Your Name
Mitsuha is the daughter of the mayor of a small mountain town. She's a straightforward high school girl who lives with her sister and her grandmother and has no qualms about letting it be known that she's uninterested in Shinto rituals or helping her father's electoral campaign. Instead she dreams of leaving the boring town and trying her luck in Tokyo. Taki is a high school boy in Tokyo who works part-time in an Italian restaurant and aspires to become an architect or an artist. Every night he has a strange dream where he becomes...a high school girl in a small mountain town.
The film earned $358.0M at the global box office.
17 wins & 27 nominations
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Your Name (2016) exhibits precise narrative architecture, characteristic of Makoto Shinkai's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 46 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 5.8, the film takes an unconventional approach to traditional narrative frameworks.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Mitsuha wakes in her rural mountain town body, looking out at the scenery of Itomori. We see her daily routine: shrine maiden duties with her grandmother and sister, school life, and frustration with small-town existence. She yearns for Tokyo life.. The analysis reveals that this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 11 minutes when Mitsuha wakes up in Taki's body in Tokyo. The body-swapping has begun. Initial confusion gives way to wonder as she experiences Tokyo life. Meanwhile, Taki experiences life as Mitsuha in Itomori. They leave notes for each other in their phones.. At 11% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 23 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 22% of the runtime. This reveals the protagonist's commitment to After days of switching, Mitsuha (in her own body) takes the train to Tokyo to find Taki, bringing him the braided cord she made. Though they don't recognize each other due to the time paradox, she gives him the cord anyway. This marks their active choice to connect beyond the swaps., moving from reaction to action.
At 47 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 44% of the runtime—arriving early, accelerating into Act IIb complications. The analysis reveals that this crucial beat The body-swapping suddenly stops. Taki can no longer reach Mitsuha - no swaps, diary entries disappearing, phone calls won't connect. He realizes he's falling in love with her but has lost contact. False defeat: what seemed like a magical connection has been severed., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 65 minutes (62% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Taki finds Mitsuha's name on the memorial of the dead at the destroyed town site. The girl he loves died three years before they met. The "whiff of death" is literal - she's been dead the entire time, and he was swapping with her past self across time., demonstrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 71 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 67% of the runtime. Taki drinks Mitsuha's kuchikamizake at the shrine, experiencing her entire life and memories. He successfully swaps into her body on the morning of the comet strike - the day she's meant to die. He now has the chance to save her and the town. Synthesis of both timelines begins., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Your Name's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs proven narrative structure principles that track dramatic progression. By mapping Your Name against these established plot points, we can identify how Makoto Shinkai utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Your Name within the animation genre.
Comparative Analysis
Additional animation films include The Bad Guys, The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie and Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel I. Presage Flower.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Mitsuha wakes in her rural mountain town body, looking out at the scenery of Itomori. We see her daily routine: shrine maiden duties with her grandmother and sister, school life, and frustration with small-town existence. She yearns for Tokyo life.
Theme
Mitsuha's grandmother Hitoha explains the concept of "musubi" - the connecting of threads, people, time, and souls. "Musubi is the flow of time itself." This theme of connection across time and space becomes central to the story.
Worldbuilding
Parallel lives established: Mitsuha in rural Itomori (shrine duties, high school, friends Sayaka and Tessie, embarrassing sake-making ceremony) and Taki in Tokyo (part-time restaurant job, high school, friend Tsukasa, crush on coworker Okudera-senpai). Both feel something is missing.
Disruption
Mitsuha wakes up in Taki's body in Tokyo. The body-swapping has begun. Initial confusion gives way to wonder as she experiences Tokyo life. Meanwhile, Taki experiences life as Mitsuha in Itomori. They leave notes for each other in their phones.
Resistance
The teenagers learn to navigate each other's lives, leaving increasingly detailed notes and rules. Taki (as Mitsuha) helps her become more popular and confident. Mitsuha (as Taki) helps him get closer to Okudera. They begin understanding each other's worlds and frustrations.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
After days of switching, Mitsuha (in her own body) takes the train to Tokyo to find Taki, bringing him the braided cord she made. Though they don't recognize each other due to the time paradox, she gives him the cord anyway. This marks their active choice to connect beyond the swaps.
Mirror World
Taki goes on a date with Okudera-senpai, which should be his dream come true. However, he realizes he's thinking about Mitsuha instead. Their supernatural connection has created a relationship that transcends physical presence - the Mirror World relationship that carries the theme.
Premise
The "fun and games" of body-swapping: coordinating their lives through diary entries, Taki earning money for Mitsuha, setting her up with classmate Tessie, helping each other with their respective crushes. The comet Tiamat approaches, adding beauty and wonder to their experiences.
Midpoint
The body-swapping suddenly stops. Taki can no longer reach Mitsuha - no swaps, diary entries disappearing, phone calls won't connect. He realizes he's falling in love with her but has lost contact. False defeat: what seemed like a magical connection has been severed.
Opposition
Taki obsessively tries to find Mitsuha, sketching Itomori from memory. He travels with Okudera and Tsukasa to the mountains searching. They finally locate the town, but discover it was destroyed three years ago by comet Tiamat fragments - 500 people died, including Mitsuha.
Collapse
Taki finds Mitsuha's name on the memorial of the dead at the destroyed town site. The girl he loves died three years before they met. The "whiff of death" is literal - she's been dead the entire time, and he was swapping with her past self across time.
Crisis
Devastated, Taki remembers the braided cord Mitsuha gave him - her "musubi" connection. He realizes the kuchikamizake (rice wine with her saliva) at the shrine crater might allow him to connect with her across time. He makes the dangerous climb to the sacred site.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Taki drinks Mitsuha's kuchikamizake at the shrine, experiencing her entire life and memories. He successfully swaps into her body on the morning of the comet strike - the day she's meant to die. He now has the chance to save her and the town. Synthesis of both timelines begins.
Synthesis
Taki (as Mitsuha) convinces Tessie and Sayaka to help evacuate Itomori before the comet strikes. They execute a plan to blow up the power station and force an evacuation. Taki and Mitsuha briefly meet at twilight (katawaredoki) on the mountain, see each other, and write on each other's hands before forgetting.
Transformation
Five years later, Taki is job-hunting in Tokyo. He and Mitsuha (who survived along with Itomori's residents) have vague memories of searching for someone. They pass on parallel trains, recognize something, and frantically search. Finally meeting on stairs, they simultaneously ask: "Haven't we met before?" Connection achieved.