Tenki no Ko | EXPECTATIONS!

Alright! So it’s time for a little quick opinion piece on the upcoming movie “Tenki no Ko” and the expectations I think this movie has. So if by chance you haven’t seen the trailers of this movie, it is an original story made by CoMix Wave Films. The studio that brought us Byousoku 5 Centimeter, Kotonoha no Niwa and most recently, the Blockbuster and my favourite movie of all time, Kimi no Na wa..

If you have seen these movies, you can probably know that this studio knows how to perfect the art of creating a beautiful story that can pull at every viewers heartstrings and keep them engaged with the movie, through it’s visuals, soundtrack and what have you.

You’ve also noticed that with every movie they’ve produced, the over quality as gone up. As expected of course, as time goes on everything tends to get better toppling whatever came before it. However, I personally think that “Tenki no Ko” may have some trouble toppling its predecessor, Kimi no Na wa.

For one, I didn’t think the studio would have ever expected that Kimi no Na wa would be such a hit, both domestically but also globally. It has been reported as over 2017 to have earned a total of $290 million worldwide beating the legendary Anime movie, “Spirited Away” for highest grossing Anime movie of all time. 3 years after release it is tied with Steins;Gate for top 3 on MyAnimeList’s “Top Anime” list, and is in sole possession of 1st on its “Top Movies” list (As expected).

One thing that immediately caught my eye with “Tenki no Ko” was the similarities in character design, both characters shown in trailers 1 and 2, were similar/almost identical to Mistsuha and Taki from Kimi no Na wa. The difference between the two are the voice actors and the ages. For Kimi no Na wa, both characters were in their teens to early 20s towards the end of the movie. While “Tenki no Ko” looks to be younger versions, most likely ranging from 10 to 15 years of age.

Is this a good thing? Well, it can be both good and bad. It can be a good thing because with that visually similar characters, the studio looks to capitalize on the success and hype surrounding Kimi no Na wa, by in a way trying to “connect” to the viewers to loved the main characters from that movie. It can also be a bad thing because since they’re looking to tap into their success from Kimi no Na wa, comes the expectation that this movie, “Tenki no Ko” has to be either as good or better than it’s predecessor. Which as I’ve mentioned earlier is no easy task.

Granted, what “Tenki no Ko” has going for itself is that this is an original story, meaning this should not have any connection to the story told in Kimi no Na wa despite the similarities in characters. This also means, this movie has the potential to create its own legacy. As this movie will be directed by the same person who brought us all the movies mentioned previously, there is no doubt in my mind that story wise, this is going to be a great Anime.

Will it be able to topple Kimi no Na wa, and be the next big hit for the year 2019? I personally do not think so, as I love Kimi no Na wa to bits, and I think no movie will ever top it. However, I think it’ll be just as good. Well I hope anyway. Expectations are at a all time high for this movie which is scheduled to be released on July 19th, 2019 (in Japan). Only time will tell! I for one am extremely hyped for this movie, without a doubt.

So, in the meantime, allow me to share with you the trailers to this movie, if you haven’t already saw them.