Kimi no Na Wa (New Makoto Shinkai Film)

[Infinite Zenith]

Originally Posted by Verso Sciolto

I also like how real life Kagurasuzu, bells used during the ceremonial dance, were visible on a table when CG for the animated scene was shown on a monitor as part of a different documentary. ... At approximately the 1 minute mark in this clip:

They pull no punches when ensuring authenticity. I'm especially fond of the sound that suzu make. They sound quite similar to sleigh bells, and there's a certain magic about them.

[blakstealth]

contemplating getting the collector's edition for the 4K. I hear the HDR really makes the colors POP.

[Infinite Zenith]

If you have a 4K player and screen, it could be worth your while.

[blakstealth]

I don't personally, but I know that other people do.

[Julio C]

Originally Posted by blakstealth

contemplating getting the collector's edition for the 4K. I hear the HDR really makes the colors POP.

Yeah, pop to oversaturation or look nothing like it was intended to be. If you saw it in theaters, that was the best it will ever look.

[Verso Sciolto]

Originally Posted by kanoguti

Don't link me any ""interviews"" with Shinkai. At this point he's trying his hardest to sell blurays, so he won't speak about the film in a critical light.

Not taking interviews or other "ex cathedra" comments into account for the evaluation whether or not a story works is a valid approach. A work of fiction should be able to stand on its own, after all. We should be able to suspend our disbelief for the duration of the screening ... but ... background information can be useful to come to an educated opinion about the work. Can be useful to establish what the work's creator, the story teller, had set out to communicate to the intended audience. To figure out the emotions Shinkai wished to instil in us before we got up from our seats at the end of his movie.

To me, it sounds like you had already read Shinkai interviews about Kotonoha no Niwa and Kimi no Na wa and had come to the conclusion that Shinkai's comments about his latest film might be used to question your comments regarding this fairytale story.... not just its ending but its intended messages and themes as a whole. It sound like you anticipated being confronted with them.

At one point Shinkai told people to stop watching this film because, in his opinion, Kimi no Na wa, was not as good as people were making it out to be and it was getting more attention than it deserved, in his opinion. Such comments indicate he has been publicly critical of his own work. His comments were ignored by quite a few people who continued - continue- watching his film in large numbers.

I'm going to link you another interview. Regardless of what I wrote earlier in this comment I consider it unavoidable to do so, based on what you wrote. The following is from the LA Times, put online on November 29, 2016: Japan's No. 1 film is playing in L.A. Here's why you should see it:

"As their friendship deepens, Taki discovers they also share a link to a life-threatening disaster caused by the impact of a spectacularly beautiful comet. “The film starts,” Shinkai said, “by getting the audience to wonder, ‘What would I do if I switched bodies with a girl?’ and carries them to a place where they’re asking, ‘What would I do if a disaster struck my town tomorrow?’”"

It sounds like you don't think that transition was made successfully but I wish to stress the point that this isn't the only time Shinkai has indicated that disasters threatened places he wanted to preserve in their present state through his work. Record for posterity what he sees and admires around him. He has done so in what has been called a hyper-realistic style of animation. Personally, I think he is quite sincere in these endeavours.

[Infinite Zenith]

Originally Posted by Julio C

Yeah, pop to oversaturation or look nothing like it was intended to be. If you saw it in theaters, that was the best it will ever look.

It doesn't look half bad on a large 100-inch projection screen with surround sound, though...comparable to the theatre quality

[blakstealth]

Originally Posted by Julio C

Yeah, pop to oversaturation or look nothing like it was intended to be. If you saw it in theaters, that was the best it will ever look.

Naw, it looks CRISP!

[Verso Sciolto]

... intended to be...

[...] At one point Shinkai told people to stop watching this film because, in his opinion, Kimi no Na wa, was not as good as people were making it out to be and it was getting more attention than it deserved, in his opinion

His own critical remarks -which don't read like false modesty to me- seem to originate in interviews he gave as early as September 2016, when this film started reaching milestones of attendance and box office returns. Examples such as this interview: 超ヒット映画「君の名は。」新海誠監督を直撃してみたら戸惑いまくりだった件, put online there on September 19, 2016

In the English language press Shinkai's remarks were picked up and he reiterated his position in other interviews from which excerpts were in turn published by various online news sites - such as the example with the following provocative and illustrative headline, dated December 27, 2016: Please don’t see my animated blockbuster, says Japan’s ‘new Miyazaki,’ Makoto Shinkai

[Infinite Zenith]

Originally Posted by blakstealth

Naw, it looks CRISP!

