Meaning of anime "Suzume no tojimari": plot, explanation of ending (2024)

Makoto Shinkai, the esteemed animation director, is back with his newest masterpiece, “Suzume no Tojimemari.” This captivating film captivates audiences with its vibrant animation and touching story. Hailing from Japan, the movie was released in 2023, continuing Shinkai’s impressive lineup of emotionally resonant works. Behind the production of this animated gem, key players include CoMix Wave Films and Toho, working together to bring this fantastical story to life.

Summary:

“Suzume no Tojimemari” revolves around the intriguing journey of Suzume, a 17-year-old girl, and Sota, a young man on a mission to close magical doors. These doors, scattered throughout Japan, threaten to unleash misfortune and calamity upon the land. Together, Suzume and Sota embark on a thrilling adventure, visiting various locations across the country such as Kyushu, Shikoku, Kansai, and Tokyo. As they forge ahead, Suzume gradually uncovers a long-forgotten truth about herself and her purpose in this mystical quest. The key elements of their journey can be summarized as follows:

1. The encounter between Suzume and Sota, setting the stage for their adventure.
2. The magical doors and the dangers they pose to Japan.
3. Suzume and Sota’s travels through Kyushu, Shikoku, Kansai, and Tokyo.
4. The revelation of Suzume’s forgotten truth and its significance in their quest.

The First Door

One day, Suzume, a high school sophomore, has a strange dream about her childhood, where she finds herself alone in a snow-filled landscape, hugging a chair. Upon waking up, she heads to school, where she encounters a mysterious young man in his early twenties. Feeling a sense of familiarity and captivated by his appearance, Suzume stops to talk with him. The young man asks her about the location of a door, specifically one in an abandoned building or area. Suzume directs him to the ruins of an old onsen nearby, and they part ways.

Compelled by an unexplainable urge, Suzume decides to follow the young man to the ruins. There, she discovers a peculiar door within the remnants of the old onsen. As she opens it, she sees a mesmerizing celestial view on the other side. However, when she tries to step through, she remains in the onsen ruins. While examining the area, she stumbles upon an ancient cat statue that suddenly transforms into a real, soaked white cat, which promptly escapes.

Concerned, Suzume rushes back to school, leaving the door open. During lunch, she notices smoke in the mountains but her friends don’t see it. An earthquake alert sounds on their phones, but the quake is mild. When Suzume looks again, the smoke has grown, taking the shape of a monstrous creature. Her friends still see nothing, so she hurries back to the onsen.

Upon arrival, Suzume finds the young man from earlier, Sota, struggling to close the door as dark smoke pours out, forming a terrifying monster in the sky. Together, they manage to close the door, and Sota magically seals it with a key. With his arm injured, Suzume takes him to her home for treatment.

Sota explains his family’s duty to find and close these magical doors across Japan to prevent catastrophe. A talking white cat, Daijin, suddenly appears, declaring its love for Suzume while turning Sota into her childhood baby chair. Daijin then flees, leading Suzume and the transformed Sota on a chase across the country, where they embark on a thrilling and mysterious adventure.

The Second Door

In the morning, Suzume checks her phone and discovers photos of the cat, Daijin, have gone viral on social media, allowing them to track its location. Sota, still in the form of a chair, suggests Suzume go home while he handles the rest. However, Suzume insists on helping him, noting that a walking chair would draw unwanted attention.

As they walk up a mountain road, Suzume hears a motorbike approaching and quickly lifts Sota to avoid suspicion. The motorbike, ridden by a girl named Chika, is carrying crates of oranges, one of which falls off, sending the fruit rolling towards them. Sota and Suzume quickly use a mesh to catch the oranges, impressing Chika, who is about Suzume’s age. Suzume explains they are chasing a runaway cat, but the conversation is cut short when Sota spots the telltale smoke of the Mimizu monster in the distance. Suzume and Sota rush towards the smoke, with Chika offering them a ride on her motorbike.

Arriving at a restricted area with crumbling roads, Suzume and Sota continue on foot towards an abandoned school, where the Mimizu is emerging. Sota’s magical key necklace accidentally falls off as he tries to close the door, and he realizes he cannot seal the door in his current form. Suzume retrieves the key, and Sota instructs her to close her eyes and connect with the memories of the people who once lived there. Following his guidance, Suzume manages to seal the door with the glowing key.

