Your Name

• 1. Origins And Conception

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  Makoto Shinkai stood in the fishing village of Yuriage on the 14th of July 2011. The ground beneath his feet still trembled from the massive earthquake that had struck three days prior. He looked at the destroyed buildings and thought to himself that this could have been his own town. This moment sparked a film idea where residents swap places with viewers. He began sketching various scenes during his visit to the devastated area. These sketches later appeared in exhibitions around Japan. Shinkai delivered his initial proposal to Toho on the 14th of September 2014. The original title came from a line attributed to Ono no Komachi. It changed names several times before becoming Your Name. By the 31st of December 2014, he announced he was writing the storyboard.

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• 2. Production And Animation

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  CoMix Wave Films handled the animation production for the project. Masashi Ando served as the director of animation throughout the process. The team scrutinized their earlier work like Crossroads and 5 Centimeters per Second for reference material. They drew inspiration from real locations including Hida city and its library. The fictional town of Itomori took shape using these actual backdrops. Shinkai stated that two years was not enough time to complete everything perfectly. He noted they lacked money to keep working on certain sequences. Masashi Ando wanted to continue refining details but had to stop due to budget constraints. The final product remains incomplete by the director's own standards despite critical praise.

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• 3. Musical Score And Soundtrack

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  Yojiro Noda composed the score while leading the rock band Radwimps. Shinkai requested music that would supplement dialogue or character monologues rather than overpower them. Four songs performed by Radwimps appear in the film alongside instrumental tracks. These four songs were recorded in both Japanese and English versions. The soundtrack became a major factor behind the commercial success of the movie. It won runner-up status in Best Soundtrack at the 2016 Newtype Anime Awards. Zenzenzense also received runner-up honors for Best Theme Song. Critics and audiences alike praised the integration of rock music into emotional narrative moments.

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• 4. Global Release And Box Office

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  Your Name premiered at Anime Expo in Los Angeles on the 3rd of July 2016. It opened theatrically in Japan on the 26th of August 2016. The film reached ninety-two countries through various distributors. In China alone it earned over one billion yuan by the 17th of December 2016. This made it the highest-grossing traditionally animated film in that nation. South Korea saw 1.18 million admissions during its opening five days. The total worldwide gross eventually surpassed two hundred billion yen before re-release. It held the number-one spot at the Japanese box office for twelve non-consecutive weekends. By 2024, a re-release in China brought in over five million dollars on its first day. The film remained the highest-grossing Japanese movie until Demon Slayer: Mugen Train took the title in 2020.

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• 5. Critical Reception And Accolades

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  Rotten Tomatoes reported that ninety-eight percent of critics gave the film a positive review. Mark Schilling of The Japan Times rated it four out of five stars. He praised the blend of realistic detail with emotionally grounded fantasy. Manohla Dargis called it a wistfully lovely Japanese tale in The New York Times. David Sims described it as a dazzling new work of anime for The Atlantic. The Boston Globe found it pretty but too complicated. Mike Toole ranked it third-best anime film of all time. John Musker and Ron Clements praised its beauty and originality. The film won Best Animated Feature at the Sitges Film Festival and Mainichi Film Awards. It received nominations for Animation of the Year from the Japan Academy Prize.

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• 6. Cultural Legacy And Influence

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  Characters Taki Tachibana and Mitsuha Miyamizu appeared in Weathering With You released in 2019. Nekotofu cited Your Name as an influence when creating Onimai: I'm Now Your Sister! Crunchyroll noted how success pushed non-Ghibli films into mainstream places. Trends changed in both production methods and promotional strategies across Japan. The movie was referenced in Little Witch Academia episode eight and Gabriel DropOut episode three. A pornographic spoof titled Your Rope emerged in 2017 alongside other parodies. In 2025, readers voted it one hundred sixty-eighth on The New York Times list of best movies. A live-action remake is currently being developed by Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot. Lee Isaac Chung departed the project in July 2021 due to scheduling issues. Carlos López Estrada took over writing and directing duties by the 31st of October 2022.

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