As is usually the case with Makoto Shinkai films, this thing is just beautifully composed and animated but also, like most of his previous work, it suffers quite a bit from his signature lack of restraint towards emotional climaxes (Shinkai loves these a little bit too much, if you ask me), when the proverbial violins get dialed up to eleven and the last bit of subtlety gets thrown out in favor of a blaring pop-ballad score and a soap opera level of cheesiness. As brilliant an animator and world-builder Makoto Shinkai may be, this is exactly why i still consider him only a second-rate storyteller.