Weathering With You

"This is the story of the world's secret that only she and I know."

- Hodaka Morishima; Tagline

Weathering With You (天気の子) is a 2019 Japanese animated romance/fantasy film written and directed by Makoto Shinkai. The film was produced by Genki Kawamura, and the music was composed by RADWIMPS.

The film was released in Japan on July 19, 2019, one day after the publication of the light novel. A manga adaptation illustrated by Watari Kubota was first serialized in Kodansha's Afternoon on July 25 the same year. It was released in 140 countries throughout the world, earning over US$193.1 million worldwide and ¥14.06 billion in Japan. The film was selected as the Japanese entry for Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards. It also received four Annie Award nominations including Best Independent Animated Feature.

The film received generally positive reviews. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 91% rating, with the critics' consensus saying; it is beautifully animated and narratively engaged. On Metacritic, the film also got generally favorable reactions. Individual reviewers have also praised the film for its animation, plot, music, visuals, and use of weather to convey the story's metaphor. Some compared the film with Shinkai's previous work, Your Name., criticizing it for its lack of clarity of vision and unresolved plot threads.

Short
Tokyo is currently experiencing rain showers that seem to disrupt the usual pace of everyone living there to no end. Amidst this seemingly eternal downpour arrives the runaway high school student Hodaka Morishima, who struggles to financially support himself—ending up with a job at a small-time publisher. At the same time, the orphaned Hina Amano also strives to find work to sustain herself and her younger brother.

Both fates intertwine when Hodaka attempts to rescue Hina from shady men, deciding to run away together. Subsequently, Hodaka discovers that Hina has a strange yet astounding power: the ability to call out the sun whenever she prays for it. With Tokyo's unusual weather in mind, Hodaka sees the potential of this ability. He suggests that Hina should become a "sunshine girl"—someone who will clear the sky for people when they need it the most.

Things begin looking up for them at first. However, it is common knowledge that power always comes with a hefty price.

Hodaka Morishima

 * Voiced by: Kotaro Daigo (Japanese); Brandon Engman (English)

Hodaka Morishima (森嶋 帆高) is a freshman at Kōzu-shima high school. He ran away from home by ferry to Tokyo. There is no detailed explanation of the reason for his running away from home in the film. Because he was a runaway and could not present his identification, he could not get a part-time job so he had to spend his days at an Internet cafe. He accidentally picked up a gun believed to have been discarded by Shibata, a criminal who had been arrested for possessing a large number of firearms. Later, he got into trouble with a club owner who was trying to recruit Hina, who was looking for a high paying job. He accidentally fired the handgun, trying to threaten him, but the bullet missed. After finding Keisuke, he was hired by him and got food and shelter. His life in Tokyo was smooth sailing, but he was pursued by the police for two reasons: the fact that the shot was caught on security cameras and his family had reported him missing.

Hina Amano

 * Voiced by: Nana Mori (Japanese); Ashley Boettcher (English)

Hina Amano (天野 陽菜) is a third year junior high school student, born on August 22. She started working part-time at a McDonald's restaurant in Kabukicho, but later she was fired because she falsely represented her age. She was 14 years old when she first met Hodaka, but she told him she would be 18 on her next birthday. By passing through a small shrine gate on the roof of an abandoned building in Yoyogi, she gained the ability to temporarily clear a localized area by praying. But it also came at the cost of her body gradually becoming more transparent with each use of that ability, and turning into water at the end. Initially, she was unaware of this, and even considered the "100% sunshine girl" business to be her calling, but she later realized this when Natsumi showed her a video of a priest of a weather shrine recounting weather maiden lore.

