There’s no anime fans in the world who have never heard the nameMakoto Shinkaibefore. After all, the man is an iconic director who has produced numerous celebrated movies such as5 Centimeters per Second, Garden of Words, andYour Name, just to name a few.
His latest work, the 2019Weathering With Youwas a massive success and the fans loved it. That being said, it is also one of the most polarizing movies by Shinkai due to its infamous ending. This article will dive into the end ofWeathering With You, and explain why it ends the way it is. By the way, there will be a major spoiler here, so if you haven’t watched this movie yet, consider yourself warned.
RELATED:Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume no Tojimari Gets Extended Trailer
The Story of Weathering With You
Before we discuss the ending, let’s talk about the story first.Weathering With Youis essentially a story about two teenagers. A 16-year-old boy named Hodaka who ran away from his hometown to Tokyo because he felt caged and suffocated living on that small island. And a 15-year-old girl named Hina who has to live alone with her little brother because their mother passed away last year. Through their mutual hardship,Hina and Hodaka quickly became a close friend with a hint of romancedeveloped as the story progressed.
Hodaka and Hina find out that she has the power of the Weather Maiden, which means she has the ability to affect the weather. She is especially good at clearing the sky to let the warm sunshine in. So they decided to offer her service under the name ofthe Sunshine Girl. Tons of people ask her help to stop the rain and let the sun out. Unbeknownst to them, the more Hina uses her power, the more connected she is to the sky. She would even vanish from the face of the earth and take her place among the spirits of the sky if she keeps doing her job as the Sunshine Girl.
The End of Weathering With You
The end ofWeathering With Youbegins when Hodaka, Hina, and her little brother are forced to leave their home and find a place to stay in the middle of a terrible storm. At this point, about half of Hina’s body has turned transparent due to excessive uses of her weather maiden power. And as mentioned earlier, she is connected to the spirits of the sky, which means the current heavy thunderstorm that has flooded parts of the city will continue unless she surrenders herself to the sky.
Hina clearly doesn’t want to do that. Leaving her own fate aside, she wants to be there for her little brother, andshe also wants to spend more time with Hodaka. But she also knows that she can’t escape her destiny as the weather maiden.
RELATED:Gurren Lagann’s Ending, Explained
She doesn’t want to make other people suffer due to her selfishness. Besides, she also wants her brother and Hodaka to be able to enjoy the warm sunlight together. So she decided to pray for a clear and warm sky one last time, andsacrifice herself to the sky. When Hodaka and Hina’s brother woke up that morning, Hina had already vanished, with only her clothes left on the bed.
Did Hodaka Make The Right Decision At The End?
Hodaka and Hina’s brother are in a state of shock and panic when they find out about Hina’s disappearance. Deep in their heart, both of them know that Hina sacrifices herself in order to stop the rain and bring back the sun. But they are also not ready to live their life without her. So Hodaka promises to Hina’s brother and to himself that he will do anything to bring Hina back.
This is the part where the story gets a bit polarizing. Because Hodaka, and we as the viewers, know that bringing Hina back from the sky will also mean the rain will pour back down as before. So would Hodaka let the thousands of people who live in Tokyo suffer through endless rain just because he wants to save the girl that she loves the most in the world? As it turned out, that is precisely what he’s done. Hodaka manages to save Hina, but as expected, the rain will continue to pour for years to come.
Some people will certainly feel that Hodaka made a very selfish choice here. After all,for the sake of one girl, he has basically doomed the lives of countless others. But if we look at it from Hodaka’s perspective, saving Hina is the only option for him. After all, we’ve seen throughout the movie that the world hasn’t really been kind to him. The adults either don’t care about him, taking advantage of him, or even downright harassing him.
Hina is the only one who is truly kind and cares about him. So why would a 16-year-old boy like Hodaka choose the world that seems to hate him over the only girl who truly understands and loves him in this entire world? It’s not even an exaggeration to say that Hina is the only reason why Hodaka can truly enjoy his life.
That is why his selfishness is not only understandable, but it’s safe to assume that anybody would surely do the same thing if they were in his shoes. Sure,Weathering With Youmay end with the people of Tokyo having to experience the non-stop rain for the foreseeable future, but given what we’ve known about the characters, especially Hodaka, so far, that is the only appropriate end to the story.
More:The Best Anime Movies To Watch If You Love Your Name
