Blu-ray

'Please make me a handsome Tokyo boy in my next life!' cries country girl Mitsuha, frustrated at her rural village existence. Clearly, nobody ever told her to be careful what you wish for, as Mitsuha wakes up one morning to find herself occupying the body of city boy Taki. Similarly, for reasons he can't fathom, Taki finds himself occupying Mitsuha's body.

This animated body-swap romance became the fourth-highest grossing film of all time in Japan when it was released last year, surpassing even the legendary Spirited Away. And while it may sound like little more than a Freaky Friday rerun, the thrillingly beautiful Your Name is a far more imaginative and creative piece of work, mixing its high-concept setup with sci-fi and disaster movie tropes to create something unique.

Along the way the film's tone shifts from farce to survival drama, but always does so at the service of the bittersweet romance that blossoms between Mitsuha and Taki. As with writer-director Makoto Shinkai's previous animations (Voices of a Distant Star, The Garden of Words, etc), for all of its fantasy trappings, Your Name is an exploration of the way people in love attempt to overcome the distances between them. The result is a human story that feels more real than most live-action films.

Picture: Your Name arrives on Blu-ray with an immaculate 1.78:1-framed 1080p encode. Despite a stylistic fondness for bold light sources that often bleach out areas at the top of the frame, the overall impression you take away is one of crisp delineation and fulsome colours. This hammers home the beauty of the film's animation, a seamless melding of traditional line art techniques and computer-generated backdrops.
Picture rating: 5/5

Audio: The Blu-ray offers up a choice of three DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtracks: the original Japanese language track, an English language track with Japanese songs left intact on the score, and an English track with English-language songs. The basic elements of the three tracks are very good, delivering a well organised soundfield that really brings the locations to life, while the events of Chapter 10 prove that it's also able to whip up dynamic surround effects and powerful bass when necessary.
Audio rating: 4/5

Extras: The main extra feature is a 22-minute Japanese TV special featuring Makoto Shinkai and voice artists Ryunosuke Kamiki and Mone Kamishiraishi. This is backed up by various promo spots and a filmography for Shinkai, with trailers for each of his films.
Extras rating: 1.5/5

We say: A stunning presentation of a beautiful fantasy romance – but more extras would have been nice.

Your Name, Anime Limited, Region B BD, £25
HCC VERDICT: 3.5/5