Keisuke Suga

 * Voiced by: Shun Oguri (Japanese); Lee Pace (English)

Keisuke Suga (須賀 圭介) is a middle-aged man who runs a small occult magazine publishing company. He writes articles for weekly occult magazines, but he makes fun of superstitions and the like, and he thinks his readers do not believe in the content of his articles as much as he does. On his way to Tokyo, he rescued Hodaka from almost falling off the ship, which the latter then bought a meal and beer for him in the ship's dining room. When disembarking from the ship, he gave Hodaka his business card. Later, he hired Hodaka as his assistant when he came to visit him. He used the "100% sunshine girl" service to meet his daughter Moka who had been taken in by his mother-in-law Mamiya. Mamiya wouldn't let his daughter visit him on rainy days because she has asthma.

Natsumi Suga

 * Voiced by: Tsubasa Honda (Japanese); Alison Brie (English)

Natsumi Suga (須賀 夏美) is Keisuke's niece and a college student working part-time at his office. Hodaka at first thought she was Keisuke's mistress because of her bewitching appearance, her behavior, calling Keisuke "Kei-chan", and the fact that she raised her little finger when explaining her relationship with Keisuke. In addition to working at the office, she worked hard to get a job, but she was not successful.

Nagi Amano

 * Voiced by: Sakura Kiryu (Japanese); Emeka Guindo (English)

Nagi Amano (天野 凪) is Hina's younger brother studying in fifth grade. At first, he had a bad impression of Hodaka, but when Hina and Hodaka started the "100% sunshine girl" business, he became friends with him. He also became friends with Keisuke's daughter on the very first day they met. Due to his childhood experience, he makes mature comments that are not typical of elementary schoolers. Hodaka calls him "sempai".

Yasui

 * Voiced by: Sei Hiraizumi (Japanese); Mike Pollock (English)

Yasui (安井) is an old, experienced police officer who works with Takai on the investigation. He is a relatively calm man and adopts a persuasion-oriented policy. In the abandoned Yoyogi building scene at the end of the film, he was the only one who holded his gun down when Detective Takai and the others surrounded Hodaka.

Takai

 * Voiced by: Yuki Kaji (Japanese); Riz Ahmed (English)

Takai (高井) is a young detective who works with Yasui on the investigation. He has a high sense of duty as a police officer, but his youth makes his blood easily rise to his head, and he is willing to use any means necessary to arrest Hodaka, even pointing a gun at him or punching him in the face.

Fumi Tachibana

 * Voiced by: Chieko Baisho (Japanese); Barbara Goodson (English)

Fumi Tachibana (立花 冨美) is Taki's grandmother. She wrote on the website of the Sunshine Girl service requesting that the first day of Obon ceremony for her husband be sunny. She then told Hodaka and others, who visited her for the request, that dead people come back from the sky in August. Afterwards, she moved to an apartment west of the submerged area (around Takashimadaira station) because the area of her house was submerged due to heavy rain. She again sent a request to the website. When Hodaka visits her house to inform her that her request could not be accepted, she told him that she believed that the submerged area had been in the sea before the Edo period, and that it had simply returned to its original state. A kumihimo bracelet could be seen on Fumi's right hand in this scene.

Mitsuha Miyamizu

 * Voiced by: Mone Kamishiraishi (Japanese); Stephanie Sheh (English)

Mitsuha Miyamizu (宮水 三葉) is a jewellery saleswoman in the store LUMINE who helps Hodaka figure whether the ring for Hina is suitable. Mitsuha previously appeared in Shinkai's previous film Your Name.

Taki Tachibana

 * Voiced by: Ryunosuke Kamiki (Japanese); Michael Sinterniklaas (English)

Taki Tachibana (立花 瀧) is Fumi's grandson. When he was visiting her grandmother's house for the Obon ceremony for his late grandfather, he encountered Hodaka and Hina who had visited them for the Sunshine Girl job. At that time, he suggested to Hodaka that he give a birthday present to Hina. Taki previously appeared in Shinkai's previous film Your Name.

Inspirations
Makoto Shinkai was inspired by the art of weather of this film, since it is a familiar topic for everybody. Shinkai states that he has been working on creating "a very real entertainment piece that will make you laugh, cry and say". He also says "It’s so thrilling, as well as arouse your intellectual curiosity".

