Makoto Shinkai is the Japanese animator many are tipping as heir apparent to the revered Hayao Miyazaki. This thoroughly emo body-swap fantasia, a sizable hit on home turf, demonstrates that he’s inherited much of his predecessor’s artistry and charm, but not yet his narrative mastery – nor, crucially, that magic that distinguishes lasting artworks from well-drawn ’toons for teens. Shinkai ties this tale of a bored smalltown girl who finds herself inhabiting the form of an inner-city male contemporary in photorealistic bows and ribbons, proving as attentive to everyday objects (smartphones, sliding train doors) as Miyazaki is to flora and fauna. Yet after a fluffily enjoyable first half, the attempt to dramatise and process Japan’s recent run of natural disasters feels perilously jejune: as the spectacle expands, the film becomes less engaging and affecting. (Sensitive rockers Radwimps’ song-score suggests Fall Out Boy playing live at the apocalypse.) Nice enough – just not quite the knockout advance word promised.
