Makoto Shinkai《Suzuya's Journey》Plot Interpretation

Starting with 2016's Your Name, 2019's Weathering with You, and 2022's Suzuya's Journey, Makoto Shinkai's Disaster Trilogy has been completed.For a long time after it was released, the discussion of "Suzuya's Journey" has remained as hot as before.Today, the editor will take you to explain in detail - Suzuya's Journey - the hidden meaning in the plot.

Compared with previous creations, the biggest difference this time is the exploration of social issues.If say《your name.》--The meteorites and heavy rains in "Weathering With You" also require the audience to use their imagination to use them as a screen metaphor for real disasters; then "Suzuya" is a narrative poem that directly talks to disasters.“.All the fantasy settings in the film can be matched in reality.

The following are some issues and details that everyone should be concerned about after reading - Suzuya -.I'll list them and analyze them one by one, hoping to help you.

1. The meaning of ”to the door“

The ”Xingmen“ in each ruin are the source of large-scale earthquakes of magnitude 7 or above that have occurred in modern Japan.The main plot of the entire film can be summarized as a girl's journey back to Japan's earthquake history.Every time Suzuya closes its doors, it is a time of remembrance and prayer.

Suzume's route: Kyushu (current residence) → Shikoku Ehime Prefecture → Kobe → Tokyo → Iwate Prefecture (hometown).This route corresponds to: the 2016 Kyushu Kumamoto Earthquake, the 2014 Iyonada Earthquake, the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, the Great Kanto Earthquake a hundred years ago in 1923, which killed more than 140,000 people, and the 2011 311 Earthquake.Big earthquake.

The ”Going Gate“ actually corresponds to the ”Home Gate“ and the ”心门“.Hidden inside the door is the sorrow of the past.What is waiting outside the door is the warmth and goodwill between people, and also the belief that we must take care of ourselves and work hard to survive.

2. Souta’s spell

Souta calls upon the God of the Sun and the God of the Earth to come out and suppress ”蓓E“. This is a spell to communicate with the gods.”日无见“ refers to weasels that live underground. They feed on earthworms and have a deterrent effect on ”earworms“.In addition, Souta also needs to emphasize to the land god: humans are passers-by for generations.

Ruins not only exist in reality, but also in the hearts of many people.The ruins contain the thoughts of the survivors and the memories of the victims.Xin Haicheng used this mantra to express his respect for the land and his memory of the victims.

3. ”Yishi“’s sacrifice: the identity of the Cat Minister

From the details in the film, including the dialogue between Munakata Yoro and Suzuya, and the dialogue with Minister Zuo, as well as the fact that Minister Zuo was suppressed in Tokyo (after the Great Kanto Earthquake), we can comprehensively deduce: Minister Zuo and MinisterIn their past lives, they might have been a pair of closed-door masters, but their consciousness as human beings has dissipated.Maybe the minister was still an innocent child before he turned into a stone, and his consciousness was stagnated like this.

Grandpa once told Suzuya that it was an honor for her to turn Souta into a Kaname stone with her own hands, and asked Suzuya to forget about him and gain the peace of hundreds of thousands of people through his sacrifice.It can be seen that this is a practice that has been passed down. In every reincarnation generation (every hundred years), there will be people from the closed-door master family who have to make similar sacrifices.”Yao Shi“ is not a god who descended from the sky, but a divine object that suppresses earthquakes after being materialized.

4. The minister’s purpose along the way

If you understand the minister as a person with a childlike nature, rather than a villain, his motivations become very simple.Suzuya accidentally released him into the human world, and he saw the light of day again, dreaming of becoming a family member with Suzuya.A new round of ”Emergency“ is coming. The minister wanted Souta to complete the mission for him, but in the end he led the destined person (Suzuame) to ”Eternal World“.

Along the way, the minister seems evil, but his purpose is simple.For example, the sentence "Many people will die from now on", said with a sinister mentality and an innocent mentality, have two completely different meanings.In the film, it’s actually the latter.After Suzuya expressed her incomprehension and even hatred towards the minister, the minister's power and image instantly shrank, which was also in line with the mental state of a child.

