Three years ago, when Mitsuba and Taki met again, "NAんでもないや" sounded, and when the film officially ended, I was sitting in the cinema and gained an indescribable sense of satisfaction in all aspects. That feeling is the growth brand of a certain age and experience, and it can hardly be replaced by time.
I believe that even viewers who hate Xin Haicheng have to admit, "Your Name." "It is Xin Haicheng's most mature drama. The setting of consciousness interchange + dislocation of time and space, the affection of young men and women, the incomparably complete logical structure of the storyline, coupled with the "Xin Haicheng" style animation aesthetics that he has always been good at, make "Your Name." "A box office miracle of 20 billion yen and 500 million RMB was created. And this achievement naturally made the audience have high expectations for his next work "The Weather Children".
But after three years in Miying, I began to realize that if I take "Your Name." "To look forward to "Children of the Weather" according to the standard, then there will be only disappointment.
Then why Xin Haicheng could not reprint "Your Name" through "The Weather Child". "What about the success? I think the biggest problem should be the script.
Like "Your Name. "This kind of script, if you want to say it is novel, time and space are dislocated, and consciousness is exchanged. Those concepts that people have played as early as decades ago; the theme of youth, the love between men and women, Xin Haicheng may not be better than others. It is touching; and the rhythm of the story and the completion of these have been the part that Xin Haicheng has been criticized by fans for a long time. So, how exactly did Xin Haicheng make "Your Name." "Such a top commercial animation work?
I think there is only one explanation for this: it's hard to come by . Really, whether it is science fiction elements, disaster elements, love elements, etc., they are really integrated perfectly in the script of "The Name of the King". Daily life, crisis approaching, narrative tricks, "last minute rescue", and the exciting HAPPY END, in the complete story circle and excellent narrative rhythm, matched with exquisite pictures, and RADWIMPS. The unforgettable soundtrack of the movie, I think all the achievements of "King Name" have become so reasonable in front of such a "perfect" animation, Xin Haicheng is truly in "Your Name." "The perfect fusion of business and art is achieved in ", no matter what kind of praise, it is not an exaggeration.
So, after confirming that the achievements of "The Name of the King" cannot be replicated again, how should we view this work? "Children of the Weather", is it a commercial success through "The Name of the King" or a textual failure of "self-expression"?
The pictures and music are still of the high standard of Xin Haicheng
I think this should be the point that fans and friends should not worry about the least. In the face of higher funding and more manpower, Xin Haicheng's animation aesthetics can only be more refined. In fact, most of the shots in the first half didn't feel very good to me. The continuous rainy weather makes the picture seem a bit simple, and the Tokyo street view, raindrops splashing, as well as cell phone screens, subway streets, apartment life and other elements are all things I have repeatedly tasted in the previous works of Xin Haicheng , so "The Son of the Weather The first half of "To me, it really doesn't seem to be new.
Until the beginning of the formation of the Sunny Day Team by the three, when Sunny Day officially appeared in front of the audience for the first time, the change in the style of the picture also represented the narrative "three-act" inheritance. Both the vision and the story began to excite the audience, and the pseudo "aerial" shots at the fireworks show that followed instantly made me get goose bumps. The sense of "penetration" made by 3D is simply unparalleled. In this kind of "revolution" aesthetics criticized by some people, Xin Haicheng still maintains the special and irreplaceable nature of the narrative carrier of "animation".
As for the snow scenes in Tokyo, the world on the clouds, the Japanese TV series and the final encounter, I believe I don’t need to talk more about it. Xin Haicheng once again used top-notch animation production standards to prove that he is still the intoxicating "wallpaper crazy".
And the more interesting thing is the use of sound, compared to "Your Name." "This time, Xin Haicheng is obviously bolder. Multiple use of space/time transitions separated by sound and picture are used to speed up/compress narratives and refine emotions. The silent treatment after a large amount of emotional outbursts, and the weird tones in RAD's composition, even more reveals Xin Haicheng's ambition. With this bold and familiar audiovisual processing, what exactly does Xin Haicheng want to prove and express?
Reason and sensibility, is it a matter of perspective or standpoint
As for the handling of the play, as I said earlier, it is a movie that will let those holding "Your Name." "Standard audiences walked out of the cinema in disappointment. And Xin Haicheng presented in this movie finally exposed his "anti-social" personality generously.
Compared with the main line of Tachibana Hana Taki’s previous work, which saved the entire Tomorimachi in order to save Mitsuba, this one is simply a complete "negative standpoint": In order to see Haruna again, Hodaka made Tokyo Overwhelmed choices. Just at this point, those audiences who like him because of "The Name of the King" will definitely get bored by the "self-collective" value debate in the cinema, let alone get a sense of satisfaction. Even through the lines of "sacrifice one person for everyone's sunny days" and the fable that Tokyo will eventually become the sea to eliminate this sense of "estrangement" in value as much as possible, this kind of plot design itself is enough. It's a headache. In "Your Name. Xin Haicheng, who presented roses to the audience, finally revealed the fangs of "authority" in this "Children of the Weather".
Seeing it from the rational perspective of adults inside and outside the movie, this is embarrassing, naive, brain-dead, and unreasonable. I can’t understand and feel it. I can only judge the existence of such values through the purest interest. From another perspective, this is an extremely refined love fable at the core, and a true "mythical" carrier about marginalized people. Transferring the meaning of existence from others to the other, trading this betrayal of the world in exchange for our existence, so emotional, so crazy, so anti-social, yet so unpredictable.
But it’s quite interesting that this "Weathering Son" in many core segments seems to correspond to the "Neon Genesis Evangelion: Broken" 10 years ago ("I see Harina again "And "return Ling Boli to me", there is also a common tendency to "destroy the world") . And the really interesting thing is here, Xin Haicheng used such a paranoid and bold values to "betray", but turned himself into the kind of non-contribution that Anno Hideaki ridiculed in "Air/True For You" more than 20 years ago. A "lower dead house" with no responsibility and no sense of social responsibility . Is this kind of unconscious self-ridicule also one of the values of this film?
As for whether Xin Haicheng’s "failure" is worth it, I think it's up to the spectators to judge.
It's really cruel. Unfortunately, it is not ruthless enough.
Job hunting in Tokyo, Haruno making money, incompetent police, gangs and gunfights, all of these seem to be a kind of "gimmick" compromise made by Xin Haicheng for the market. But under the background of these conventional elements, such a highly allegorical story seems even more incompatible with the mainstream perspective.
Is this a pity? Count, not count. After Xin Haicheng shredded everything with his fangs, he once again used these elements to smile together our feelings. In the face of such a contrast, Xin Haicheng finally realized the relentless, gentle and irresistible counterattack he had long hoped for against the audience.
But is such a counterattack really pleasant enough? Looking at the ending alone, it was really unpleasant. The ending of "Children of the Weather" is simply too boring, and "Your Name." Compared with the sense of completeness, the ending of this movie is nothing but perfunctory and helplessness after compromise. Imagine even the most cliche ending. Fan Gao and Yang Nai meet in the air, and the world on the clouds gradually moves away from them. Tokyo is full of violent storms underneath. The world is set off by the perfect soundtrack of RAD. Being assimilated by the ocean, but not as good as the love of the two in the sky (just as awesome as the scene of the collapse of a tall building at the end of "Fight Club") . Isn't this kind of design, this kind of artistic conception even more crazy and romantic?
What a pity, such a compromise, in the end, there is only "a pity" left.
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PS: Some complaints about translation
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