For me, there's life before Your Name and life after Your Name. Back in 2016, I was still dipping my toes into anime's deep waters – Death Note, Fullmetal Alchemist, and a host of other 'beginner' must-see series – before being emotionally sideswiped by Makoto Shinkai's masterpiece.
In one fell swoop, it became the first anime to legitimately trouble my movie Mount Rushmore (or, if you're that way inclined, your Letterboxd four favorites), proving that Japanese animation was something altogether more profound than I had ever anticipated. It was the start of a long and beautiful journey with Shinkai's movies and the medium at large. But, a decade on, his best-known work remains his peak.
For the unfamiliar, Your Name takes in the unlikely story of star-crossed lovers Taki, a city boy with his head in the clouds, and Mitsuha, who has grown tired of growing up alongside the slower, traditional values of older generations.
Shinkai wisely chooses to flick back and forth between the pair. The hustle and bustle of Tokyo quickly meshes with the quieter, quainter surroundings of rural Japan.
Not since 1980s classic Akira has a sprawling city been so well realized in all its angular, mechanical beauty. And not since My Neighbor Totoro has a pastoral setting tempted me to up sticks and leave it all behind.
If that was the only story the acclaimed director chose to tell here – one of long-distance yearning and of a country desperately trying to hold onto its past – it would work. Your Name becomes so much more than that, however.
Immediately, twists fold in on themselves and constantly surprise. One I feel comfortable mentioning, introduced early, sees a Freaky Friday situation unfold as Taki and Mitsuha swap bodies. Hilarious results ensue but, as the pair grow closer, something more intangible – and magical – begins to course through the movie's veins.
Stars in their eyes
It's here where I should mention Radwimps, the Japanese rock band who provide the soundtrack for Your Name.
Music and movies have long been intertwined, but few collaborations elevate what's on the screen more than the musicians' dreamy, ethereal sound here.
As news of an impending celestial event sparks trouble – with Shinkai executing an all-timer of a rug pull that deserves to be spoken about in the same breath as The Sixth Sense – the score resonates even more strongly. So much so, in fact, there are certain songs that I have to skip on Spotify, such is the strength of feeling it still causes a decade on.
Your Name then turns from a simple love story into one of ethereal connection. In a world so ready to spread division, Your Name fights against the current of hate to stand as a monolith to opening your heart so fully and truly to those around you.
More than anything, Shinkai gets love. It's not necessarily being in the same space, as Taki and Mitsuha prove that heartfelt feelings can transcend time, space, and the stars in the sky. It's one of the truest depictions of that sort of intimate, spiritual bond that has ever been put on screen.
It's heartening to see, then, that 10 years on, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End has picked up the baton with its cozy themes of connection and the legacy of leaving your mark on someone else's life being more powerful than anything else.
Shinkai went on to create Weathering With You and Suzume, but never quite hit those heights again in my eyes. The former feels like a diluted Your Name – complete with cameos from some familiar faces – while Suzume is a deeply affecting work, but its dissection of the trauma and widespread devastation of the 2011 tsunami understandably doesn't quite register as universally with its audience, despite its tragic nature.
Your Name continues to stand alone. It is a singular, generation-defining work that I can heartily recommend to everyone. A powerful love story, a surprising fantasy classic, and a pitch-perfect ode to waning Japanese culture wrapped into one, Your Name ties its red ribbon around its audience, ensuring they will always remember the first time they watched it – and how it will remain with them forever.
We rank Your Name and 29 other classics in our ranking of best anime movies.
