Thirty-nine days after its release in theaters, audience numbers for “Kimi no Na wa” (Your Name) directed by SHINKAI Makoto have exceeded 10 million, making it a smash hit. This long animated movie was released in late August. Since then it’s caused quite a stir in Hida City, Gifu Prefecture, which is said to be one of the movie’s locations, has been visited by many people who’ve seen the movie. The movie is scheduled to be released in Britain and Ireland this November. Audiences are mainly in their teens and twenties, but this age group is gradually expanding. The number of people going back to see it again is also increasing. The story is about a high school girl living in a country town switching bodies with a high school boy living in Tokyo. Since the movie did not initially attract a lot of attention, many people are analyzing why it was so successful. Some point out that its success may be down to the songs which chime with the emotions of the main characters and the incidental music that matches with the beauty of the cinematography. It’s said that this contributes to the audience’s sense of authenticity. Some movie critics say it shares similarities with the legendary radio drama of the same name. It’s said that women’s public baths vacated while it was being broadcast, and later the drama was filmed and released in 1953. It is said that an essential ingredient to a good melodrama is the failure of the protagonists to meet in person and the animation makes use of this plot device in the same way the radio drama did. In addition, there’s a surprising twist at the end of the movie. In short, it might be said that the success of this movie was not accidental, but was down to the production’s inclusion of all the elements necessary for success. On the other hand, it been said that comments written in social media pages have been instrumental in attracting a large audience. In any case, “Kimi no Na wa” is set to be renowned throughout the world as a masterpiece of Japanese anime.