English Title: Your Name — “your
name.”
Japanese Title: 君の名は。– Kimi no
Na wa.
Author: Makoto Shinkai (Your Name), Arata Kanoh (Another Side)
Illustrator: Masayoshi Tanaka and Hiyori Asahikawa (Another Side)
Translator: Taylor Engel
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Original Run: June 2016
English Run: May 2017
Japanese Publisher: Kadokawa
English Publisher: Yen On (Yen Press)
Volumes in Japanese: 1 (Completed) (plus side-story volume)
Volumes in English: 1 (Completed) (plus side-story volume)
Plot:
-
Mitsuha Miyamizu, a girl from the rural side of Japan,
wanted a change on her life. She hated being in the countryside, and wanted to
become a nice-looking city boy.
-
One day, she woke up as Taki Tachibana, a boy who
lived in Tokyo. She was surprised and confused but happy by the end of the day,
having been able to live a citizen’s life and not being a country bumpkin.
-
Taki, on the other hand, also happened to wake up as
Mitsuha, in the rural side of the country. He had no idea that they had
switched bodies this whole time, and so did she, until they started writing
diary entries on each other’s phones.
-
They eventually got used to this body swapping
phenomenon, and decided to make rules to protect each own’s privacy.
-
One day, when a comet showed up in Mitsuha’s hometown,
it split into two, one hitting the Earth, specifically in Mitsuha’s place,
destroying the town for good.
-
Taki realized that they hadn’t switched bodies for a
while, and decided to go visit Mistuha’s place using the clues he got from
switching bodies.
-
He eventually found where Mitsuha lived, the town
which had been destroyed by a comet 3 years ago.
-
He realized that Mitsuha actually died 3 years ago,
and that they were connected through dreams.
-
Taki then eventually met Mitsuha at the summit of the
town, being connected to her despite the time difference through the “Kataware-doki”.
-
He then told Mitsuha to evacuate the town, as it was
about to be struck by a comet.
-
Mitsuha eventually led everyone to evacuate the town,
saving most of the people there.
-
5 years later, they met again in Tokyo, this time
directly, and asked each other, “What’s your name?”
Review:
This novel was written during the
production of the movie, and was released 1 month before the premiere. If you
have watched the movie, then this novel would have the same story as the movie
itself. However, if you’re the type who enjoys reading books than watching
movies, and you happen to have not watched the movie yet, this is a good read
indeed. The translation done by Taylor Engel completely transcribes the Japanese
version of this novel. For only $14, you can embrace yourself to a deep,
heartwarming story written by no other than Makoto Shinkai.
Morale:
People are truly
linked in the most peculiar way. Your soul mate may be residing in your dream
right now.
Bibliography: https://englishlightnovels.com/2017/05/25/your-name/
-Ardiansyah