Review of Suzume

Makoto Shinkai's newest movie is nothing beyond the usual CoMix tropes. That's why it is good and well directed. The story revolves around Iwato Suzume, a 17-year old schoolgirl who lives with Tamaki, her aunt, and Munakata Souta, a college student that wants to be a teacher in the future. One day, Suzume finds Souta in her way to school, and the boy asks her if she knows about an abandoned area; such place was unknown to her until she found out about it after arriving to school. In its center there was a door, such door was standing on its own, just like anotherone she saw in her childhood, while searching for her mother. There, she finds a cat totem in the area, and picks it without being aware of the nature of that item. A couple of hours later, Suzume finds Souta trying to close the previously mentioned door, while a red slither was making its way out of the door. After succeeding in the task, Souta explains that he is a guardian that needs to close doors around Japan, and Suzume decides to treat his wounds in her house. This is when our story is established and explained.

The movie has a nice flow and progression. We have an understanding of both protagonists lives and backgrounds. There is a crescent and mutual friendship that grows more as they go through difficult situations in their task, and some allies give them support on their way. The soundtrack is fresh and immersive, basically the usual in Shinkai's movies, just like the animation quality; it is beautiful and a virtual machine wallpaper material.

There are a couple of points that always get away unexplained though, like the doors concepts, why they exist, the motive why Daijin (the totem cat) was seen as "bad" through more than half of the movie, etc. Some events could be better explained, in my opinion. However, the positive points outweigh the issues.

The reconciliation between Suzume and Tamaki is one of the best moments in the story, the thoughts both characters held from one another come to life in a difficult time in the story. Serizawa Tomoya, Souta's friend, helps the protagonists and gives some funny moments through the movie. The climax, when Suzume finds her way to save Souta, can be a bit forced considering the short time both had together, but it establishes their bond in a touching way.

Suzume no Tojimari is a good movie. It was a fun ride for me, who just left left the theater, and is one of the reasons why Shinkai's works are so amusing to me, even with some reused ideas and concepts. Maybe that's why this movie is good, because above everything it wants to tell a story without being pretentious or trying to stray its way from the actual point.

Thank you for reading.