Daijin, the cat, reappears to admire Suzume’s work, but quickly leaves when Chika catches up to them. Chika invites Suzume to stay at her family’s ryokan, where she helps with chores in exchange for lodging. Suzume has a tense conversation with her aunt, who is suspicious of her whereabouts, but Suzume assures her she is alone and will return home soon.

While Chika and Suzume bond over dinner and cleaning the onsen, Chika shares her appreciation for Suzume’s visit, as it allowed her to revisit her old high school and the memories it held. She understands that Suzume is on an important mission and offers her support. Grateful for Chika’s understanding, Suzume feels even more determined to continue her journey with Sota.

The Third Door

One morning, Suzume discovers that Daijin, the elusive cat, has reached Kobe. She wakes up Sota and they say their goodbyes to Chika and her family. Their attempts to hitchhike to Kobe fail, but they catch a ride with a kind stranger named Rumi Ninomiya, who is traveling with her two young children.

During a stop at McDonald’s, the kids use Sota as a table, causing him to wobble. Later, Rumi asks Suzume to babysit her children while she works at her Snack Bar, as her babysitter canceled unexpectedly. Sota helps Suzume entertain the kids by pretending to be a robot chair, and they manage to keep the children happy until they fall asleep.

Suzume then helps Rumi at the busy bar, where she spots Daijin sitting in a booth. Suzume runs after the cat with Sota, and they follow it to an abandoned amusement park with Mimizu smoke emanating from a ferris wheel cart. They split up, with Suzume attempting to seal the door on the cart while Sota chases Daijin.

As Suzume struggles to close the door on the moving ferris wheel, she experiences a vision of her younger self with her late mother. Sota, who is occupied with the cat, notices Suzume in danger and saves her just in time. They successfully close the door and decide to stay in the ferris wheel cart until it returns to the ground.

When they get back to the Snack Bar, Rumi scolds Suzume for going out alone at night. They share a meal and Suzume sits on Sota, much to the amusement of Rumi and the hostess. That night, Suzume informs her aunt Tamaki that she’s in Kobe, prompting Tamaki to decide to find her and bring her home.

Before falling asleep, Suzume learns that Sota is a university student aiming to become a teacher but missed his exams due to their situation. As Sota drifts off to sleep, his soul seems to be further disconnected from the real world. The following day, Rumi drops Suzume and Sota off at the train station, and they head back to Tokyo, where Sota wants to check some books in his apartment.

The Fourth Door

While traveling by train, Suzume falls asleep and becomes upset with Sota for not waking her when they passed Mt. Fuji, which she had wanted to see. Upon returning to Tokyo, Sota directs Suzume to his apartment located above a Lawson convenience store. His landlady hands over the key to Suzume, who pretends to be Sota’s sister.

In the apartment, Sota shares a book about the Mimizu and the sealing stones, revealing that his family has been responsible for sealing away the Mimizu. As they discuss their next move, Sota’s friend, Serizawa, barges in. Sota poses as a chair while Suzume claims to be Sota’s cousin. After Serizawa leaves, an earthquake warning sounds, and Suzume sees a powerful Mimizu nearby.

Suzume and Sota race towards the source, which appears to be underground. Sota jumps into the Mimizu, prompting Suzume to follow suit by leaping off a bridge. To onlookers, it looks like a suicide attempt, but Sota catches her with his chair leg. He warns her that she must hold onto him to avoid falling out of the sky.

As the Mimizu grows, the cat reappears, warning them of the potential loss of life. It then causes Sota’s chair body to freeze over, turning him into a sealing stone. Despite her reluctance to use Sota as the sealing stone, Suzume decides to save Tokyo and seals the Mimizu away.

Suzume awakens in an underground cave, where she sees a shrine-like gate with an icy, chair-bound Sota on the other side. Unable to reach him, she pleads with the cat to restore Sota. When Suzume confesses her hatred for the cat, its demeanor changes, becoming silent and sullen.

Determined to rescue Sota, Suzume closes and locks the shrine gate before escaping the underground tunnel. She visits Sota’s uncle in the hospital, who initially advises her to forget everything and move on. However, upon hearing her determination, he tells her that the key to saving Sota lies in the place she sees on the other side of the gates. Resolute, Suzume decides to return to her childhood hometown in Miyagi.

