MovieChat Forums > Kimi no Na wa. (2017) Discussion > Am I the only one who was... disappointe...

Am I the only one who was... disappointed? (spoilers)

posted 8 years ago by marimomo
2 replies | jump to latest

I've seen many Japanese animated films, and they've always blown me away with their exceptional artwork, the fantastical and foreign worlds, the extraordinary characters, and, most importantly, the subtle but deep emotions and themes. I guess that’s what I expected of this film too... but I was disappointed.

Here are some reasons as to why I was not blown away by this film:

SPOILERS AHEAD

1. It was so, so cheesy.

Japanese films are generally really good at subtlety. It’s one of the main reasons I appreciate their films. They present their themes and messages in a subtle way. They don’t shove it down your throat. Instead, they seem to come to you as the story unfolds. However, this film spoon-fed you the themes/messages, then shoved it down your throat so deeply that you were probably choking. The characters constantly talk about their intentions, like the audience hasn’t already figured it out for themselves. This is what I’m going to do. Oh no, this is what will happen if I do this. Wow, this means this. This is the message of the film.

We can figure it out for ourselves – most of the time, we already have.

One of the cheesiest moments of the film has to be the scene where they’re screaming about each other’s names and trying to remember the times they spent together. That was so cheesy. It was like hammering into our heads the title and theme of the film. When they kept asking themselves, “What was your name again? What was it? Your name… Your name…!” I was cringing so badly. When the female protagonist tripped and fell (typical, sigh) and she opened her hand to reveal the words “I like you,” my heart wasn’t fluttering. I was sitting there cringing. It was as though a k-drama/j-drama writer had taken over the script and tried to fill it up with fluffy drama moments.

2. Unconvincing main couple

Did Mitsuha and Taki have chemistry? Do you think they belonged together? Their desperate need and want for each other – was it convincing?

Not to me. I didn’t feel, at any point in the film, that they were meant to be, that they were fated to be together. The problem is that there was no real development in their relationship. The only convincing and developing romantic relationship lines that seemed to exist were Taki-Miki senpai, and Mitsuha-Teshi. I was actually invested in those two relationship lines, because those couples were always together and THINGS WERE ACTUALLY HAPPENING BETWEEN THEM.

I mean, yeah, Taki and Mitsuha would probably look cute together, but when do they even interact? When each of them started crying, I was like, wait what? At first I thought Mitsuha had gotten so close to Miki senpai that she wanted to be the one dating her, not Taki. When did they even start liking each other, and why? How? Where’s the moment they fall for each other? Where are the beats in their relationship line? All they have is this yearning to meet each other. I’d like to have called it ‘fate’, but even fate needs to be told in a convincing story for the audience to believe that the two characters are destined to be together. The two don’t seem to have any growing feelings for each other throughout the film until the point they suddenly start crying and they’re suddenly desperate to see each other. No development. Just BOOM, suddenly they’re in love and they can’t live without each other. It wasn’t convincing.

The story started off well, then crawled towards a story that felt forced and full of fluff. Instead of a natural build up towards the climax/resolution, it felt like the writer had just pulled out separate bits of fluff and tried to stick them together into one film.

A Japanese animated film about time travel and romance that I WOULD definitely recommend, is The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

Thanks for reading my opinion. :)

[–] sayen_shin 8 years ago

I just finished the movie and I agree with you. The best parts were shown through montages and sentimental music suggesting you to feel in a certain way. The premisse was very clear and great, but I personally found a lack of interest for most characters. I won't elaborate too much, but

The two don’t seem to have any growing feelings for each other throughout the film until the point they suddenly start crying and they’re suddenly desperate to see each other. No development. Just BOOM, suddenly they’re in love and they can’t live without each other. It wasn’t convincing.

I completely agree with you.

Though it was still a fun ride, I think it's nowhere near the subtlety of Miyazaki-san (since they're comparing both directors).

[–] svalinanikola 8 years ago

Japanese films are generally really good at subtlety. It’s one of the main reasons I appreciate their films. They present their themes and messages in a subtle way. They don’t shove it down your throat. Instead, they seem to come to you as the story unfolds. However, this film spoon-fed you the themes/messages, then shoved it down your throat so deeply that you were probably choking. The characters constantly talk about their intentions, like the audience hasn’t already figured it out for themselves. This is what I’m going to do. Oh no, this is what will happen if I do this. Wow, this means this. This is the message of the film.

I dunno which movies you watched, but for me, it's the opposite. I don't find the messages subtle etc., especially in animes (a lot of the animes and movies do have the parts where the characters talk about their intentions etc.).

This was no different. I felt the same about certain horror movies of their, also some other asian movies like Oldboy, I Saw the Devil, The Handmaiden, Ringu, Ju-On, The Host etc. Certain sentences are repeated all the time (like in Oldboy, the whole "laughing part", the whole revenge stuff etc. in that movie also wasn't presented in a subtle way).

Ju-On is only confusing because of the way the story is presented, out of order and not because the movie is actually super subtle or deep. It's a supernatural slasher movie that tries to be unnecessarily complicated.

Or how about Kairo? The part where one of the characters talks about a weird computer screen saver or whatever it was. Saying how when the two rings come close, they disappear. It's not hard to understand that's about what the ghosts do to the person and how that's one of the themes in the movie, loneliness. Even the ghost at the end says how the afterlife was loneliness.

Or in The Haindmaiden when characters think the other character is an idiot etc. It's not so hard to understnad. They all talk about their intentions out loud or we hear their thoughts. That movie also spells everything out in the end. There's no room for doubt. You know everything.

How is that hard to understand?

How about Harakiri (1962)? It's a great movie, but can you really tell that it was so subtle that you had to watch it multiple times to catch everything you missed?

No, it's the same thing you complained about, the characters talk about their motivations or the motivations of the other characters. The theme it presents is clear to anyone, especially during the ending.

Outside of some Miike movies, I don't wonder "What's the meaning of this?" after watching asian movies, I figure it out during the movie.

I really don't share your point of view. Can you list some that you thought were subtle?

Does that make them any less good? No. But the whole "Asian subtleness" and stuff like that is really overblown.

It's like when people say "Black guy dies first in horror movies". But the truth is, if you watched a lot of horror movies, you'll find out that's not the case. Sure, black characters die, but they rarely die first. But seeing how much people bring up that "cliche" you'd think it happens a lot. It really doesn't.