Review of Suzume

Beautiful animation and some GREAT music that reminded me of Nier Automata and Monster Hunter. The plot is kind of unfocused though and I wanted to care about the characters a lot more than I actually did. Despite that, the ending is good and there's a theme running through the movie about tragedy and connecting to the past that deserves contemplation. Makoto Shinkai also once again made me fall in love with his animated vision of Tokyo and the Japanese countryside. It's one of those movies that blows it out of the park in some aspects but is a letdown in others. I wish it haddelivered more substantial character moments throughout the movie rather than just near the end. A large part of Suzume felt like it was just going through the motions - as pretty as they were - rather than exploring what makes its main characters compelling. I hope that Shinkai's next project is smaller in scope so that he and his team can focus on creating great characters and a tight story rather than getting caught up in moving from spectacle to spectacle.