In the end, Suzume wanted to become the new ”Kaiseki“. At this time, in order to risk his life to protect her, the minister said ”I can't be Suzume's child“ anymore, and took the initiative to become ”Kaiseki%.Suzuya suddenly realized that the minister had been guiding her all the way to the door.Although the Chancellor is the cutest mascot in the film, he is also a tragic character.

5. Three-legged chair

This chair was made by Suzuya's mother herself. One leg was missing when her home was destroyed by the tsunami.It symbolizes the physical trauma the earthquake inflicted on some of the victims, as well as the psychological trauma Suzume suffered after losing her mother.After Souta turned into a chair, he could still run even if he only had three legs, expressing the strength and persistence of the earthquake victims.

Makoto Shinkai also mentioned that another metaphor about chairs is: in recent years, many younger generations have felt trapped and bound.He wanted to project people's sense of embarrassment onto the setting of Souta being sealed into a chair.

6. My aunt reveals her dark side

Minister Zuo used mind control to make his aunt reveal her innermost distress.During these 12 years of life, her aunt and Suzya lived together, and neither of them could express their true feelings. As time went by, it caused psychological obstacles in Suzya's growth.In order to solve this problem, Minister Zuo intervened in the matter.Although doing so would hurt each other, these hurtful words were spoken outright, which encouraged Suzuya to take another step forward.

In addition, the aunt running after Suzuya corresponds to the left minister chasing the minister to make up for his mistakes.Both sets of characters are caught up in generational issues.

7. The origin of the ruins

In recent years, Xin Haicheng has discovered that the streets have become increasingly deserted, and many places are inaccessible and gradually turning into ruins.Observing the ruins, you will feel strange romance and sadness, as well as unique beauty and emotion.As modern ruins appear more and more around the world, he wanted to create a story that paid tribute to the land.

While watching the last few scenes of Suzuya, I thought of Ryusuke Hamaguchi's "Drive My Car" in my mind.Both return to the ruins after the disaster to reach spiritual reconciliation with their past lives.Later I discovered that this was not an illogical association.《Drive My Car》Adapted from the novel of the same name by Haruki Murakami.Makoto Shinkai also said that some of Suzuya's creative inspiration came from Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore-All the Children of God Dance.

8. Suzuya saw herself as a child in “Eternal World”

This was the biggest tear that made me cry while watching Suzuya. It turns out that Suzuya is her own “destined person”.The cycle of cause and effect, the gears of fate bite back and forth.Just like in Harry Potter, where Harry uses the time turner to save himself, this film has similar time, space and emotional logic.All memories and time in “Eternal World” come together, spanning and folding all dimensions of time and space.

The reason why Suzuya embarked on this journey was because the person who redeemed herself as a child was her.Only you understand your own pain and joy, and only you can make real choices.When she said “The future is not scary, I am Suzume's tomorrow”, at that moment I understood that Suzume gradually got over her inner trauma, not because of any miracle, but because of her inner trauma during these 12 years., ordinary, ordinary, and living hard.

9.“I set off.”

This is the line that appears most often in Suzuya and is also the most commonly used word in the Japanese cultural context.Just four words, but it contains many layers of meaning.On the day of the earthquake, everyone who said these words might never be able to see their families again.This sentence became the last words between them.

The so-called disaster is the moment when after saying “I am leaving”, you can no longer say “I am back”.The loved ones of the deceased not only have to bear the pain of this loss, but also bear the weight of memories.Therefore, whenever the door is closed, Suzuya will hear the voices of local people coming from their lives, and feel the memories and emotions of daily life inside the door.

And this is what Makoto Shinkai wants us to remember through his movies - the daily commemorative moments and those precious emotional moments will not disappear easily.Even after passing away, he will still leave his mark on the world.Those who are still alive will not forget them or those memories. They will always remember them tenderly and keep setting out to dispel the haze.

As Souta said,“ I know that life is like a mayfly and death follows like a shadow, but I still pray that even if it is just one more year, one more day, one more moment, we want to live.”

Everyone who relies on their own will to get out of the darkest moment, and everyone who strives to repair themselves, should have a deep resonance with Suzuya's journey.

The above is the relevant plot interpretation about Suzuya's Journey compiled by the editor for you. Welcome to follow the line class to get more film and television information.