Written by Nauman Abbas
Weathering With You is a follow up to a previously hit anime Your Name by Makoto Shinkai, which was the first movie to cross the $100 million mark that was not produced by Hayao Miyazaki. Both movies have a lot in common, but to compare them with each other would be unfair to Weathering With You as it has something different to offer.
The story revolves around an adolescent boy and a girl who first meet each other at a restaurant. Set in 21st century Japan, the movie provides a thrilling romantic experience with great music and imagery that’ll surely keep you away from your phone for two hours. A teenage boy, Hodaka runs away from his home to the chaotic metropolis; Tokyo. Under the grey sky of the city, he struggles to make a living and ends up at the door of Keisuke, whom he meets earlier on a yacht en-route to Tokyo. Keisuke provides him with shelter and food in exchange for his duties as an assistant. But everything changes when he tries to protect Hina (the sun-shine girl) who with her mysterious powers can pray away the grey skies.
The two together start a business in which they set up a website where they sell her mysterious gift on an acceptable bargain. Hina provides the clients a bit of blue sky, stopping the downpour temporarily in order for outdoor activities to continue. But neither Hina nor Hodaka are aware of the consequences that await them in exchange for this power. The details of buildings, the animations, everything is done in such superb details that one may find the environment in the movie magnificent in comparison to real life. However, there’s something much more important in these details that gets overshadowed by the romance of the two teenagers.
Small floods, rusted metal surfaces, greenery in abandoned, and overgrown buildings reflect a state of disaster. This aspect of the story is only portrayed through the environment and not highlighted directly. People unaware or rather neglecting everything else starts to rely heavily on the sunshine girl Hina to come to their rescue. Weathering With You however, fails to create a concrete response and ends with a diffuse ending by sacrificing the fate of the whole humanity for the sake of her beloved. Though no matter how selfish this may seem, it surely qualifies for an amazing romantic story.
The movie has some amazing tracks by Radwimps who were also behind the soundtracks of Your Name. These songs ignite the emotional teen drama in the movie leading to an awe-inspiring moment among the viewers but with a slightly less impact compared to Your Name. The responsibility of the whole world rests on their shoulders and it’s not fair on them as they’re only young. The adults have let them down and even acted as obstacles; preventing them from being together and leaving the world to drown.
Hodaka and Hina found refuge in each other, casting the real world away. Whether they were successful or not in dealing with the environmental catastrophe that awaits them is for you to find out.
