Weathering With You Is a Beautifully Animated, Endearing Love Story With a Thought-Provoking Message

Japanese Film Maker Makoto Shinkai captured audiences throughout the world with 2016's Your Name and he now follows up the film with 2020's Weathering With You. The film focuses on teenage Hodaka who runs away from home to a modern-day Tokyo that has seen nonstop rain for a significant amount of time. Hodaka lives on the streets unable to obtain a place to stay until he finds work as a writer for an urban legend magazine. Rumors spread of a mysterious Sunshine Girl, who can control the weather. Hodaka's life is soon changed when he meets Hina, a girl who possesses the very same power to stop the rain. Weathering With You is an incredible experience that uses beautiful animation to tell a story that is both an endearing tale about young love and an allegory for the struggles that young people face today.


One of Weathering's greatest accomplishments is the way it beautifully portrays the city of Tokyo both in its animation and in the story. The weather that envelops the city is gorgeously animated with the rain's breathtaking detail and aggressive pouring directly contrasting with the bright sunlight that brings out the lush, vivid colors of Tokyo and its inhabitants. Shinkai and his team masterfully highlight the natural beauty of weather alongside its potentness within the film through its stunning animation.



Tokyo is as much of a character as Hodaka and Hina with the drastic changes of the weather both influencing the two's actions throughout the film and reflecting their emotional states as well. Sick and tired of the monotony of his life in a remote village, Hodaka leaves to Tokyo in search of a more fulfilling lifestyle. However, the reality of the situation soon cements himself and his limited funds only carry him so far before he reaches a state of poverty. The excessive rain emphasizes the disparity of Hodaka's situation and actively makes his issue of homelessness worse. This lack of security heightened by forces outside of one's control is a struggle that many young people in today's environment can relate to. It seems as if there's no hope outside of this situation for Hodaka until he eventually finds a place to work and through that, Hina.



Hodaka and Hina both find themselves in similar situations with Hina recently losing her mother and working to support herself and her younger brother. After a chance encounter between the two, Hina reveals her power to temporarily stop the rain and bring sunlight and the two work together to use that power to help others while also obtaining an income to support themselves. Hodaka and Hina's relationship strengthens due to their similar situation and shared goal and it becomes the most endearing part of the movie.

Both characters are at an age where they want to mature and find their place in the world but are left to fend for themselves despite their lack of life experience. They find solace in each other because of this and throughout the film, they grow to become an incredibly engaging couple. Their innocence and sincerity make their interactions extremely entertaining with the interactions between them and the supporting cast being just as great. From Hina's little brother giving advice to Hodaka on his sister to the familial relationship between Hodaka's dual caretaker and employer, Weathering greatly utilizes heartwarming comedy and creates emotionally moving moments with its cast. Japanese music group, RADWIMPS's soundtrack also works fantastically with the film. Each track highlights the tone of the scene its placed in with the vocal tracks throughout the movie really bringing out the emotion in certain scenes.



Hodaka and Hina still face extreme challenges throughout the film given how both live as minors without a legal guardian alongside Hodaka's missing person status. The use of Hina's powers soon shows consequences of its own as well and these three factors combined make for an emotional rollercoaster of a final act. Nearly all of the turmoil that the two face are results of factors completely out of their control, much like the weather itself. Makoto Shinkai uses this aspect of Weathering With You to highlight today's rising concerns with climate change. Shinkai describes the weather as "something hostile to humans, something we have to prepare against." and this can accurately describe many of the challenges young people face today as well. Whether it be situations that affect each of us as a society such as the state of the economy or our own personal trials, young people around the world constantly face problems that weren't caused by them. However, Weathering With You doesn't ask the viewer what to do to stop these issues but rather if we are willing to live our lives to the fullest in spite of these problems. This approach to the conversation is incredibly interesting and gives the film a unique message that can resonate among people from across several different walks of life.

Weathering With You is an outstanding film that tells the emotional story of a young, budding relationship alongside a thought-provoking message about the world we live in. It's gorgeous cinematography and beautiful storytelling make it an absolute must-see for fans of animation with its and even non-anime fans will be able to enjoy it as well.

Weathering With You's Fan Preview Showings are on January 15th and 16th with regular screenings beginning January 17th. Find a local theater through the GKIDS website.