Suzume No Tojimari: The Road Not Fully Traveled

The male lead, Shota, became a baby chair after he was cursed.

From the acclaimed director of 'Your Name.' and 'Weathering with You' comes 'Suzume', a visually stunning road trip movie that follows the journey of a young woman across Japan. But does this latest work from Makoto Shinkai live up to the high expectations set by his previous films? In this review, we explore the strengths and weaknesses of 'Suzume', delving into its formulaic plot, impressive visuals, and questionable character development. Join us as we analyze Shinkai's latest creation and consider what could have been done differently to make it a truly unforgettable cinematic experience

Suzume might be Shinkai’s most short-termism work, as he probably did not think it through before he shot it nor did he take enough time to forge the film. The plot is formulaic, somewhat following the same tropes as his previous films. It might be still impressive to new audience, but really has become clichéd to old fans. On one hand, Suzume entered the main competition section of the Berlin International Film Festival, so without a doubt, Shinkai is an acclaimed filmmaker. On the other hand, compared to his previous two series of “Post 311” disaster, the Suzume is way much closer to general commercial film patterns. Suzume has great visuals effects, appealing sound tracks and popular elements. It’s just that none of these are contributing to a greater story.

Suzume lacks of depth in exploring the cultural and historical context of the locations Suzume visits. It fails to provide any meaningful insights into the history and culture of these places. For example, when Suzume visits Kyoto, one of Japan's most historic cities, the film does little to explore the city's rich cultural heritage. The same can be said for the other locations in the film, which feel like they are merely there for visual appeal rather than as meaningful settings for the story. By delving deeper into the cultural and historical context of these locations, the film could have added more substance and meaning to Suzume's journey, and given audiences a greater appreciation for the beauty and complexity of Japan's cultural landscape.

Strictly speaking, Suzume is not a road movie, but a visual blog of a road trip. The film features splendid shots of Japan’s countryside, cities and landmarks. However, the protagonist only gets to take a quick tour of Japan instead of actually traveling through it. It is like Shinkai packed up all the sublime elements in Suzume’s journey and rush them to the audience. Suzume’s tour is extremely ‘target-driven’, which should never happen in a road movie. There are too many coincidences in Suzume’s encounters that she seems to be helped by God, like a Destiny Child in web-fictions. One thing about this type of scenario is that side characters are often overshadowed by the protagonist’s heroic aura. Shinkai is good at delivering cinema spectacles, in which the protagonist’s aura can be maximized.

However, same case does not apply to road movie, as road movie is about meeting interesting side characters and beautiful views. The protagonist’s transformation arc reflect and grow out from them. This is not a guided tour, so there will be obstacles on the way. Suzume may feel called to embark on an adventure, but she’s definitely not forced to or on a mission to do it. The best part of traveling is that you probably have something in mind but it is not necessary for you to accomplish it. In Weathering With You, Shinkai spent nearly half time of the movie to picture Tokyo life, so when Hodaka makes his decision to choose Hina over Tokyo city , we can well empathize with his inner struggles.

Shinkai explained in an interview that he has passed his age of a good storyteller, okay, but it does not mean that he has to disappoint his fans by losing his originality. Shota in Suzume is a ‘Frog Prince’ character. It is creative that Shinkai makes him become a chair, but that happened in too early part of the film, and somewhat Shinkai make his interactions with Suzume in a Disney style. Shota was like a pet friend who’s bringing joy or making funny moves along the journey. And there wasn’t even sufficient details that could tell how Suzume fell in love with Shota. I mean, come on, Suzume was willing to give up her life to save somebody who didn’t even respond much to her? It might be possible, but not convincing.

If Suzume was made by other animator, I would not bother at all, but it is made by Shinkai, who was acclaimed by his distinctive styles. He went too ambitious in his concepts in Suzume, and that result in big flaws of character shaping. Shinkai’s films focus on personal relationships, and that’s what powering the emotions and drama. In Your Name. and Weathering with You, there were lot of chemistry going on between the male and the female lead. In Suzume, however, the female lead was too carried away by the jobs that originally belonged to Shota. She’s not a door shutter (and there wasn’t any scene explaining her ability), and she’s completely clueless by Shota falling asleep for most of the time. She just had such a simple request—getting to know Shota, and she had to running through almost whole Japan to do that while Shota is just right by her side.

Let’s not forget that Suzume is primarily a romance, and the most private, romantic moments might be Suzume kissing Shota to awake him, and guess what, Shinkai made it in a way that Suzume pulling Shota out of his seal, while we don’t necessarily see a full picture of kissing and the kiss lasts less than three seconds! So don’t tell me this is Romance, it is ridiculous. And if anyone saying this is fantasy, then why I am seeing forced romance in the key plot? The characters will be much more convincing if Shinkai just deliver a little more private moments. Over-delivered spectacles are beautiful but disorienting.

Lastly, which bothers me most is that as whole the story of Suzume is not exciting. It attractive but not impressive. It is a sweet film but its taste does not linger in our mind. What did we learn from this story? None. I can’t tell that sometimes later people will still talk about it. This is also why I said in the beginning that by Suzume, Shinkai is getting more short-termism.