Your Name: Tradition, Modernity And Mythology

Your name is a Japanese animated film released in theaters in 2016. Director Makoto Shinkai is also the author of the short story on which the film is based.

Your name is, to date, the blockbuster Japanese animated film in history, and has received numerous critical praise. What is the reason for this great success?

If we see the film from a Western perspective, we probably won’t be able to grasp all its meanings. Beyond the story of love and connection between two young people, Your name showcases a series of elements that shape the history of Japan. For this, the film acquires greater importance for the public of his country.

Even if we will hardly understand the depth of the message that transpires in every facet, the story it tells is universal and capable of capturing everyone. It is important not to be skeptical before starting: we often get carried away by appearances and we tend to ignore animated films, without giving them an opportunity.

Even if the protagonists of Your name are two teenagers, the film does not intend to portray this phase of life, nor to delve into its problems. In fact, it is not a typically youthful or childish film, on the contrary, the script is good and the drawings are exceptional. The animation looks like a photograph and merges with the story.

Your name , between tradition and modernity

The film begins with the presentation of Mitsuha, a young teenager who lives in a small town called Itomori. Tired of life in her country and its traditions, Mitsuha dreams of being a boy from Tokyo.

Desires, however bizarre they may seem, sometimes come true. Mitsuha begins to have strange dreams in which she abandons her body and rural life to incarnate herself in Taki, a young resident of Tokyo.

We soon discover that Taki is a real boy and that those vivid dreams are actually the result of an exchange between the two: Taki sometimes wakes up in Mitsuha’s body and vice versa.

This personal exchange is happening with increasing frequency, and young people start sending reminders to each other on their mobile phones with suggestions for their everyday life. This shows how imagination can still make room for itself in the contemporary world.

The appearance of state-of-the-art technological elements reinforces this vision. Reality and fantasy come together on the screen. These exchanges represent at the same time a connection with the dream, with the night. In the world of dreams, everything is possible, and at night, the most magical events occur.

Many traditions associate the time of twilight with magical or supernatural events, where the subtle light that separates day and night is believed to be a portal between two worlds. A moment in which reality can merge with fantasy, life with death. Not surprisingly, the symbolism of twilight is often mentioned throughout the film.

In Itomori the ancestral traditions are still strongly rooted, in fact we will see Mitsuha intent on preparing sake in the ancient style, that is, chewing the grains of rice and then spitting them out and letting them rest. In the Japanese tradition, this drink was prepared by young virgins, and had magical connotations. In the film we see it associated with the concept of divinity.

One of the keys of the film concerns the two main scenarios, Tokyo and Itimori. Tokyo is one of the most modern and technological cities in the world, but rooted in a country full of traditions and ancestral cultures.

Too often it happens to associate Japan only with the metropolis, forgetting its immense culture. Even Mitsuha has a completely idealized image of the big city and rejects its origins.

Your name blends tradition and modernity, allowing them to meet through the two protagonists and the particular story it tells us. Far beyond the exchange of bodies, the plot takes on a new dimension when the two boys decide to meet. At this point, the adventures will take on a new meaning and will lead us in search of the impossible.

The legend of the red thread

In the context of fiction it is possible to represent the impossible, but always maintaining a certain degree of verisimilitude. In some scenes of Your Name , however, the likelihood seems to fail, risking to create a certain confusion in the viewer. The jumps from one scenario to another can confuse him and there is no shortage of inconsistencies in the plot.

The film compensates for these inconsistencies by referring to Japanese mythology, to the magical and fantastic element. Even only for the quality of its drawings and the detail of the images that, at times, seem real photographs, Your name deserves to be seen. It does not want to be a rational and logical story, but rather to become an expression of feelings, magic and love.

In the Eastern tradition, there is an ancestral legend that two people are connected to each other through a red thread. An imperceptible but indestructible thread: it can be knotted, pulled … but it never breaks. It accompanies the two people from birth and connects them for eternity. Whatever happens, even if physically distant, the people at both ends of the star wire are bound to meet.

This legend is not directly mentioned in the film, but it is clear from the start. One of the oldest traditions of Itomori is the weaving of ropes; Mitsuha always carries a red rope with her which she will throw at Taki at a given moment. Thanks to this bond, they will be able to evoke reminiscence, or the idea of ​​being in the presence of something that has been known in another place or at another time.

In the West, the concept of a soul mate is perhaps best known, and it is precisely the special connection between the two protagonists that is also highlighted thanks to the presence of the red thread. A bond that can overcome barriers of space and time, and that manages to create a new destiny in which it seemed impossible for the two to meet.

Your name , the universality of love

A story of this magnitude and told through the eyes of two teenagers risks falling into banality and parody. Yet the film successfully tells a universal story, as well as demonstrating that even in the most artificial and technological world there is room for love and feelings.

The beauty of the images accompanies the plot creating a poetic setting, making us forget the initial confusion to sink into the feelings. The magic of the stars, nature, the universe and contact with spirituality are manifested in the film, leading us to forget for a moment our usual skepticism.

To all this we must add the interesting initial point of view, the “knowing each other through the eyes of the other”, putting yourself in another person’s shoes. Mitsuha wants to escape from Itomori, but Taki will be captivated by the beauty of the place. Likewise, Taki is barely aware of the infinite possibilities a city like Tokyo has to offer, and Mitsuha will find new opportunities in every corner. The world changes depending on the perspective from which you look at it.

Your name also leaves room for moments of hilarity that break with the sweetness of the narrative. The director thus brings the right realism necessary not to sweeten the plot too much. Dreams, feelings, imagination and youth are the protagonists of a film that, even if full of mythological and traditional imprints, transmits a universal message to us.