Makoto Shinkai’s works are full of connections and hidden messages, and more undertones than one can notice at first. It is not different with Weathering With You. Though it is easy to take the movie for a mere social commentary on climatic change, if one stops to analyze the significance of water and rain in most of Shinkai’s works, it is also easy to notice that there is much more to this movie than that. In this film, Shinkai tackles some uncomfortable themes regarding family, Japan’s “lost children” (orphans), and yes, there are the youngsters in love, as well as the social commentary on climatic change, but the nuances go way beyond simplistic interpretations.

The story of Weathering With You is centered on two adolescents, 16-year-old Hodaka, a boy who ran away from his hometown to Tokyo, and 15-year-old Hina, a girl who lives alone with her brother, of whom she takes care, and has to pretend she is older to get a job because their mother had died one year ago. Getting to know each other in the middle of their hardships, they develop a bond and become very close friends. Hints of romance develop between them as the story goes.

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Why The Ending Is Considered So Controversial, And Why It Makes Sense

Weathering With You Cover

The movie opens with Hina looking out a window and seeing the building of the city of Tokyo drenched by a heavy rainstorm, in the midst of which, a small flow of light then breaks through the clouds, illuminating a single building. The viewers are then beautifully introduced to Hina’s powers as the Weather Maiden, and how it all started. However, it can be inferred that “magical” solutions are not the answer to real-life problems by the way the story progresses.

When Hodaka and Hina decide to offer her services, using her power as Weather Maiden to affect the weather and stop the rain and let the sun out for the clients, they are not aware of the fact that the more she uses her power, the more connected she becomes to the sky, and she would end up vanishing from this world, and joining the spirits of the sky. Hina decides to sacrifice herself, but Hodaka cannot take that and goes on a race to save her life.

A very famous example of dealing with this philosophical choice between a personal sacrifice and trying to find another way out of dire situations is the one in the Star Trek movie The Wrath Of Khan, in which Spock states: “Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”, to which Captain Kirk, replies, “Or the one”, which is a set-up for a critical scene near the end of the film. Even if we consider the philosophical concepts of logic, virtue, and morals used in the Star Trek film in the scenario of Weathering With You, letting Hina sacrifice herself for an alleged greater good would not only be true to Makoto Shinkai’s point of view, but it would also not have been true to the character of Hodaka. Also, Shikai himself said that he just wanted Hodaka to do what his heart wanted and found right, to not be restrained by what society wanted, and that his movie was not about fighting climatic change.

Even if this ending causes polarization among viewers, first of all, Makoto Shinkai could have chosen something that would be untrue to the nature of his work, which would be bad for him, the public, and the movie. After he saw and heard hate comments about Your Name, which is directly connected to Weathering With You, and seems to be part of his cinematic animeverse, he decided that he would go for the ending he wanted and that was true to his film, even if he ended up displeasing some people.

Do The Needs Of The Many Really Outweigh The Needs Of The Few… Or The One?

Weathering With You Sun Rain

The reason why it is controversial is mainly due to the fact that Japan is a country whose cultural values are collective-centered. Some of Japan’s core values are thinking of others, doing one’s best, not giving up, respecting the elders, knowing one’s role, and working in a team. Japan may be transitioning from collectivism to individualism, but still, Japanese people tend to prioritize social harmony and value group goals over individual goals. However, not only one person’s life should not be sacrificed for the alleged greater good, but also, Makoto Shinkai makes some supporting characters explain the intrinsicality surrounding the weather, how it was before – it is there, in the movie. Nevertheless, it is egotistical in itself to desire that someone would give their lives for a higher purpose, when, regarding the climatic change, not only one single person is to blame, and everyone should do their part to fix what humans destroyed: Earth.

Even if the young Hodaka did not listen and capture everything said about the weather changes, it makes sense for him to fight for the girl, not only out of love. Hina was there for him when he was alone and hungry. She offered him help and gave him attention. She became important to him. Also, since Japan is a masculine and collective-centered society, the man, in this case, chooses to save the woman after she, as “a good woman”, conforms to the norms and gives up on her life for an alleged greater good. He acted recklessly throughout the entire movie. He ran away from home, and he ended up with a gun — and using it, and more than once —, and many more of his actions are proof of his impulsive and individualistic nature, so a decision to save his love was the only one befitting and not betraying his character.

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