The gang finally completes the Makoto Shinkai trilogy, closing the book on our previous discussions on Your Name (Episode 7) and Weathering With You (Episode 12) after many years with 2022's Suzume. There's a lot to like about this movie (it's just as beautiful as its predecessors, if not even more gorgeous) but it's definitely not as good as Your Name and arguably may not even be better than Weathering With You, which does lend itself to a pretty great discussion about the main characters, the keystones (how do they work?!?), and the weird way the "romance" develops as the movie goes on. And in its small moments there's a wonderful story about the kindness of strangers Suzume meets on her journey, and it does elicit the emotions we're used to feeling in a Shinkai film. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.
