While Your Name was a masterpiece in its own right, this one is on a whole new level.
While there are some structural similarities, I would caution everyone not to expect Your Name 2.0 as that is not the kind of movie Suzume is trying to be. I will also say that a certain traumatic event in recent Japanese history has a role in this one, so some Japanese audience members might have a hard time with parts of the story. Finally, I didn't catch any cameos from his previous entries (unless they were hidden in the background somewhere?). If these three points do not deter you, I would highly recommend watching it in theaters (whenever it is available in your location).
Suzume is the most visually stunning anime film I have ever seen: I can't overstate just how incredible it looks! And Suzume and Sota are my favorite leads in a Shinkai work as well. If you have already watched this masterpiece, I implore you to sign on here and rate it a 10/10 -- it deserves a score much, much higher that the 8.0/10 it currently has on IMDb. Not only is this my new favorite anime film, it's one of my favorite films of all time, period.