Japan’s biggest box office hit of 2016 arrives in North American theaters April 7.
Today marks the North American theatrical release -- via Funimation Films -- of Your Name, director Makoto Shinkai’s animated global hit that now stands as Japan’s highest-grossing film of 2016 and the highest-grossing anime film worldwide, surpassing legendary works of art from Studio Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki including Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle.
Written and directed by Shinkai (5 Centimeters Per Second, The Garden of Words), and produced by CoMix Wave Films and Toho Co Ltd., Your Name tells a unique out-of-body story where two complete strangers continue to switch bodies on random nights, becoming used to the strange reoccurrences and eventually having their lives more intertwined than expected. The two high schoolers yearn to meet each other, but obstacles just seem to get in the way.
Your Name will be screened in two versions: English-language dub (English voiceovers) and Japanese with English subtitles. Tickets are available on the film’s official website.
Here’s the official synopsis, and you can watch the English-language trailer in the player below::
The day the stars fell, two lives changed forever. High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other. Yet, somehow, it works. They build a connection and communicate by leaving notes, messages, and more importantly, an imprint.
When a dazzling comet lights up the night’s sky, it dawns on them. They want something more from this connection -- a chance to meet, an opportunity to truly know each other. Tugging at the string of fate, they try to find a way to each other. But distance isn’t the only thing keeping them apart. Is their bond strong enough to face the cruel irony of time? Or is their meeting nothing more than a wish upon the stars?
Your Name also features an all-new English-language soundtrack created by award-winning Japanese band RADWIMPS, the masterminds behind the original Japanese film soundtrack and score. The trailer, which features the new English RADWIMPS soundtrack, can be found at Funimation’s YouTube channel.
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
