Weathering with You spoiler review

While one of his best works yet it doesn’t really feel like classic Shinkai in the terms of Garden of words, or Your name. But I think it’s refreshing that this director is constantly trying new things and refining his craft.

Going to spoil this movie and pretty much every work Shinkai has done. If you haven’t watch them please do so before reading on.

Alright for those of you who have watched everything here are my thoughts:

So the plot of Weathering involves Tokyo in a state of never ending rain. Hodaka discovers that Hina can control the weather. So the two turns her powers into a Doordash service. It turns out Hina needs to sacrifice herself in order for the weather to be normal. She does but Hodaka finds her again only to renege on his desire. He tells her that she should do what she wants to and not what the world tells her to. That he would rather the world rain forever than to lose her.

The one of the themes is the selfless vs selfish. Hina sacrifices herself for the weather to be normal again. Hodaka chooses Hina over the weather. While I guess not really selfish the movie suggests that we don’t have control over certain things like the weather. Yes climate change is coming but it may be arrogant to think we can change it entirely by one simple act. While Hodaka feels bad about the situation he is never judged for his selfishness.

I think Hina and Hodaka’s actions were a sort of band aid to the problem. Real change comes over time. Many of the characters reject the idea that the sacrifice is necessary. And it suggests that they may need to keep sacrificing to keep the weather to how it was.

I believe Shinkai wants us to break that cycle in giving Hodaka and Hina the chance to be together. Young teens being thrown into a beak world and trying to survive.

Maybe that’s the point. I think the main thing is Hope. Shinkai instead of giving us a sad ending and/or vague one gave us the happiest endings yet of all his films. Especially with the crap show that is 2020 I think he asks us and the younger generations to have hope.

Like his other works connection is a constant theme in this movie. Kei the adult main character is disconnected from his daughter due to her illness and the other side of the family. The mother passed away and is being looked after by the grandmother who thinks Kei is a bad influence for her. It’s inferred that he has a drinking problem.

Shinkai always puts outside obstacles for his characters literal distance in some of his works, but this time it’s a more personal and mental.

It’s like he put the best parts of Garden of Words and Your name and mixed them together. In Garden the two mains meet by chance in a park and are closed off in the world thanks to the pouring rain. The park gazebo was pretty much their private space. Circumstances have left both characters unable to deal with the real world. They found each other thanks to the rain.

In Weathering with You the rain plays a background role. Often used as an obstacle for the characters. Mainly stopping the rain as the goal. Ironically the rain/weather won at the end.

So what did the ending mean? What does Shinkai say in this film overall? Certainly something about global warming. But I think it’s a disservice to put it plainly in black and white. While it is a selfish act in terms of dooming mankind to the will of the weather, I think it’s a hopeful act. I think Shinkai is asking us if it’s ok to sacrifice our youth/our younger generation for the problems of our past/older generation.

I think the answer is no. By Hodaka asking Hina to think for herself for once. In the events and probably before the movie Hina had to pretty much take care of her brother and be the adult. Even lying about her age just so she can work. Kind of a Infinity War vibe where Cap said we don’t trade lives.