Production
On August 2, 2018, Makoto Shinkai revealed that he has a new feature film in production and would be released the following year. Weathering With You was planned using the storyboarding and pre-production software Toon Boom Storyboard Pro. The film will be produced by Genki Kawamura and Story inc with the production company CoMix Wave Films. It will be distributed by Toho. Weathering With You released after the arson incident in Kyoto Animation's first studio at Uji in the Kyoto Prefecture.

Shinkai tweeted about his admiration for Shikao Suga, and that he "borrowed" the last name for the character Keisuke Suga.

Animation staff
Masayoshi Tanaka, previous character designer for Your Name., will illustrate the characters and dresses. Atsushi Tamura (The Cat Returns, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin) is the animation director and Hiroshi Takiguchi (The Garden of Words) is the art director. Yojiro Noda is the animation storyboard script and lyrics checker. Other key roles are filled by returning crew members from Your Name.

Casting
More than 2,000 Japanese voices actors auditioned for the film's two protagonists, from which Kotaro Daigo (Sakamichi Onoda in the Yowamushi Pedal stage play) and Nana Mori (Hell Girl and Last Letter) were eventually the chosen ones. Other key roles were filled with returning crew members of Your Name. On May 29, 2019, additional cast was announced: Shun Oguri (Keisuke Suga), Tsubasa Honda (Natsumi Suga), Chieko Baisho (Fumi Tachibana), Sakura Kiryu (Nagi Amano), Sei Hiraizumi (Yasui), and Yuki Kaji (Takai).

Recording
The film's voice recording sessions began on April 27, 2019.

Music

 * Main article: Weathering With You OST

Like in Shinkai's Your Name., RADWIMPS wrote and composed the soundtrack and score for the film, writing Is There Still Anything That Love Can Do? as its main theme and ending song. They also collaborated with vocalist Toko Miura for the songs Celebration and Grand Escape.

Marketing
On December 13, 2018, a press conference was held to reveal the film and announce it would be released on July 19, 2019. The first teaser trailer debuted on April 10, exactly 100 days before the premiere. The second trailer was released on May 28. Producer Genki Kawamura presented a work in process screening on June 14, 2019, at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France that was open to industry professionals and students but not the general public. TV Asahi aired footage from the film's opening scene during a reshowing of Shinkai's previous film Your Name. on June 30. Before its screening in Japan, Uniqlo launched special t-shirts with designs inspired by Weathering With You and Shinkai's previous anime films. Weathering With You reportedly promoted multiple products and companies including SoftBank Group, Suntory and Baitoru, in television advertisements. During its screening in Japan, many convenience stores such as Lawson launched food products inspired by the film. Weathering With You screenings in 4DX and MX4D begins from September 27 onwards.

Release
Weathering With You was released in Japan on July 19, 2019, at 9 a.m. (JST) by its distributor Toho on 448 screens in 359 theaters across the country. Theaters in Tokyo's Shinjuku and Osaka's Umeda districts, however, premiered the film at midnight, July 18. Weathering With You official website announced on September 20 that the film would be shown in the popular 4DX and MX4D formats throughout Japan from September 27. The film was produced by Genki Kawamura with the production company CoMix Wave Films and Story Inc. On July 16, it was announced that the film would be released worldwide; releases had already been decided for 140 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, and South America, exceeding the 135 for Your Name.

