Suzume no Tojimari : an Overhyped Visual Delight

Back in December 2021, the film ‘Suzume no Tojimari’ was announced. It hit the theatres in India in April 2023. Makoto Shinkai is the director of this Japanese animated film. His works, including Your Name and Weathering with You, are well known. Suzume no Tojimari continues his tradition of visually stunning movies.

At the beginning of the film, a 17-year-old named Suzume Iwato is seen riding a bike. A young man named Souta Munakata approaches her and asks for directions to some ruins. While at school, she begins to notice odd occurrences in her town. Souta and Suzume cross paths again when they get caught up in one of these events. He later explains her that preventing disasters is his job. In the middle of their conversation, Souta is struck by a curse that turns him into a chair. As he struggles to carry out his duties, Suzume decides to accompany him on his adventures. Along the way, she discovers that it wasn’t his adventure after all.

I, like many other anime fans, was very excited for this film. However, this film fell short of my expectations. In comparison to Your Name, I found this film to be rather dull. A few more scenes would have raised the bar slightly. Suzume was a one-dimensional main character. Excuse my comparisons, but the other Makoto Shinkai female protagonists had more depth. Souta was simply cast aside; his only role was to chase the white cat in his chair form. For me, Daijin was the most interesting character since its intentions were unclear. How did it go from being a villain to helping Suzume? Many people criticized the plot for being too similar to the previous films. Personally, I don’t mind, except that the film lacked a lot of details.

Why did those cats accompany her?

Why did Souta want to meet her?

Why were they closing the doors? Why did they appear in abandoned places?

This movie left me with a lot of unanswered questions.

Apart from that, the animation was top-notch. The final fight was amazing. The big cat’s design in the fighting scene really caught my eye. The “Worm” seems to have drawn inspiration from Stranger Things. I mean, the resemblance is uncanny.

Overall, Suzume no Tojimari was a pleasant experience. The visuals were fantastic, but the plot could have been handled better. I hope this movie has a sequel to fill in the details.