A 'Your Name' appreciation post.

December 1, 2016 | by Rose Riddell

To celebrate the release of ‘Your Name’ in NZ cinemas - it’s out today! - we’ve compiled a list of reasons that you should definitely watch the much beloved animated film.

But first, here’s the official film synopsis:

“Mitsuha and Taki are two total strangers living completely different lives. But when Mitsuha makes a wish to leave her mountain town for the bustling city of Tokyo, they become connected in a bizarre way. She dreams she is a boy living in Tokyo while Taki dreams he is a girl from a rural town he’s never been to. What does their newfound connection mean? And how will it bring them together?”

Now, here are five reasons that you should watch ‘Your Name’…

#1. The film has been receiving praise all over the world - not only through the fact that it’s overtaken ‘Princess Mononoke’ to become the third highest grossing Japanese film of all time.

#2. The film has also been receiving accolades from film festivals - it recently won the Best Animated Feature Film Award at Spain’s Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, and it was also nominated in the Best Film category at the BFI London Film Festival 2016. It’s also on the shortlist for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature - which is a huge achievement.

#3. The film is directed by Makoto Shinkai, who many are calling the new Miyazaki of Japanese film. His previous work has included ‘5 Centimeters Per Second’ and ‘The Garden Of Words’, but it looks like ‘Your Name’ is the film to propel him to heights of fame.

Complex spoke to Shinkai about the film and his directorial career, who said: “I had a vague target audience when I was making the film. But I didn't expect this much scale, 10 million people have seen it, who'd have thought!? I think it’s word of mouth, rather than down to my skills or talents or whatever. And I'm feeling really uncomfortable with the success!”

#4. The music in the film was composed specially for the story by Japanese rock band Radwimps, as the band’s vocalist Noda Yojiro also composed the theme-music.

In an interview with The Japan Times, the director said about working with Yojiri: “I thought I could entrust Yojiro not only to provide music but to do so in a way that the music will (supplement) the dialogue or monologue of the characters.”

#5. If you needed further evidence to the film’s success, the reviews have been nothing but praise. The Guardian called it a “splendid movie, which will leave audiences in a heady reverie long after its mysterious light has faded from the screen,” and The Japan Times said it had a “blend of gorgeous, realistic detail and emotionally grounded fantasy.”