In Asia, EDKO Films released the film in Hong Kong on August 8, Encore Films streamed a Malay, Chinese, and English-subtitled trailer and announced and released the film in few Southeast Asia countries including; Indonesia on August 21, Vietnam on August 30, Malaysia & Brunei on September 5 and Singapore on September 12. Pioneer Films announced and released the movie in the Philippines on August 28. Producer Genki Kawamura said they want to release it in India because 53,000 people signed a petition requesting its release there. On August 10, director Makoto Shinkai and the official page of Weathering With You announced through Twitter the film would be screened in 20 Indian cities including Mumbai and Delhi from October 11, 2019. PVR Pictures and Bookmyshow-backed theater-on-demand platform Vkaao distributed the film. It was the first mature Japanese animated film to be screened theatrically in India. CJ CGV premiered in South Korea on October 30. Volga Film Company has confirmed it would release the film in Russia on October 31. Thai film distributor Major Group announced the film would open in Thailand on November 7, 2019, but was changed to September 5, 2019. The film has been approved by Beijing's censors and hit Chinese theaters on November 1.

In North America, GKIDS announced that it had acquired the rights of the film and screened an awards-qualifying run in 2019, followed by a theatrical release with Japanese and English-language options on January 17, 2020. The 44th Toronto International Film Festival, which was held from September 5 to 15 in 2019, hosted the North American premiere of the film. As part of the "Special Presentation" category, it is eligible to compete for the People's Choice award. Reportedly Fathom Events released the film in theaters in the United States on January 15 and 16 as a "Special Fan Preview" with special bonus content. GKIDS screened the film in the US at Animation Is Film Festival on October 18, 2019, with Makoto Shinkai in attendance, and it additionally received a one-day IMAX showing.

In Europe, the 67th San Sebastián International Film Festival in Spain hosted the European premiere of the film from September 20 to 28 2019. Anime Limited acquired the UK and Ireland rights of the film, premiering the film at Scotland Loves Anime on October 12, 2019, with a theatrical run in Japanese and English-language options from January 17, 2020. In Italy, Dynit and Nexo Digital released the film theatrically on October 14, 2019. Selecta Visión has licensed it in Spain and screened the film on November 29, 2019. In France, the film was released on January 8, 2020 by Anime Limited and BAC Films. In Germany, the film was released on January 16, 2020 by Universum Film. In Portugal, the film was released on February 20, 2020 by Big Picture Films.

In Australia and New Zealand, Madman Entertainment acquired the rights of the film and began screening it theatrically from August 22, 2019, with encore screenings of the English dub from February 13, 2020.

In the Middle East, Front Row Filmed Entertainment announced that the film will be released on September 10, 2020.

Home Media
The film was released on Blu-ray in Japan on May 27, 2020. A collectors edition included a 4K UHD Disc. English and Chinese subtitles were included. The film was later released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 15, 2020 in North America. The limited edition 4K UHD was released in November 2020. A digital release was on August 4, 2020.

Box Office
During its initial screening in 359 theaters and 448 screens in Japan, Weathering With You sold 1,159,020 tickets to earn ¥1,643,809,400 (approx $15.22 million) in its first three days. It was reported that Weathering With You surpassed Shinkai's previous film, Your Name., which earned ¥1,277,960,000 (about $12.51 million at the time) in its first three days of screening, earning 28.6% more. By August 25, 2019, it had sold eight million tickets and earned ¥10.73 billion (about $101 million). By September 16, 2019, it had earned ¥12.72 billion, ranking eighteenth in the all-time Japanese box-office rankings. By October 2, 2019, the film had sold over 10 million tickets in Japan, after 75 days on the market. By October 20, 2019, it had sold 10.27 million tickets and grossed ¥13.7 billion in Japan. As of 12 April 2020, the film has grossed ¥14.06 billion ($127 million) in Japan.

In China, the film had sold 8,985,208 tickets and grossed $42.4 million in its first 17 days on the market, by November 19, 2019. By the end of November 2019, the film had grossed CN¥288.65 million ($43.6 million) in China. In the United States and Canada, the film has grossed $7,798,743, as of March 15, 2020.

