Weathering with You (2020)

Another surrealistic Japanese film already, but that's about where the similarity ends. I was not at all surprised that many of the same people, including director Makoto Shinkai, worked on Your Name. Taki even gets a cameo.

Sixteen-year-old Hodaka runs away to Tokyo, which is experiencing record rainfall. The irresponsible Mr. Suga eventually hires him to write articles on the occult. In the course of this work, Hodaka learns of "sunshine girls" who can change the weather via Shinto prayer, albeit over a pretty small area for a short time -- and then meets one such girl, Hina, about his age. Since she's desperate for a job herself, he helps her start a freelance sunshine service. Hodaka develops a strong crush on Hina, but two factors threaten to pull them apart: Rapidly increasing business from a 100% success rate draws the attention of authorities who don't approve of minors living alone, and lore has it that sunshine girls who exercise their powers enough are destined to fly off into the sky before their time.

Hina is an orphan who doesn't want the system to separate her from her kid brother, Nagi. We're left to wonder why Hodaka would rather risk starvation on the streets of an unfamiliar city than return to his worried family. A novelization suggests abuse. Regardless, we're not supposed to see him -- or anyone else, really -- as generally wise so much as passionate.

The U.S. rating is PG-13 for several reasons. Despite a dearth of affectionate touching, many moments are suggestive: Someone tries to strong-arm Hina into an apparent brothel, Hodaka gets an unseemly idea about Suga's assistant, and Nagi is a precocious lothario. The Japanese dialog might be more explicit on these points, but we still hear several curse words. And sometimes violence breaks out, especially when the "heroes" get serious about resisting the police.

That last point isn't the only moral controversy. Though the sunshine is professionally billed as a party favor, it becomes downright vital with the threat of massive flooding across Tokyo. Hodaka actually prefers that to losing Hina, who might not even requite his feelings yet. I for one would be difficult to talk out of sacrificing myself if I knew it would keep the world's largest metropolis inhabitable. (It's not clear what would happen to Hina after a while in the sky.) What are we to make of the film's message? That we shouldn't bother fighting climate change?

If the philosophy is not to your liking, at least the visuals are interesting. Backgrounds look vivid, with RL brands lining the urban landscape. The magic isn't as simple as clouds parting: We see raindrops fly back up and hover in a non-cloud, only to make up for lost time with an abrupt downpour when the spell ends. There are also fishlike cloud dwellers that appear to be more water than jellyfish; their importance to the story is dubious. And the more Hani prays, the more parts of her skin glow in an oily mix of colors.

I'm undecided on weather, er, whether I like WwY better overall than the same year's A Whisker Away. It's more convincing but not as fanciful or cute. I can see why it got award nominations but fell short of the Academy. You should know enough now to gauge your own willingness to check it out.