Your Name

Your Name (2016) is a Japanese animated romantic fantasy drama film written and directed by Makoto Shinkai and produced by CoMix Wave Films. The story follows two high school students—Taki Tachibana, a boy living in Tokyo, and Mitsuha Miyamizu, a girl from the rural town of Itomori—who mysteriously begin to switch bodies at random. As they adjust to living each other’s lives, a deep connection forms between them. But just as they begin to truly understand each other, the body-swapping suddenly stops. Taki’s search for Mitsuha leads to the discovery of a shocking truth: Itomori was destroyed by a comet years ago, and Mitsuha is no longer alive—at least not in his present timeline. This revelation triggers a desperate attempt to rewrite fate and reconnect across time and space. The film blends Shinkai’s signature visual style—hyper-detailed backgrounds, lush lighting, and emotionally charged montages—with themes of memory, longing, fate, and natural disaster. The emotional core is driven by the question of whether human connections can transcend time and catastrophe. The soundtrack, composed by RADWIMPS, became a cultural phenomenon in its own right, perfectly capturing the tone and narrative beats of the film. Your Name was a box office juggernaut, grossing over ¥41.4 billion ($382 million USD) worldwide, making it the highest-grossing anime film of all time globally (until it was surpassed by Demon Slayer: Mugen Train in 2020). It topped box offices in Japan, China, and South Korea, and had strong performances in Europe and North America, despite a limited release. Critically, the film received universal acclaim. It holds a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 79 on Metacritic. Critics praised its breathtaking animation, emotionally resonant story, and seamless blending of genres—from romantic comedy and sci-fi to disaster thriller and teen drama. The narrative’s structure and emotional impact were frequently compared to Western classics like The Lake House and Inception, but with a uniquely Japanese sensibility. Your Name won numerous awards, including Best Animated Feature at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Best Screenplay at the Japan Academy Prize, and the Grand Prize for Animation at the Japan Media Arts Festival. It was also shortlisted for the Oscars, although it did not receive a nomination for Best Animated Feature—a point of controversy among fans and critics. The film’s legacy is monumental. It launched Makoto Shinkai into international stardom and redefined what anime could achieve both artistically and commercially on the global stage. It sparked tourism in the real-life locations depicted in the film, inspired merchandise, parodies, and fan art, and even led to a Hollywood live-action remake (in development as of 2025). Your Name is now considered a modern classic—an emotionally powerful, visually stunning film that balances intimate human drama with cosmic stakes.