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Suzume, also known as Suzume no Tojimari, is a 2022 Japanese animated fantasy adventure film written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, produced by CoMix Wave Films, and distributed by Toho. The movie was released in 2023 to international audiences, and it immediately generated a lot of buzz online.
The film currently has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 95% and an 8.5/10 rating on MyAnimeList.
However, since the film has been seen by such a large audience, some issues are being discussed online by fans. The age difference between Suzume and Souta—a gap of five years—is one topic that many fans have brought up and are vehemently debating online.
In the film, Suzume is only 17 years old, while Souta is depicted as being 21 years old.
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Suzume and Souta's age difference controversy sets social media abuzz
A brief overview of the story
The film is about a 17-year-old girl named Suzume Iwato, who one day meets a strange man named Souta Munakata. In the movie, the latter is looking for abandoned locations, and the young woman points him in the direction of an old ruin. However, out of pure curiosity, she too ends up at the same location when she decides to follow the man.
Nonetheless, as soon as she arrives, she discovers a strange door leading to a magical realm, which startles her and causes her to flee back to her school. However, the fact that she left the door open goes on to have disastrous consequences.
She then realizes her mistake and joins forces with Souta Munakata to fix the issue.
The arguments being presented regarding the age difference
There has been a lot of discussion on the internet about the age difference between Suzume and Souta. As a result, many viewers have weighed in, with some even claiming that the age gap was a major letdown.
According to one Reddit user, the entire film was beautiful, but the age gap between the two characters shown was disappointing. He went on to say that the girl could be shown as a university graduate.
Making the young female protagonist a little older wouldn't have helped the story, according to another Reddit user by the name of Fatelachesis. He also suggested that Souta could have been depicted somewhere a year older than the girl because characters can mature when they are around 18 years old.
Another Twitter user stated that while the age gap was disappointing, the producers of the movie didn't really explore it and just left it as Suzume's crush, which was to some extent good.
While there are many who oppose the idea of the age difference, there are also some who support it.
One Reddit user commented that Suzume had a crush on Souta and not the other way around. Souta may have had similar sentiments towards Suzume, but it was never confirmed. Souta may have feelings, he said, but he always acts with great restraint and only concentrates on his duties.
Another user commented that the age gap was not significant because the young girl only had a crush on Souta and Souta did not feel anything for her. They did not even kiss. The user also drew a comparison between the two people's ages and that of the main characters in Garden of Words, where the protagonists were 15 and 27, respectively.
Here are some additional mixed responses from internet users.
The online debate is raging and it doesn't seem like it will end anytime soon. Regardless of the age gap, the film is worth seeing because it has a strong storyline, theme, music, and animation. Those who want to watch the movie can catch it at their nearest theaters.
Stay tuned for more anime and manga updates as 2023 progresses.
