Literally all I knew about Your Name. going into it was that it was about two people who switch bodies. It had great reviews and I just started subscribing to Crunchyroll, so I wanted to give this one a shot. After finishing it, I can say that the movie could be a bit hard to follow at times, which I’m sure will go away on rewatch because it all comes together in an almost perfect way that makes the whole film make sense.

Before I really get into it, I just have to mention the animation and music made for this. It’s one of the most beautiful films I’ve ever seen. The way water, sunshine, landscapes, and the lighting look is absolutely stunning. The music makes all of the emotional moments hit as much as they should too. It’s not the kind of soundtrack you listen to on its own, but the way it elevates the movie is pretty remarkable.

The first and second halves are very different overall from one another. For the first half, it’s mainly a simple story about what I mentioned was all I knew about the movie going in - two people swapping bodies. The two individuals live very different lives in very different places, and so it was really entertaining to watch them once they swapped and how they formed a way to communicate with one another. I was really hooked on the story because it was just incredibly intriguing, though I thought it was going to be pretty predictable.

Boy, was I wrong. The second half turns the film into two entirely different genres, and there are several reveals and mysteries that start to occur that really shocked me. This was where I started to get confused, but I was somehow still really into it because I had no idea what was going to eventually happen. Every twist and turn in the movie from here on was a risk because they could have easily taken the viewer out of the experience, but somehow the twists and turns work and come together perfectly.

I don’t really know what more to say, because I think this is a film that people should go into not knowing much about. What I will say though is that the confusing parts are worth pushing through because of how the movie ends. I assure you, it all makes sense by the end and leaves a huge impact.