Critical response
Early reviews have given Weathering With You a generally positive response. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 91% based on reviews from 85 critics, with an average rating of 7.38/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Beautifully animated and narratively engaging, Weathering With You further establishes writer-director Makoto Shinkai as a singularly talented filmmaker." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100 based on reviews from 30 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

Brian Ashcraft of Kotaku praised the film, saying; "parts of the movie are incredibly moving and for interweaving Shinto beliefs with contemporary Japanese lifelike praying and performing rituals to god for getting clear weather" but later wrote "the biggest problem that Weathering With You has is this: it’s the follow up to Your Name.". Daryl Harding writing for Crunchyroll News praised the world-building aspect of the film, stating that Shinkai has his finger on the pulse of modern Tokyo's atmosphere, but criticized the similarity between Weathering With You and Your Name.. Kim Morrissy of Anime News Network also gave the film a generally positive review, praising its visuals and use of weather to convey the story's metaphor but criticizing the execution in the second half of the film; she wrote that "Shinkai was evidently constrained by the need to fit his story into a particular template, one that didn't seem to fit the plot this time around". Twwk, reviewing the film for Beneath the Tangles, was mostly positive as well, writing, "The movie isn’t as emotionally powerful as Your Name. due to a screenplay that plays too loose (and lazy) to earn its huge moments, but it’s still heartfelt."

Ollie Barder, writing for Forbes, described the animation of Weathering With You as "incredible" and recognized its ability to bring "Tokyo to life in a uniquely palpable way". Later, he praised Shinkai for his way of depicting "wildlife and naturalistic vistas". James Marsh from South China Morning Post praised the film for its animation but criticized it for its lack of "clarity of vision seen in Your Name.". He described the plot as more straightforward than that of Your Name. but said it has some unanswered, "dangling plot threads". A review by Alicia Haddick for Otaquest praised the film's attempts to differentiate itself from Makoto Shinkai's past work and praised its animation, story and music but said that its reliance on the structure of his last film hurt the movie overall, stating that "it's impossible to discuss this film without the specter of Your Name. hanging over your shoulder". Andrew Paredes, writing for ANC X, praised the film's characters, story, themes, and Makoto Shinkai's directing, saying; "The effusive emotion and Shinto mysticism rubbing up nicely against real-world concerns. And then there’s the animation: Shinkai has outdone himself with this follow-up, presenting Tokyo not just with detailed fidelity, but also with a glow that suggests a lush, lambert inner life." Terence Toh, writing for The Star, praised the film's characters and story, saying; "Weathering With You boasts of wonderful visual and likeable characters. The story is also right as rain."

Light Novelization
On April 30, 2019, Shinkai announced through Twitter he had finished writing a novel adaptation of Weathering With You. It was released in print and in digital format by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko on July 18, 2019. On October 24, 2019, Yen Press announced they had licensed the novel for North American release, in print and in digital format, on December 17.

Manga
A manga adaptation drawn by Watari Kubota began serialization on July 25, 2019, in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon magazine. It was announced that the manga would have a colored opening page.

Trivia
みんな、いそいで てるてる坊主つくって‼️ 👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻✨☀️☀️
 * In the movie, a Tweet by Twitter user yui_tanaka0611 is shown during the Sunshine Girl job montage. The Tweet also appeared in real-life Twitter (https://twitter.com/yui_tanaka0611/status/1133476904718090240) and was posted on 29 May, 2019, the same day the account was created. It reads:
 * During the same montage, a number of characters from other shows and series are featured in the cosplay snapshot scenes. These include Aqua from Konosuba, Godzilla from the Godzilla franchise, the VOCALOID singer Miku Hatsune, and Cure Black & Cure White from Pretty Cure.
 * The website Hodaka creates for Hina's job in the movie also exists in real life (https://otenki-girl.jp), and was put up on June 20, 2019 as a promotion site for the movie.
 * During the karaoke scene, the songs sung by Hodaka & Nagi and Hina are Koi Suru Fortune Cookie (恋するフォーチュンクッキー) by AKB48 and Koi (恋) by Gen Hoshino, respectively.
 * Interestingly, both songs' names contain the Japanese kanji for "love" (恋).