Review of Suzume

For those who haven't watched any of Makoto Shinkai's movie, or if you have did but wondering if it's worth to give a watch, then I highly recommend to watch it when you have a chance! (IF YOU NEED A SMALL SPOILER ON HOW THE ROMANCE LOOKS LIKE IN THIS MOVIE, YOU CAN READ IN THE LAST PARAGRAPH OF THIS REVIEW :D) As usual, the plot of the movie is like the typical Makoto's supernatural movies ("Your Name", "Weathering With You"), where the two main characters, one male and one female, have their paths crossed, getting involved in one of the party's supernatural event, helping each other,develops their romantical relationship as they spend time together throughout the couple of events, and then reunites in the end with now strong bond of relationship (not gonna explain how in order to avoid spoiling). However, in terms of romance, you won't expect 'that same thing' you might have seen in "Your Name'. But no worries, both parties still do show their feelings of not wanting to be separated.

In terms of animation, I don't know how to explain how great it is. The animated the scenery really reallly well. Since the events of the story are set in multiple locations throughout Japan (Miyazaki, Ehime, Kobe, Tokyo, and Tohoku), you can definitely see how well they made the scenery very close to the real life scenery (I mean, of course all locations presented in the movie are the real life places too). The abandoned places are also the same as the ones in real life (except the one in Tokyo, if not mistaken).

What about music? Great! As expected from RADWIMPS. I really loved the background musics used throughout the movie. Also loved the real songs used in that road trip part. Listen to the theme song "Suzume" and you'll be impressed.

In terms of story, like I said, it's the typical Makoto's style of story. Character development is not a main focus of his story. The relationship development of main characters and the progression of the supernatural event for sure are the main focus. Only the thing is, the development of main characters' relationship is not shown in the typical way we usually see, since, well, uh, because of 'that thing' happened (not gonna spoil here, you need to see it yourself and know why I said that). Still, the story is enjoyable regardless.

In conclusion, "Suzume" is a great piece of work by Makoto. Despite lacking in some aspects, it's still not on the level that ruin my enjoyment watching this movie. I only hope that he atleast make a short OVA which focuses how the main characters are doing after the end of the movie so the fans can get happy to see the ship is officially sailing.

I rated the movie 9.5/10, but I think I'll give the remaining 0.5 anyways hahaha. So yep, I rate it 10/10 ;)

(SMALL SPOILER BEGINS HERE)

[spoiler]It looks like the female main character has love at first sight on the hero (male main character) in the beginning. How strong her love is? Well, she did turn around to search for him after their first encounter. She also didn't bother to have a long trip alongside him to help him resolve the issue. She even isn't scared to do that supernatural thing as long as she can have a chance to save the hero. Also, she did said to her aunt that she's going to meet the person she likes. So there you go, the romance is quite good here. There is more, but see the rest by yourself.[/spoiler]