Weathering with You

Weathering with You (天気の子, Tenki no Ko, lit. "Child of Weather") is a 2019 fantasy and romantic drama anime film by Makoto Shinkai, his seventh major production. Its soundtrack is by RADWIMPS, with Toko Miura featured on some of the songs. It is animated by CoMix Wave Films and distributed by Toho.

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The summer of his high school freshman year, Hodaka Morishima (Kotaro Daigo, Brandon Engman) flees his remote island home for Tokyo, which he finds smothered by rain and not as glamorous as he had been hoping. Soon left broke by the endeavour, he reluctantly accepts an offer from shady Keisuke Suga (Shun Oguri, Lee Pace) to ghostwrite for paranormal tabloids in exchange for bed and board alongside his assistant Natsumi (Tsubasa Honda, Alison Brie). While investigating a legend of the sunshine girl that can bring back the sun, he finds her in the person of recently-orphaned Hina Amano (Nana Mori, Ashley Boettcher). Together with her younger brother Nagisa (Sakura Kiryu, Emeka Guindo), they attempt to make a living by monetizing her power, but soon find the consequences of doing so nipping at their heels.

In addition to the film proper, there is a novel adaptation also by Shinkai, a manga adaptation by Watari Kubota that was serialized in Kodansha's Afternoon, and an audiobook of the novelization read by Hodaka and Hina's Japanese voice actors.

The film had a premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, being Japan's first submission to the TIFF since Ghibli's The Wind Rises in 2013. It was also nominated as Japan's entry to the 92nd Academy Awards' Best International Feature Film, the first time in more than 20 years since Princess Mononoke that an anime was chosen. Unfortunately, it failed to make the shortlist.

Tropes used in Weathering with You include:

Abusive Parents: While the film doesn't outright say so, the bandages on Hodaka's face when running away from home at the start, combined with his extremely negative reaction to the idea of just going back, imply this. Beyond the physical, emotional abuse or at least neglect is also implied by the way he calls a humble Big Mac that most people would find unremarkable the best meal he'd ever had in his life.
The Alcoholic: Keisuke is a heavy drinker and outright has part of his office set aside as a well-stocked bar. Natsumi frequently scolds him for it. It is implied he drinks to cope with the death of his wife Asuka in a traffic accident.
Alternate Universe: Despite the appearances by several characters from Your Name, the fact that the other film's Distant Finale - which takes place chronologically between the main part of this film and its own Distant Finale - does not depict a Tokyo that is suffering constant rainfall and on its way to becoming flooded shows that the two cannot be 100% in alignment.
Always Save the Girl: At the climax, Hodaka decides he's not going to accept Hina being sacrificed to restore normal weather to Tokyo and rescues her from the clouds, telling her to pray for herself instead. She does so and they are returned to Earth, but the rain also comes back. Three years later, much of Tokyo is flooded.
Bait and Switch:
- After clearing the sky at Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, Hina says she's in love, then adds that it's with the sunshine girl job.
- In the final act, it initially seems like one of Hodaka's schoolmates wants to confess her feelings to him. Then it turns out that she's more interested in his being arrested in Tokyo.
Bait the Dog: Keisuke is initially introduced with heroic backlighting from the sun after saving Hodaka from getting swept into the sea. Immediately afterwards, he mooches off the boy despite being a grown man. Ultimately downplayed, as despite his stinginess, he doesn't actually do anything evil.
Barbie Doll Anatomy: When Hina opens her bathrobe to show Hodaka how much of her body has been changed by her powers, her nipples are also gone.
Be Careful What You Wish For: In the love hotel, Hina asks Hodaka if he wants the rain to stop. He says yes; come the next morning, the rain is gone, and so is she.
Beautiful Void: The place above the clouds Hina is taken to after her sacrifice is a verdant but empty grass field on top of a cumulonimbus.
Bittersweet Ending: It might look initially like an Earn Your Happy Ending as Hodaka and Hina are reunited after three years of separation and the novel implies that Hodaka's family and townspeople Took a Level In Kindness by the time he was made to return. However, most of Tokyo was still flooded as a result of their actions, and negative consequences for those who helped them are likely even if the film doesn't explicitly say so.
Body Horror: Hina's power turns parts of her body translucent green.
The Cameo:
- Tessie, Sayaka, Taki, Mitsuha and Yotsuha from Your Name make appearances at various points in the film.
