Both involve water

May 29, 2019 2:14 PM

In Japan this summer there are two highly anticipated anime releases. Weathering With You is the next film by Makoto Shinkai, writer/director of the mega-hit Your Name. Also being released this summer is Children of the Sea. It's also visually stunning, and the trailer doubles as a music video for the film’s theme song, “Umi no Yurei” (“Ghosts of the Sea”) by Vocaloid songsmith-turned-singer Kenshi Yonezu.
posted by zardoz (6 comments total)

Weathering With You looks amazing. I've been following some of the buzz for it on Reddit, and really hope it gets a US theatrical and blu-ray release. If not, it will at least get released on blu-ray in Japan and shortly afterwards I'll be able to weigh anchor and find it out on the seven seas.

I'm not as big of a fan of the art style of Children of the Sea - I read some of the manga and it didn't quite grab me, but if it gets released in the US I'll probably go see it also.
posted by ralan at 3:11 PM on May 29, 2019

the sea and sky imagery of Children of the Sea is stunning - I'm just a bit disappointed that the design of the human characters doesn't seem to be as well thought out ... but then I'm maybe a bit biased against what I think of as "typical" big-eyes anime character design. It's not that I think they should be more "realistic" (some of my favourite character design of all time is from My Neighbors the Yamadas - trailer). But just a little more thought out ...

I'll still totally watch it if I can.
posted by jb at 3:12 PM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]

Seems like the skinny sad girl with the fish powers could use some help from the skinny sad girl with the weather powers!

I keed, I keed, I adored Your Name and these both look great. But it's comforting to see that it's not just Hollywood that gets stuck in narrow ruts.
posted by ulotrichous at 3:26 PM on May 29, 2019

I really liked Your Name, it kinda took me by surprise, I found the ending quite moving.
posted by smoke at 4:41 PM on May 29, 2019

Just this evening I watched Your Name with spouse and kid and really enjoyed it, so we'll definitely be on the lookout for Weathering with You.

Kid is also really into Vocaloid and had heard the song, but hadn't seen the video, so that's another one to watch for in our house.
posted by mogget at 8:35 PM on May 29, 2019

In keeping with the "water" theme, next month also marks the release of director Masaaki Yuasa's latest movie, Ride Your Wave (Kimi to, nami ni noretara).

The trailer looks a little bit sappy for my tastes, and maybe not quite as extravagantly animated as stuff like his recent Night Is Short, Walk On Girl, but I'm still looking forward to seeing it.
posted by teraflop at 9:01 PM on May 29, 2019 [3 favorites]