Title: Your Name Vol. 3
Author: Makoto Shinkai (Story), Ranmaru Kotone (Art)
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 166
Genre: Sci-Fi, Romance
Publication Date: April 10, 2018
The Story
The third and final volume of Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name is here! Taki (as Mitusha), Tesshi and Saya are busy trying to enact their plans to get the residents of Itomori to evacuate before the comet splits and destroys the town. Tesshi and Saya get into position while Taki tries to convince Mitusha’s father who will have none of what she has to say. In a desperate attempt, Mitsuha takes Tesshi’s bike and heads to the shrine, feeling that something just might be there.
On the other side, Mitsuha (as Taki) wakes up in the shrine and feels a presence. At the moment of katawaredoki (twilight), a certain magic happens and the two of them finally meet. It’s only for a fleeting moment as the twilight period ends and Mitsuha (as herself now) disappears as they are writing messages on each other’s hands. Mitsuha heads back to town as their plan goes off. They end up causing an explosion at the power plant and, subsequently, begin broadcasting a message telling people to evacuate due to a possible forest fire. Of course, Mitsuha’s father investigates and their plan is cut short. At that time, the comet splits and it’s enough after the second visit with her father for Mitsuha to convince him. The comet strikes and the aftermath is largely unknown.
We do a time skip and see an older Mitsuha in Tokyo. Apparently, thanks to her efforts, the townsfolk were spared from the comet’s strike. While Taki and Mitsuha resume their lives, that nagging feeling that they are searching for someone or something still haunts them. One day, the two of them pass each other on a train and their senses become overwhelming. They each take their separate paths through the city until they come to that fated staircase. As they pass each other by, Taki makes the first move by turning around and asking if they’ve met before. Mitsuha says she has the same feeling. The series then ends with one important question:
“What is your name?”
Characters
There wasn’t much character development here between Taki and Mitsuha as their characters have already been fully established by this point. However, there was a great moment where the two of them finally met during the twilight of the night the comet hit. After searching far and wide for each other, it was a tender moment that brought a big smile to my face. Then, just as soon as it arrived, it was taken away. The fact that their memories of each other quickly faded after that was a sad moment.
Putting forth all of that effort just to find the one you love only to have it taken away from you may seem like a cruel moment, but it is a stern reminder that life, itself, is not and never will be fair. There is always give and take and I think this moment symbolized it perfect. When you do experience the things you work hard for, you are supposed to cherish them because you never know when they will disappear. The part where Taki and Mitsuha forget each other’s names is another message that tells the reader to always keep those cherished moments locked away in your memories and to do your best to never forget them. There was a much deeper meaning to that scene than what was given to us on the surface.
The same could be said for the ending. With the previous meeting, you thought that their goals had been met, but that wasn’t the case due to the two of them disappearing. Again, life isn’t fair and you will experience setbacks, even though the goal is just within reach. Here, their second and final meeting symbolizes that hard work does pay off and not to give up because no matter how many setbacks you experience, the goal is always there waiting for you to reach it.
Of course, what happens with Taki and Mitsuha after their final meeting is left up to the reader to interpret. I guess we’ll leave that up to the fan fiction/doujinshi community.
Final Thoughts
The manga was an absolutely flawless adaptation of the feature film. All of the great moments were captured perfectly in black and white and I give kudos to Yen Press for including the symbolic and infamous ending as full-color pages! It is no secret that Makoto Shinkai endured a lot of success with this film. After watching it several times and experiencing it once more through the manga adaptation, I can safely say that it reminds you of why the movie was such a success in the first place. While the story does have some flaws and loopholes that some nitpickers will pull apart (such as why did neither of them bother to check a newspaper when they realized they were switching bodies… or even try to call each other), its strengths really made those issues a non-issue.
Makoto Shinkai has been known to tell tales of tragic love. Not in the sense where death plays a role, but rather stories of love that are forbidden, or love that is out of reach, or love that is too good to be true. It (along with trains) is a recurring theme in all of his works and Your Name is no different. The only difference here with Your Name is that the two that love each other actually end up together in the end. It’s not like Voices of a Distant Star where two people are separated by the vastness of space or like in 5 Centimeters per Second where life itself just causes two people to drift apart.
Whether you have seen the movie or not, Your Name is a series that is worth your attention. The sci-fi twist doesn’t really feel out of place and the characters, while a little plain, is probably the most fleshed out in any of Shinkai’s works. Shinkai took a gamble by telling a story that is out of his usual element and it paid off in dividends. You would do yourself a great service to pick up all three volumes to experience this for yourself!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press