- Kentaro Araki, a somewhat famous meteorologist consulted for the film, makes a brief unnamed appearance as an interviewee.
Confusing Multiple Negatives: After the sky-clearing at Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, Hina says that she might not not not several times have found what she wants in life. Hodaka attempts to figure it out and loses count.
Contrived Coincidence:
- Hodaka just happens to meet Keisuke, the only person willing to offer him a job, on the ferry to Tokyo.
- Hodaka just happens to knock over a bin that was used to hide a gun.
- Hodaka just happens to try taking refuge at the McDonald's Hina is working at, and later be at the right time and place to save her from the shady nightclub owner.
- The ring Hodaka gave Hina just happens to fall in front of him as the police are taking him away, startling him out of his despair at her disappearance.
- Natsumi just happens to be in the vicinity when Hodaka escapes the Ikebukuro Police Station.
Crap Saccharine World: While Makoto Shinkai has never shied from depicting the loneliness of modern urban life, Weathering with You is the first time he's been so nakedly cynical about Tokyo. Hodaka's first onscreen sight of the city is the Rainbow Bridge beautifully lit in the evening, but it's not long at all before he gets confronted with the seedy underbelly and dilapidated buildings, violent thugs tricking women into dubious work, and general No Sympathy for runaways, orphans and still-grieving widowers.
Creator Cameo: The cat avatar Shinkai uses can be seen as a fridge magnet on Keisuke's fridge.
Disappeared Dad: Hina and Nagi's mother is shown to be bedridden in hospital at the very start and said to be dead by the time Hodaka comes into the picture a year later. Their father is nowhere to be seen or even mentioned. His being dead rather than merely deadbeat is implied by how the authorities never bring up the possibility of dumping them on him, but nothing is spelt out clearly.
Distant Finale: After Hodaka rescues Hina, he is arrested and sent back home on probation until he finishes high school. The final act takes place three years later. Having graduated, Hodaka goes to a now-flooded Tokyo for university. He speaks to Keisuke and the old woman before reuniting with Hina.
Dragon-in-Chief: A traditional Big Bad can't be pinned down - the laws seeking Hodaka be sent back to home and school or Hina and Nagi get proper guardianship aren't sentient to be having any ill will against them, while it's impossible to say whether the weather kami flooding Tokyo in return for the denied sacrifice is out of malice or merely an autonomic response - but the detective Takai is the most prominent of the police investigating Hodaka's case.
Eiffel Tower Effect: In addition to Shinkai's customary use of NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building, other icons of Tokyo that appear include the Rainbow Bridge, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, Tokyo Skytree, and Tokyo Tower.
Foreshadowing:
- One of the responses Hodaka gets from Yahoo about finding a job as a teen without ID is "sex club waiter". Later, he encounters a shady nightclub owner implied to be in this line of work.
- A news bulletin shows a case of seized illegal guns and ammo shortly before Hodaka encounters one.
- One of the articles Keisuke shows Hodaka while explaining his work is titled "The many human sacrifices that protect Tokyo".
- When Hodaka first goes to meet Hina at her home, he passes a pair of women saying that she can't live without a guardian.
- The day after Hina clears the sky at Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, a radio broadcast says that the heavy rain is back as if in backlash.
- When Hodaka tells the old woman that he has One Last Job for a father and daughter to play in the park before putting the sky-clearing on hold due to overwhelming demand, one might guess from The Law of Conservation of Detail that he's referring to Keisuke and his daughter Moka whose asthma acts up in bad weather.
Freeze-Frame Bonus: Unlike the other Your Name cameos, Yotsuha only gets a very brief appearance from the side together with her classmates looking at the clear skies after Hina's sacrifice.
Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: While in the derelict building, Keisuke slaps Hodaka, trying to get him to see reason.
Gray Rain of Depression: This trope accompanies Hodaka's initial poor prospects in Tokyo and is contrasted in-universe with the good mood that sunshine brings. Later, this is inverted; following Hina's sacrifice, the sunlight comes across as a harsh reminder of what he's lost, even as others who do not know are rejoicing over the return of the sun.
