From Makoto Shinkai (writer/director of Your Name), the new anime feature Suzume questions the weight of memory, how it reshapes us, and the ways it stagnates. The titular character is a high school girl whose mother died in a natural disaster she can’t quite recall—other than vague memories of a twilit dreamscape. Suzume’s life is mundane until she meets a ‘flower boy’ on the road to school. His name is Souta and he has a special gift for closing mystical doors. That’s where the action begins, as the two try to save Japan from a giant Spirit Worm seeking to destroy our world from the realm beyond—with the help or maybe the hindrance of an adorable cat-spirit called Daijin. The filmmakers spin metaphors of keys, doors, cats, and memory as a force that must be faced to be kept safe, into animated poetry. Making Suzume a film we easily connect with. And it is gorgeously realized, snappily paced, and well-written to enhance the experience. I’m going to watch it twice (and again). –Sherin Nicole
Originally posted on the Geek Girl Riot podcast on idobi.com
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