Looks amazing whether it's a 50 inch TV, 27 inch monitor or even an iPhone. The 1080p version has been the version to enjoy, but I'm a little curious now: are the 4K versions native 4K or upscales, and if the former, how much more detail is there compare to the standard HD version?

[Verso Sciolto]

Although it should be quite obvious as a theme Shinkai explores it is odd -to me- how little attention is given -in some conversations- to the serious idea that tradition extends to the way gender roles are depicted, in a humorous way *, and perceived by Shinkai and his audience.

* As Fiachra Gibbons observed:

"More than anything, the movie’s motor is the comedy Shinkai extracts from the hilarious gender swap set up, with its running gag of the horrified boy waking up in a girl’s body, and yet unable to stop himself feeling her breasts.

Gibbons quotes Shinkai: “I wanted to talk about the way we see sexuality now but in a funny way.”

It appears crisp.

[blakstealth]

Originally Posted by Infinite Zenith

Looks amazing whether it's a 50 inch TV, 27 inch monitor or even an iPhone. The 1080p version has been the version to enjoy, but I'm a little curious now: are the 4K versions native 4K or upscales, and if the former, how much more detail is there compare to the standard HD version?

The 4K version is upscaled.

You can check out comments below for a more detailed description provided by thee ultimatemegax

https://blog.sakugabooru.com/2017/07...duction-notes/

--

Originally Posted by Verso Sciolto

... intended to be...

His own critical remarks -which don't read like false modesty to me- seem to originate in interviews he gave as early as September 2016, when this film started reaching milestones of attendance and box office returns. Examples such as this interview: 超ヒット映画「君の名は。」新海誠監督を直撃してみたら戸惑いまくりだった件, put online there on September 19, 2016

In the English language press Shinkai's remarks were picked up and he reiterated his position in other interviews from which excerpts were in turn published by various online news sites - such as the example with the following provocative and illustrative headline, dated December 27, 2016: Please don’t see my animated blockbuster, says Japan’s ‘new Miyazaki,’ Makoto Shinkai

I like Shinkai, but I'm gonna watch this movie as many times as I want lol. The milestones, accolades, and high praise he got around the movie's release obviously overwhelmed him, and it caused him to say some weird things. Totally understandable since not too many people get called "THE NEXT MIYAZAKI", but still. I think he was being too modest and self-deprecating at that time.

[Infinite Zenith]

Originally Posted by blakstealth

The 4K version is upscaled.

You can check out comments below for a more detailed description provided by thee ultimatemegax

https://blog.sakugabooru.com/2017/07...duction-notes/

That's perfect, thanks, mate. From that description, it doesn't look like the folks watching in native 1080p are missing out on new details in the environments.

Originally Posted by Verso Sciolto

Although it should be quite obvious as a theme Shinkai explores it is odd -to me- how little attention is given -in some conversations- to the serious idea that tradition extends to the way gender roles are depicted, in a humorous way *, and perceived by Shinkai and his audience.

It is quite obvious you are making things up to sound smarter. Stop. Some things simply aren't relevant to Your Name beyond the unnecessary weight you've given it. Pack it up if you want to discuss gender politics.

[Haak]

Finally got round to watching it and it was great.

There were quite a few bumps at the start to be honest. The opening monologuing was a bit cheesy (though it made much more sense in context when it was repeated at the end) and I didn't see the need for a TV show style opening music video. It was also a bit weird how in the beginning a scene with Taki waking up in Mitsuha's body for the first time seamlessly switches into the real Mitsuha preparing for school. Until it was confirmed I wasn't entirely sure and kept thinking "man this guy is adapting really well to the situation". But after all that it kept getting better and better and better.

I still don't think this beats 5cm/s (still my favorite Shinkai film and one of my all time favorites full stop.), but it is interesting to see just how different this film is compared to Shinkai's earlier works like 5cm/s. His other films have always been full on dramas with little to no comedy but this one had a lot more comedy to it. And I think the comedy really gave the story and the characters a nice charm (and I think makes the film a lot more approachable to more mainstream audiences). Another difference I found interesting is that the developing chemistry between Taki and Mitsuha was given a lot more attention. In Shinkai's other works, the romance is usually just there pretty instantaneously but here we get to see it grow. One of my favorite scenes was watching the two establish "house-rules" after the other does troublesome things. It was cute as hell to watch them tick each other off yet see them look out for each other. The tone and characterization is so much different compared to something like 5cm/s. To me 5cm/s was pure raw intense emotion, specifically of unrequited love. This may be a weird thing to say but it was the characters emotions and the intensity of their unrequited love that left a bigger impression on me than the characters themselves. Your Name in contrast had more rounded characters (and more side characters) with a much larger variety of emotions. A bit more conventional and maybe not quite as impactful as 5cm/s, but scenes like when Taki and Mitsuha finally got to meet at the crater were still pretty damn powerful. Out of all the Shinkai films I think this one had the most likeable and memorable characters. They were characterized really well (although I couldn't help but notice that Taki seemed more manly when he was in Mitsuha's body than when he was in his own. Intentional?)

