English Subtitles now available!
It was a huge year at the Oscars for Japan, with Boy and the Heron taking home Miyazaki’s second award for best animation, and Godzilla Minus 1 being the first Godzilla film in the franchise’s 70 years to win an Oscar of any kind. But there’s one Japanese film the Oscars, and many others, have all but forgotten, and I think it deserves another chance. This is my ode to Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume, and what it teaches us about the meaning of Remembrance.
This is my second video essay on metaphor, and took far longer than my previous work on the Boy and the Heron (https://youtu.be/jI-Hdlpz7VU?si=fnSxRul1okjC2lYZ). I spent 3 months reading 2 entire books, over 500 pages, edited over 180 screenshots, and rewrote the 35 page script 7 times to bring you this hour-long behemoth. I am ingratiated to a certain penguin who gifted me the Suzume art book and to all of you who have commented on my last video with your support and encouragement. Thank you. I hope the wait has been worth it and that this video will resonate with you and deepen your experience of Suzume.
Any errata which come to light will be listed below.
Music created by Matthew Pablo https://matthewpablo.com/
Chapters:
00:00 Intro/Forgotten by the Oscars
01:18 The Works of Makoto Shinkai
06:42 On Narrative Analysis
09:55 The Narrative of Suzume
18:40 3.11.11
23:46 Your Name as 3.11 Metaphor
29:00 The Metaphor of Suzume
38:36 Suzume and The Japanese Psyche
43:22 Soul-searching
46:23 Suzume and the World
51:47 The Meaning of Remembrance
58:09 Suzume for the World/ Epilogue
Sources (by publication date):
Books:
“Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice”
Sonja Foss, Published by Waveland Press, 1989
“Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche”
Haruki Murakami, Published by Vintage International, 1997
“Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting That You’ll Ever Need”
Blake Snyder, Published by Michael Wiese Productions, 2005
“Reimagining Japan After Fukushima”
Tamaki Mihic, Published by Australian National University Press, 2019
Shinkai Interviews:
“Meeting the Director of ‘Your Name’, the Latest Anime by the ‘New Miyazaki'”
Hannah Ewens, Vice, November 6, 2016
https://www.vice.com/en/article/pp43yg/your-name-is-the-new-anime-by-the-next-hayao-miyazaki-japanese-director-makoto-shinkai
“Interview: Makoto Shinkai, Director, “Weathering with You”
W.R. Miller, Animation Scoop, Nov 5 2019
https://www.animationscoop.com/interview-makoto-shinkai-director-weathering-with-you/
“Why “Suzume” Was a Blockbuster in China and South Korea: Interview with Makoto Shinkai (#1)”
Yusuke Hirata, World Insight, Nov 9 2023
https://worldinsight.com/news/culture/why-suzume-was-a-blockbuster-in-china-and-south-korea-interview-with-makoto-shinkai-1/
“Makoto Shinkai’s new film ‘Suzume’ mourns Japan’s deserted towns”
Noriko Sikihara, Nikkei, Nov 19 2022 https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Arts/Makoto-Shinkai-s-new-film-Suzume-mourns-Japan-s-deserted-towns
“Why Makoto Shinkai Made a Talking Chair the Heart of ‘Suzume’”
Jeremy Fuster, the Wrap, April 14, 2023
https://www.thewrap.com/makoto-shinkai-suzume-interview/
Misc Info:
“Mobsters on a Mission: How Japan’s Mafia Launched an Aid Effort”
Jake Adelstein, The Independent, April 9, 2011 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/mobsters-on-a-mission-how-japan-s-mafia-launched-an-aid-effort-2264031.html
“Ehime residents recount horrific landslide death of beloved friend and neighbor”
The Japan Times, July 12, 2018
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/07/12/national/ehime-residents-recount-horrific-landslide-death-beloved-friend-neighbor/
“3/11 – The Tsunami: The First 3 Days” NHK World – Japan, February 6, 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E2Q7kr4L2c&ab_channel=NHKWORLD-JAPAN
source
Haven't Seen Suzume Yet, Guess I'll Be Up A Few More Hours!
I knew that the movie was making allusions to Fukushima and the corresponding earthquake but I definitely didn’t know enough about the internal discourse to properly appreciate the film
Great video, and thank you so much for sharing
It’s 3/11/24! How perfect, thank you for creating this analysis of Suzume. We shall remember.
You know, as luck would have it I watched Suzume without having the previous experience of watching Your Name. Perhaps in my personal estimation it won't be forgotten as easily.
Between this and your last video, you are definitely one of my favorite video essayists in the platform. Your insights and research are fantastic, your delivery keeps me engaged the whole way through, and your illustrations add a ton to the presentation of the video. Another banger. Thank you for helping me appreciate and understand more two films that I already loved.
Unbelievable video! It almost feels like a deep dive into the pure essence and meaning of the film.. and when you think you've reached the bottom, being able to realize much more thinks than you did on the first viewing, the video after its first half takes you to a whole new, even deeper place, presenting you the soul of the movie and the inner thoughts of its creator/director, allowing you to grasp even more meanings and ideas than you thought that could be there in the first place. Thank you for enhanching so much more my appreciation of the film and making me love even more the great Makoto Shinkai, something that i didn't think it was possible!!