Inferred Holocaust: This is one of the reasons for the controversy surrounding the film. Hodaka saves Hina from becoming a sacrifice to the weather gods. Cue heavy rain returning, which we are told went on for 3 years, and the sight of Tokyo mostly flooded. We are told that the people adapted to it, being shown increased use of water transportation and children playing in the rain, and assured that this is merely Tokyo going back to how it used to be in the old days. However, there's a lot to take issue with when subject to scrutiny, even when being charitable and assuming that the majority of damage was limited to the 23 special wards. How many people got injured or died because of the flooding? Millions are displaced. Billions of Yen in direct property and infrastructural damage and losses has been caused, plus billions more lost from businesses that closed down because their premises got flooded. Major cultural and educational facilities are lost. Then there's the long-term effects of living with constant rainfall and minimal direct sunlight, like what might be experienced by asthmatics or those susceptible to depression. The effects also radiate outwards into the rest of the Greater Tokyo Area; millions from Western Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures who previously commuted into central Tokyo for work would have to find new jobs, which they now need to compete with all the refugees for, and the loss of routes that cut through central Tokyo previously would have deleterious effects on the logistics and transportation situation. The loss of such a major metropolis should realistically have massive consequences reverberating years to decades down the line. Almost all of this is glossed over.
Internal Homage:
- Early on, the boat Hodaka is on is shown passing the Rainbow Bridge on its way into Tokyo. Much later, the same shot appears again, but this time the Rainbow Bridge is partially submerged, one of the signs of the price of rescuing Hina.
- After the clearing of the sky at Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, one shot has both the NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building and Tokyo Tower brightly lit in the same frame. Later on, when the rain returns after the clearing of the sky at Shiba Park, a similar shot with both buildings appears too, this time with them as lonely beacons in the dark and stormy night.
Ironic Echo: Early on, Hina catches Hodaka looking at her chest and angrily asks where he's looking at. Later in the film, after the backlash from her power has started to turn her body translucent green, she willingly opens her bathrobe and asks him again, this time sadly.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Keisuke initially comes off poorly, shamelessly mooching off Hodaka after saving his life on the ferry, underpaying him (3,000 Yen a month, around US$30, rather than the already low 30,000 Natsumi had been expecting), and firing him when the police start asking questions rather than risk getting into trouble. However, he is also shown to be a caring father to his sick daughter, lets Hodaka stay at the office with food and phone bill covered, gives a large amount of severance pay for aforementioned firing, and ultimately attacks the police, getting arrested for it, so Hodaka can save Hina.
Karma Houdini: There is no indication that the shady nightclub owner gets any comeuppance for his wrongdoings.
The Legend of Chekhov: One of Hodaka and Natsumi's interviewees on the sunshine girl is a self-proclaimed psychic who tells them about how altering the weather comes with the price of getting spirited away. Later on, Keisuke and Natsumi visit Koenji Hikawa Shrine, where the elderly priest tells them about a legend of weather-altering shrine maidens and how they always ended up getting sacrificed.
Man Bites Man: Hodaka bites Keisuke's arm to get free so he can continue his quest to rescue Hina.
Missing Trailer Scene: One of the trailers has a shot of Hina pushing a trolley near Odaiba's Tokyo Teleport Station. What actually happens in that area in the film is different.
Moral Myopia: After Hina's sacrifice, one of the shots shows the shady nightclub owner with what appear to be his wife and child. They show no signs of distress at being around him, which suggests he treats them well, and only makes him more scummy for what he doesn't seem to have any problems with doing for work.
The Needs of the Many: As the weather gets worse than ever, Keisuke wonders aloud if letting Hina be sacrificed is a worthwhile price to pay in exchange for millions getting normal weather back. One sign of how bad things have gotten is that Natsumi, who normally calls him out on his foolishness, doesn't say anything this time.
Never Trust a Trailer:
- Some trailers made it seem like Hodaka and Hina would get into trouble with criminals. The line "It's time to grow up, young man" is juxtaposed with a gunshot, creating the appearance of a criminal threatening or even attacking Hodaka. In the end, while criminals do appear, they're not the Big Bad, and the line has a very different context: Keisuke telling Hodaka to face the music and go home rather than continue trying to run away. The gunshot also has a different context, as the shooter is Hodaka defending himself from a criminal rather than being attacked by one.
- One trailer plays "Grand Escape" over the sky clearing montage, whereas in the film proper "Celebration" is what plays in that scene, and "Grand Escape" is reserved for Hodaka rescuing Hina from the place above the clouds.
Orange-Blue Contrast: After Hina clears the sky at Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, one subsequent shot shows both the orange-red Tokyo Tower and the blue-lit NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building.
