The Three Stages In Your Name

Kimi no Na wa or better known as Your Name is a 2016 animated film. The film follows two high school students, Mitsuha Miyamizu and Taki Tachibana, who try to figure out the mysterious phenomenon of their ability to switch bodies with one another. Certain aspects of Your Name follow the monomyth pattern, but modifications have been made to the three big stages: departure, initiation, and return. Your Name fits the monomyth pattern but to an extent. Due to the unusual plot line of the film, the initiation stage and departure stage do not follow the traditional hero’s adventure timeline.

In the departure stages, the film demonstrates three of the five substages; special birth in an ordinary world, supernatural aid, and crossing the first
threshold. Special birth in an ordinary world is when the traits of the hero and their initial environment are unusual or extraordinary. In relation to the film, Taki and Mitsuha are very different from any other character in the film. Although they live ordinary lives, they both possess the phenomenal ability to switch bodies with one another. Taki is a high school boy who lives in Tokyo, while Mitsuha is a high school girl/shrine sister, who lives in a small town called Itomori and participates in the making of kuchikamizake (chewing on rice, spitting it out, and letting it ferment to later become alcohol). The film begins with the introduction of Taki as Mitsuha waking up confused. His confusion is resolved once he is aware that he is in Mitsuha’s body. In addition, Mitsuha’s confusion ceases as well when she is aware that she is in Taki’s body. Both of their initial environment’s are “not at home” and has invoked the sense that they have supernatural abilities.

Supernatural aid is when the hero character receives aid from a mentor character. This aid can come in the form of magical items. In the context of the film, neither receive supernatural aid from a mentor character but from each other. This is considered a supernatural aid due to their ability to switch bodies with one another, and it is triggered when the hero characters sleep. Referring back to the making of kuchikamizake, it has supernatural elements to it. This is because whoever creates the sake leaves half of their soul in the sacred drink.

In the film, the crossing the first threshold substage and the initiation stage occur at the same time.
This is when the character leaves their “known” world and crosses over into the “new” world. While in the “new” world is when the initiation stage begins. Unlike traditional hero adventures where the hero character crosses one major threshold, in Your Name the hero characters cross multiple thresholds whenever they switch bodies. Both characters are considered to be hero characters due to the fact that they cross into “new’ worlds multiple times. Because of the unusual timeline of the film, the characters switch from the departure stage and initiation stage more than once. In regards to the traditional hero’s adventure, Mitsuha and Taki do not encounter a threshold guardian; different from traditional hero
adventures.

The film demonstrates all four substages of the initiation stage: road of trials, meeting the soul mate, sacrificial climax, and ultimate boon. When the hero encounters someone they are particularly drawn toward is meeting the soul mate substage. The soul mates are usually of different genders. Although they are opposite of one another, they complement each other. The outcome of this is the empowerment of Taki and Mitsuha which is essential in them completing their quest.

When the hero - or in this case, heroes - must solve problems they face, this is the road of trials.
Unlike the traditional hero’s adventure, where the hero wins allies after solving their problems, the hero characters in Your Name become allies with each other. Mitsuha and Taki first solve the problem of switching bodies. Once Taki and Mitsuha realize that they are not dreaming, but are rather living a reality, in order to not disrupt their lives they leave diary entries in each other’s phone to keep each other up to date. Both heroes help each other with each other’s personal life; Taki helps Mitsuha become popular and Mitsuha advises Taki on how to improve his love life. From the diary entries, it is apparent that Mitsuha wins Taki a date and wishes him good luck and that by the time his date is over, the comet will be visible in the sky. Taki does not understand what she means by this, due to the fact that Mitsuha is three years in the past, or he is three years in the future. On the night that the comet arrives, it splits into pieces and a meteor hits Itomori, killing the town including Mitsuha. Their ability to switch bodies stops due to their connection being severed. To solve this problem, Taki tries to figure out why and goes on a quest to find Mitsuha later learning that she had died the night of the comet. During his quest, he begins to lose memory of her. Taki participates in “Musubi,” which is when someone drinks something it joins their soul. He drinks the
sake Mitsuha made containing the other half of her. This restores their bond and allows them to switch bodies once again. Throughout the entire movie, there has been no occurrence of time travelling until now. When they switch bodies, it brings them back to the day the comet is going to fall. This is an example of empowerment of the hero that aids them in completing their quest by giving them a second chance to change the future. After passing all the trials, the heroes face the ultimate challenge in the sacrificial climax substage. In the film, Taki’s ultimate challenge is to not only save Mitsuha and her town but their memories as well. Mitsuha and Taki come up with an evacuation plan to lead everyone to safety out of the danger zone. Depending on the sacrificial climax, the ultimate boon is either the destruction of evil, the rescue of an individual or individuals, or retrieval of treasure. In this case, with the help of each other, Taki and Mitsuha save the people of Itomori but have sacrificed their memories as a result. They return to their lives without the ability to switch bodies ever again.

The final stage of the monomyth pattern is the return stage. The film displays the benefits of return substage. After Taki and Mitsuha save everyone, they do not see each other again. Although both Taki and Mitsuha do not regain their memory of each other, both have the same feeling as if they are searching for someone, that “someone” being each other. Eight years later however, they fatefully bump into each other on the streets of Tokyo. The ending of the film displays the freedom to live or in other words the happily ever after and the problem at the beginning is fixed.

The 2016 animated film, Your Name, does not fit the monomyth pattern the way it traditionally is, although some aspects do. In the departure stage, special birth in an ordinary world, supernatural aid, and crossing the first threshold are present in the film. In the initiation stage, all four substages are present. Although this film has most of the elements of a traditional hero’s adventure, each substage has been altered in a different manner.