FLM.RED / After the credits
Looking for someone whose name is lost
A spoiler-filled discussion of body-swapping, the comet and the meeting on the stairs.
Open the recap & discussion — spoilers
Mitsuha wakes up in the life of a boy in Tokyo, while Taki finds himself living hers in a small town. The messages they leave each other become an unlikely way to get acquainted.
Waking up as someone else
Mitsuha lives in Itomori and dreams of Tokyo; Taki lives in the capital. As they intermittently swap bodies, they set rules and leave notes to help each other manage school, work and family. Their bond grows through the everyday details of lives they have never met face to face.
The town Taki cannot find
When the swaps stop, Taki searches for Itomori from memory. He learns that a comet fragment destroyed the town three years earlier and finds Mitsuha among the dead. Their lives were separated by time as well as distance, and the messages on his phone begin to disappear.
One more chance
At a shrine Taki drinks the ritual sake Mitsuha left there, reconnecting with her body before the disaster. With her friends he tries to warn the town. At twilight the two briefly meet in their own bodies; Taki returns her red braid, and they try to write their names on each other’s hands.
The words on her hand
Mitsuha must persuade her father, the mayor, to evacuate the town. As her memory of Taki fades she looks at her palm, only to find that he wrote a declaration of love instead of his name. The message reassures her that their connection was real, though it cannot help her recall who he is.
A meeting in Tokyo
Years later both live in Tokyo with a lingering sense that they are looking for someone. They spot each other from trains and search through the streets. After passing on a staircase, they stop, turn back and ask each other’s names. The film leaves their future open at the moment they finally speak.
After watching
- How would the hand scene feel if Taki had written his name?
- Does the staircase feel like a reunion or a new introduction?
A feeling without a name
The film leaves room between memory and feeling for the audience to consider what draws the two together.
Keep the conversation going
How far apart in time are Mitsuha and Taki?
Mitsuha’s body-swap scenes occur in 2013 and Taki’s in 2016, three years apart.