Real Place Background: Hodaka's island home is apparently Kozushima. Various places all around Tokyo also feature; the derelict Yoyogi Kaikan Building central to the plot is near Yoyogi Station, or at least it was before it was demolished in real life. The nearest train station to Hina's home is Tabata Station. Keisuke stays near Kagurazaka Station. The first sky clearing job takes place in Odaiba, while the one for the fireworks festival takes place on the Sky Deck of Roppongi Hills Mori Tower. Parts of Kabuki-cho in Shinjuku and Ikebukuro in Toshima are also prominently featured.
Reality Ensues:
- Hodaka quickly discovers that surviving as a runaway is harder than he had expected; his money runs low after just a few days despite using the cheapest possible accommodation of a manga cafe and subsisting on instant noodles. Also, no one is willing to take the risk of employing a student without a valid ID. Later on, the attempt to find accommodation while on the run from the police encounters a similar problem.
- Free-Range Children is not in play; people ask questions on seeing what's clearly a teenage boy in places and at times he isn't supposed to be around.
- He also doesn't benefit from the expected results of David Versus Goliath, especially since he is not established at any point to have fighting skills. Unlike other cases where the David might be able to use agility and quick thinking to defeat physically superior opponents, here Hodaka is quickly subdued once bigger grown men get ahold of him and needs an ally's intervention or some other way of evening the odds.
- Hina gets caught by a news crew clearing the sky for a major festival from the rooftop of a famous landmark and orders rise sharply as a result of the newfound fame. In a normal story, this would be the time the scrappy crew gets down to brass tacks, goes through a Hard Work Montage, and comes out more successful than before. In reality, though, a sudden surge in demand is something that can be hard to handle, especially for small operations, and that is exactly what happens; they get overwhelmed and need to call for a timeout.
- At the end, Hodaka hurries back to Tokyo after graduating from high school. Even if those who mistreated you Took a Level In Kindness after your return, as the novel suggests, that doesn't undo the damage done from the preceding years or the very understandable desire to get away from them again as soon as possible.
Remember the New Guy?: Hodaka and co. take a sky clearing job for an old woman commemorating the one-year anniversary of her husband's death who is soon revealed to have a connection to Your Name, namely that she is Taki's grandmother. Taki having a living grandmother or a grandfather who was alive for the majority of that film was not mentioned at all previously. What makes this more egregious is that Mitsuha's grandmother was an important supporting character who had multiple interactions with Taki, so the presence of Taki's grandmother previously would hardly have been a non sequitur.
Riddle for the Ages:
- As Hodaka and Hina are returning to her home after clearing the sky so Keisuke can bring his daughter out to play, they stop halfway, trying to say something to each other. Whatever it is, though, is interrupted by Hina suddenly rising into the air for a while, and the audience never gets to eventually find out.
- Why was Hodaka running away from home? While the film implies parental abuse, it stops short of confirming anything.
- What was Keisuke doing on the ferry from Hodaka's home island to Tokyo?
- What is the deal with the pistol Hodaka finds? Apart from an early news bulletin about seizure of illegal guns and an enigmatic reference to a "Shibamata", no further elaboration is provided as to its origins.
Scenery Gorn: In the Distant Finale, we see that large parts of Tokyo are now underwater, and it is a profoundly disturbing and haunting sight, even if the people are shown getting used to it.
Snow Means Death: As bad as the constant heavy rain is, it isn't until snow starts falling in summer that things rapidly race to their nadir.
Theme and Variations Soundtrack: A number of tracks are rearrangements of "Grand Escape", "Is There Still Anything Love Can Do" or "We'll Be Alright".
Time Skip: After the opening sequence where Hina goes under the torii and first uses her power, the film jumps forward a year to introduce Hodaka.
Tragic Keepsake:
- The raindrop pendant initially in Hina's dying mother's hand is later worn on a choker by Hina.
- Hodaka buys Hina a ring, which later becomes this after she turns intangible after being taken into the clouds and it falls back to the ground.
Urban Fantasy: Hina's power and the consequences and effects of its use drive the plot.
What Happened to the Mouse?: While a photo in the Distant Finale shows the continued wellbeing of most of the cast, the fate of Nagi's friends Ayane and Kana after their helping to disguise him so he can escape the police and go help Hodaka, or whether Nagi and Natsumi suffered any negative consequences, are left unknown.
Would Hurt a Child: The shady nightclub owner doesn't seem bothered in the slightest when he goes for a ground-and-pound on Hodaka.