Saw this movie after all the hype and had regrets. Not in any way a close match to the movie "Your Name" (10/10). I felt it was too flat and could have been done better. To think it has so many above average reviews is appalling.

SPOILER WARNING A 45 minute piece of art. I have watched other movies by the same director but none has moved me this much. Not only does the environment and the setting play on your heart strings, but the story of an adolescent boy and a young adult woman will seem quite tepid at first but the movie will lull you into the climax. The story is not overly captivating nor is it innovative, but it is just right. The sheer beauty of the setting will course you into this world, in some instances you could even smell that familiar scent of rain. Two amazing characters that you would just want to know more of, only 45 minutes does not do it justice but that lets the audience create a picture for themselves. Others may not like this as much as I did but I couldn't care less. I loved it.

The best thing about this film is absolutely the animation. The water affects and reflections are like nothing I've ever see before. This is perhaps the best ever effort at realism through animation, as life's little details are picked up beautifully here. The film is only 45 minutes long, do not expect a plot filled with intrigue. What we have is a very basic, but still very sweet love story. The love triumphing despite various barriers is one you'll have seen many times, which does lessen the effect. I felt by keeping some distance between the characters throughout it did add emotion to their eventual coming together at the end. This film is worth a watch for the animation alone. The story won't blow you away, but neither will it lessen your experience.

With it's short length of only 45 minutes, it's hard to call this a full movie - although don't let that deter you, as it's still better than most that I have seen, anime or otherwise.When you hear about this movie one of the things that get repeated mention is it's visuals, and I concur. It's probably the most well made anime from a visuals standpoint. The story isn't bad either, for only 45 minutes it sets up and tell a surprisingly deep and moving story. It is simplistic storytelling, but still very powerful. It is somewhat reminiscent of one of the director's previous films, 5 Centimetres Per Second, in that it uses a similarly "simple" story but one that relates strongly to emotions and situations felt by normal human beings. I also think this is a great movie to show people who normally don't like anime, as anime very often have different storytelling than I think many are used to. This one is more grounded without many of the "fantasy" elements that most anime's have.The plot summary on IMDb do just fine setting up the story so I wont bother explaining it, it would just be redundant.