Review of Suzume

While not quite the masterpiece that “Your Name” was, Makoto Shinkai’s second attempt at a Ghibli-esque motion picture surpassed not only his lackluster first attempt, but also his previous blockbuster, the disappointing mediocrity, “Weathering with You.” Suzume is an ode to the survivors of the 3/11 tsunami disaster in Japan. To this day, many of the survivors of that tragedy are orphans who are not quite old enough to be called adults. This film is a monument to the struggles of these kids who grew up with the kind of inner turmoil that begets so many of the tragedy-stricken Japanese. Moreover, it has a surprisingly subtleamount of Christian (or at least, Classical Theistic) undertones that I wasn’t expecting, especially since this world is still penultimately a Shinto pagan one, at least on the surface.

This movie has some flaws that hold it back from excellence. The pacing of the first act is rough. It’s a bit too fast and develops too quickly, but the second and third acts make up for it. (The interlude into the final act is also weak in my opinion) The voice acting is relatively strong, but poor in some places. It’s very obvious that this is Nanoka Hara’s first voice acting gig. Also, the deification of tragedy and spiritualization of natural disasters, though they’re fantastically written and add so much to this movie, were not fleshed out well enough for non-Japanese audiences to grasp what’s going on and understand what everything means. As such, a lot of people will come away thinking there are plot holes in specific places where their are none. (SPOILER EXAMPLE: Such as when Sadaijin suddenly becomes friendly after possessing Tamaki and fighting with Daijin)

Overall, the story is really good. This movie includes some of Shinkai’s better written characters. Good characters are something this director has been historically mediocre at, so this was a pleasant surprise. The protagonist Suzume, in particular, might be his best written character to date across all his films! Unexpectedly, he wrote a surprisingly realistic 17 year old girl with the typical dumb emotional baggage and teenage angst and struggles that come with that, backed up by the weight of being orphaned after a tsunami disaster. Suzume’s trauma invokes a level of depth, emotional development, character growth, and proper dimensionality that make for a compelling female character.

The scene where Suzume visits Souta’s grandfather was brilliant. Excellent dialogue all throughout. That scene alone was a 5/5. The final act, from the moment the 3/11 tragedy comes up and onward is excellent! Every scene with a door or gate opening up to cause an earthquake or tsunami was very good and the Daijin were excellent “villains” for this kind of a narrative. I hope they serve as mascots for Makoto Shinkai’s studio brand.

Even though this isn’t anywhere near as good as Your Name, Suzume is still a very enjoyable movie that I think even non-anime fans will appreciate.

UPDATE: Pretty much everything I said in my review still stands, but after seeing it a second time, I think this film is better than I gave it credit for. As such, I'd now give it a 9 instead of an 8. But I still think the critiques hold up, even more so than before. It's debatable, but I think this truly is a GREAT movie!