Weathering With You
dir. Makoto Shinkai (2019)
Feature-length anime. Writer-director Makoto Shinkai once again proves extremely adept at creating mood (in this instance a gloomy, near-dystopian Tokyo inundated by rain), and at structuring a plot to reflect teenage self-absorption and the feeling of carrying the weight of the world.
Your Name
dir. Makoto Shinkai (CoMix Wave Films, 2016) [Japanese; available dubbed or with subtitles]
A sharply cut anime SF feature film, combining an eerie sense of mystery with poignant love story and abstruse time travel paradox (by way of body-swapping). Writer-director Makoto Shinkai makes clever use of minor characters and takes the story in unexpected directions.