During a summer where Tokyo is facing unprecedented rain two teenagers form a love that changes their worlds. Hodaka has run away from home for reasons only hinted at whilst Hina is an orphan looking after her younger brother. Both are facing difficulties that no teenager should have to, but when they start using Hina’s mystical power to bring sunshine to her location to earn money their fortunes change. But will there be a cost to that power?

I was excited to take the opportunity to watch a Japanese animation in the cinema. I was a huge fan during my teenage years and have kept a glancing eye on the most acclaimed films since then, but I’m pretty confident that I’ve only seen Studio Ghibli films at the cinema until now.

On a visual level Weathering With You absolutely does not disappoint. It is stunning to look at. It is impossible to understate how beautiful everything looks. Given its story there is a lot of rain, water and sunshine fighting through and it allows for some stunning imagery. But it doesn’t scrimp elsewhere, every scene and location is filled with detail and every frame could be paused and hung on your wall as art.

I was a little disappointed that I could only find a dubbed screening as I much prefer to hear the original voice cast and read subtitles, but I have to admit the cast do a decent job. Hodaka and Hina are voiced ably by Brandon Engman and Ashley Boettcher, whilst the supporting cast have more well known names in Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy), Alison Brie (Glow, Community) and Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler, Rogue One).

Story wise I was left a little underwhelmed, although I’m confident this is the sort of tale I would have fell in love with as a teenager. The reason for that is that this is about earnest teenagers who feel huge emotions and who are falling in love for the first time. This is (over)emphasised by lashings of J-pop in its final hour that really hammer home how much they mean to each other. It’s fun and frothy but perhaps I’m too jaded for that now? I also wanted more of the mystical elements. In the main the film is seated much more in the “real world” and as a result the possibility of an eco system in the clouds feels a little incongruous but too interesting to be barely touched on.

It’s hard to wonder whether there is a message about global warming in here somewhere as well. It seems strikingly obvious that there must be when the film features Tokyo being rained on for an entire summer, but for me the overalls theme was that love can change the world.

A visual feast that is fun and engaging if overly earnest.