Spoiler for spoilers:

The twist that Mitsuha was actually three years in the past for Taki was an interesting one, though a bit clumsy in execution as it did stretch my suspension of disbelief that Taki wouldn't notice the time gap during his Mitsuha dreams (or maybe he did and just forgot about it?). I actually saw this twist before in a sci-fi one shot manga recently and the film reminded me of that. I could also imagine very easily that this was influenced by the 2011 Tohoku disaster so I didn't doubt the sincerity one bit and it was a great step up challenge for Taki to see how he would deal with it. The magic induced amnesia was a bit contrived (it even had the power to wipe smartphone memory!) but I like the way it went full circle with the sake rice in the cave. I was somewhat disappointed in how ambiguous the ending was though. All throughout the duo's attempts to prevent casualties, I couldn't imagine a scenario where they would save everyone and wondered how they would handle that fact. Unfortunately the story went for a very ambiguous note. I don't know if it was the subs that I saw but all I heard were vague things like "mostly prevented casualties". It would have been nice if more focus went towards those that didn't make it.

And I'm glad that Taki and Mitsuha got together in the end. What with the huge "red string of fate" theme that was the whole basis for the duo's connection and which has huge romantic connotations, I don't think it would've made any sense if they hadn't got together in the end. And it would've been infuriating as hell considering that this was basically magic-induced torment as opposed to real life circumstances (like it was in 5cm/s). It would've just seemed unnecessarily cruel.

[EDIT]

Oh and that Kotonoha no Niwa cameo was great.

[Infinite Zenith]

Originally Posted by Haak

The magic induced amnesia was a bit contrived (it even had the power to wipe smartphone memory!)

This was the part of the movie where I had to suspend all disbelief: as far as I know, there isn't a single phenomenon that can affect the flash storage on our smartphones and the very neurons in our brains without killing us. Magnetic flux can do horrors to circuits by inducing currents in the board, but his phone seemed to be working fine after the fact, ruling out localised magnetic flux Ultimately, I'd be inclined to say that the ending for Your Name is appropriate given the imagery and themes, rather like how 5 cm/s had an ending appropriate for the themes that movie aimed to convey, so I'm with you in enjoying the ending.

Originally Posted by blakstealth

I like Shinkai, but I'm gonna watch this movie as many times as I want lol. The milestones, accolades, and high praise he got around the movie's release obviously overwhelmed him, and it caused him to say some weird things. Totally understandable since not too many people get called "THE NEXT MIYAZAKI", but still. I think he was being too modest and self-deprecating at that time.

I wonder, though: if Shinkai is adverse to being compared to Miyazaki (and I wouldn't blame him if he was) because he's looking to create his own style distinct from Miyazaki's – it's a form that works best for him to tell stories with, as opposed to using an approach or style that worked for Miyazaki.

[Vegard Aune]

Originally Posted by Haak

I don't know if it was the subs that I saw but all I heard were vague things like "mostly prevented casualties". It would have been nice if more focus went towards those that didn't make it.

There was a newspaper headline shown that said that there were no deaths. Some people were injured, but nobody died.

[Haak]

^ That's much more reassuring, though I would have also liked to have known the extent of those injuries.

[germanturkey]

Originally Posted by Haak

I actually saw this twist before in a sci-fi one shot manga recently and the film reminded me of that.

hmm, which one? you can pm me.

[blakstealth]

preorders for funimation's release begin August 15!

[Haak]

Originally Posted by germanturkey

hmm, which one? you can pm me.

Unfortunately, I can't remember the name. All I can remember is that it was a collection of one shots with sci fi themes. One of them was about a robot that waited thousands of years for their owner to come back even up until the suns (and planets) last dying moments and another was about a girl connected to a humanoid alien lightyears away through dreams similar to Your Name, but when the alien finally reaches Earth it's about a million years BC in a prehistoric Earth