The biggest-grossing film of last year in Japan was an anime called Your Name., directed by Makoto Shinkai (Voices of a distant Star, 5 Centimeters Per Second). It’s also become the greatest anime film of all time worldwide, beating the Miyazaki motion pictures Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke.

If you’re curious to see what captured the imagination of so lots of Japanese movie-goers, Funimation films has announced Your Name. will be showing in north america beginning April 7. You can choose from two versions, dubbed or in Japanese with English subtitles.Here’s the trailer (dubbed):

And the subtitled version (where I like the voices better):

As you can see, it’s a body-switch story. two students find themselves living each others’ lives at random times. Here’s the official synopsis:

The day the stars fell, two lives changed forever. High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. but one night, they unexpectedly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two need to adjust their lives around each other. Yet, somehow, it works. They build a connection and communicate by leaving notes, messages, and a lot more importantly, an imprint.

When a spectacular comet lights up the night’s sky, it dawns on them. They want something a lot more from this connection — a chance to meet, an opportunity to genuinely know each other. Tugging at the string of fate, they try to find a way to each other. but distance isn’t the only thing keeping them apart. Is their bond strong enough to face the cruel irony of time? Or is their meeting nothing a lot more than a wish upon the stars?

I can understand why this would be so resonant — the idea of having some kind of fated person to meet is a popular, epic one. It’s also lovely, with the hand-drawn animation, as you can see from these stills.

You can buy tickets now from the film’s website.

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