Review of Suzume

"It might be tough moving forward, but at the end of a seemingly endless dark night, there will be morning." The Story [6/10]: While the story was intriguing, it felt disjointed in terms of following the supernatural plot and romance. The romance, though seemingly present, didn't actually exist in the film. Nonetheless, it conveys a beautiful message that no matter how low one falls, they can always rise back up with the help of their loved ones. Music [8/10]: Radwimps always creates beautiful music, but in this film, compared to Weathering With You, the music didn't hit as hard in terms of its placement. The music lacked the emotionalimpact of songs like "Grand Escape," which had a powerful message of Hodaka catching Hina or Your Name's ending song that panned up with the credits. However, while the music was still good and it was interesting to see other Japanese artists on the car journey, the fact that Spotify was a sponsor may have affected the usual formula with Radwimps instrumental/vocal tracks in this dynamic.

Visuals / Artstyle [10/10]:
As always, the visuals and art style were stunning. This anime will undoubtedly be featured in social media edits of visuals synced with music all over Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.

Character Development [4/10]:
Unfortunately, the anime's character development was lacking. While the protagonist's message was well-built, the romance was unconvincing, as there was hardly any interaction between the two characters. Though it was nice to see new characters introduced along the journey, it would have been more effective to focus on the dynamic between the two leads to evoke a stronger emotional response.

Conclusion [7/10]:
Despite seeing the film on the big screen, which is always an incredible experience, I was not as engrossed in the story as I was with Your Name and Weathering With You, where I could feel the characters' dynamic relationships. There were moments that nearly moved me to tears, but the lack of character development did not justify my emotions for the characters' relationships, only for the characters themselves. This is still a good watch but I will likely not rewatch this as much as Weathering With You and Your Name. Leading me to give this a high 6