This review contains spoilers Suzume Makoto Shinkais new movie seems to take place in the same universe as his previous two movies Your Name and Weathering with you but presents itself in a different manner. Suzume contains many more fantasy elements than Makoto Shinkais previous works the use of doors to traverse into the land of the dead the presence of deities and the use of some sort of spiritual powers reminiscent of Onmyd. Suzume uses this fantasy setting to tell us two intertwined stories one is the struggle between man and god and the other the reconciliation of the self and path of grief. Why the struggle between man and deity you may ask? In Japanese mythology earthquakes tsunamis and other natural disasters were said to originate from a giant catfish living deep in the earth called Namazu or namazu the Earthquake fish. Quite a stretch to associate the giant worm in Suzume to a giant catfish but theres more. Associated to this catfish is Takemikazuchi a japanese deity which is known for its subduing of Namazu thanks to the kanameishi the pinning rock. The myth explains that when Takemikazuchi loses his guard Namazu trapped under the Kanameishi tries to break free and in doing so generates these natural disasters. Now this starts to resemble the apparition of the Worm Souta and these keystones often translated from the japanese kanameishi which can symbolise something that can not or should not be moved. 220https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/TakemikazuchipinsNamazuwithKanameishispiritstone1855.png/220pxTakemikazuchipinsNamazuwithKanameishispiritstone1855.png Representation of Takemikazuchi subduing Namazu with the Kanameishi Suzume travels throughout Japan starting from Miyazaki on Kyushu island a ferry ride to Ehime then Kobe Tokyo and Miyagi to end up in Thoku her birth place. This journey lets her experience different parts of Japan as well as meet a variety of different people eager to help her on her journey. Souta the handsome guy she meets near her home accompanies her on her journey although he is now a chair Suzumes childhood chair and only remaining memory of her mother. Soutas presence as an animated three legged chair allows this anime to focus more on comedic elements as we follow her on her youthful and emotional voyage creating an experience very different from Shinkais previous work. Suzumes lean towards fantasy allows Kenichi Tsuchiya this movies animation director to truly shine. Bright colourful and beautiful scenes are commonplace the movie feels alive every kind and loving character willing to help Suzume on her journey feel like actual people and one can only imagine their daily life ripe with adventures. As Suzume continues her journey chasing gods and locking doors. She finds herself confronted by her past and locks it away alongside these natural disasters. The doors reopen and the worm threatens the world as her grief threatens her. Determined to bring back Satou she sets on her final journey back to her childhood to reconcile with her child self. The path of grief and the apparition of the worm are two sides of the same coin. The apparition of the worm spreads destruction across the land in a similar fashion to how grief spells destruction for the heart. Places that represent joy such as the school and the theme park are left in a sorry state. Suzumes home town Thoku birthplace of Suzumes grief is reduced to rubble. Suzume must acknowledge and come to terms with the loss of her mother only then will she have the strength to save the world. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takemikazuchi https://www.science.smith.edu/climatelit/namazu/::text=Namazu20E9AFB02C20or20C58Cnamazutsunamis20by20thrashing20his20tail. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011TC58DhokuearthquakeandtsunamiScientificandresearchresponse