Your Name is one of the highest grossing anime film’s in Japan reaching levels like that of Spirited Away. With its release in North America, the critical consensus is outstanding for the film with a 97% rating on Rotten Tomato. It is not all that surprising considering the director and the story of the film. Makoto Shinkai is no stranger to stories with deep meaning that you have to watch more than once to catch.
Your Name took the lore of the ‘Red String of Fate’ and combined that in a modern twist of body swapping and mixed in some scifi aspects. The most endearing part of the film isn’t the story itself. It is all the subtle things written into the characters that makes it all the more fun to watch. Let us also not forget the animation which begs you to see it on the big screen.
One of the biggest must-haves to an animated film like Your Name is having it on the big screen. The animation and the score make it perfect for the theater. It is also a story that can draw in a much broader audience then typical anime will bring. Many anime films are very genre specific appealing to a narrower crowd of people. Your Name goes far beyond that appealing to all ages and genres with a story that can connect each of them.
Funimation Films licensed the film and brought it to US Screens dubbed in quick fashion. If you have paid attention to the anime market at all the past few years, you know what I mean. Funimation has managed to bring dubbed anime to the US sometimes the same day as subbed episodes of new series are premiering in Japan. This is no small task. The result though is an ever increasing audience of anime in North America. Fans are hungry for it and Funimation has been answering that hunger.
As Funimation Films first major full theatrical run, Your Name has also been a huge success for them as well. This means good things for anime films down the road. While Funimation would love to have anime titles in every theater around the US, many will not give up precious screen time for anime films. However, with the growing demand created by the quick dubbing and licensing efforts of companies like Funimation, that is changing.
If you want to learn more, check out our review of Your Name. The film is still in theaters through the end of the month. Do yourself a favor and go see it. You can still get tickets at FunimationFilms.com
