Review of Suzume
"Suzume" was added to Crunchyroll on November 16th, 2023. After hearing positive things about it, I decided to give it a watch, and I was thoroughly blown away. Suzume is a coming-of-age story about a small-town girl named Suzume (Take a shot every time I say Suzume in this review), a mysterious young man named Souta, and their adventure traveling Japan, closing mysterious doors that are causing strange earthquakes. Known as "gates", closing them is the main goal of our heroes. The main character, Suzume, is such an amazing character. Her interactions with the rest of the cast are just so charming. Her development over the courseof the film and her resolve were such a joy to watch. I feel like everyone can relate to her on some level. She's just so "human", for lack of a better term. Honestly, she's one of the best anime protagonists I've ever seen. And one I connected with on a deep level. Souta as well is great (and attractive as hell). He's mysterious and intriguing, and he too was incredibly charming throughout the film. As were the side characters. There weren't many; the story mostly focused on Suzume and Souta, but they were also very charming.
Charming is a fitting word to describe this film in all. A charming story about life, progress, and growth. Every time Suzume closes a gate, she grows as a person and gets closer to coming to terms with her childhood trauma. It's a beautiful journey and a beautiful film.
Speaking of beautiful, the animation in this film is next level. I'm not sure I've ever seen an anime that looks so amazing. It genuinely stunned me in this area. Everything about it, from the landscape to the "Ever After," was absolutely beautiful. 11/10 in this regard.
In conclusion, Suzume is a film that absolutely stuck the landing in all regards. I wish I had seen it in theaters. It moved me in a way that I haven't been moved in a long time. I was smiling like an idiot the entire time, and I was crying like a child at the end. It's honestly hard to try to fit all my thoughts into a review, let alone a spoiler-free one. Suzume is easily one of the best movies I've seen in a long, long time. Maybe ever. 10/10.