The Final Door

In “Suzume No Tojimari: The Final Door,” Suzume returns to Sota’s apartment, dresses up, and contemplates reaching Miyagi. Serendipitously, she encounters Sota’s friend Serizawa, but their meeting is misinterpreted by Tamaki, who thinks Serizawa is a playboy. After a talking cat intervenes, Tamaki and Serizawa agree to drive Suzume to her destination.

During the journey, Tamaki reveals that she is Suzume’s aunt, and they share a heartfelt conversation. After a brief stop at a rest area, Suzume faces an unexpected confrontation with Tamaki, who is possessed by a large black cat. The Daijin white cat saves Tamaki, and they continue their journey. Eventually, the white and black cats reconcile, and the group experiences a car accident.

Determined, Suzume proceeds on foot, followed by Tamaki on a bicycle. They reach Suzume’s childhood home, where she uncovers a time capsule and learns about a door from her notebook. Suzume finds the door and leaps into another world, where she faces a giant Mimizu and the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Suzume and the white cat work together to free Sota from his frozen state and seal the Mimizu away.

Suzume and Sota encounter her younger self, and Suzume comforts the child by giving her the chair her mother made. The young Suzume returns to the past, and the present-day Suzume and Sota go back through their gate, symbolically moving forward from the past.

The story concludes with life returning to normal for the characters, and Suzume encounters Sota again on her way to school.

Suzume no tojimari characters

In “Suzume no Tojimemari,” the story revolves around the two main characters, Suzume and Sota, each with distinct backgrounds and roles that contribute to the richness of the plot.

Suzume is a 17-year-old girl who lost her mother at a young age and grew up under the care of her loving aunt. As the protagonist, Suzume embarks on a life-changing adventure alongside Sota, gradually unraveling the mysteries of her past. Her character is brought to life by the talented voice actress Hara Nanoka.

Sota, the other main character, comes from a long lineage of Seal Keepers tasked with closing the magical doors that threaten Japan. His determination and sense of duty make him a crucial partner in Suzume’s journey. Sota is voiced by the skilled Hokuto Matsumura.

Aside from Suzume and Sota, other significant characters include Suzume’s aunt, who raised her with affection and care, and Sota’s grandfather, a wise elder who passes down the knowledge and responsibility of being a Seal Keeper. They are voiced by Eri Fukatsu and Matsumoto Shirao, respectively. Another intriguing character is the mysterious cat Daijin, who accompanies Suzume and Sota throughout their journey and provides valuable guidance.

These well-crafted characters and the talented voice actors behind them are essential components of the captivating story that unfolds in “Suzume no Tojimemari.”

Suzume Meaning and Themes:

“Suzume no Tojimemari” is rich in themes and thought-provoking concepts that touch the hearts of viewers. Some of the most prominent themes include:

1. Friendship: The anime highlights the importance of building strong bonds and supporting each other through life’s challenges. Suzume and Sota’s partnership exemplifies this theme, as they rely on one another throughout their journey.
2. Family: The story showcases various family dynamics, from Suzume’s relationship with her aunt to Sota’s connection with his grandfather. These relationships illustrate the different forms that family can take and the impact they have on shaping our lives.
3. Memories: As Suzume delves into her past, the anime explores the significance of memories in shaping our identity and the way we perceive the world. Memories can provide insight, comfort, and motivation, but they can also hold us back from moving forward.
4. Moving Forward: Throughout the narrative, the characters learn the importance of embracing change and accepting the uncertainties of the future. This theme is crucial in Suzume’s personal growth, as she comes to terms with her past and starts looking ahead.
5. Closing Doors: The anime uses the metaphor of closing magical doors as a representation of letting go of the past and welcoming new opportunities. This symbolism underscores the need to acknowledge our history while still embracing what lies ahead.

“Suzume no Tojimemari” offers an emotionally resonant story that speaks to audiences by delving into universal themes and presenting them in a relatable and engaging manner. The depth of these themes allows viewers to connect with the characters and reflect on their own lives, making the anime a truly memorable experience.

Suzume Ending Explained

In “Suzume”, the main character Suzume and her friends successfully prevent three disasters from harming their town. They receive assistance from a mysterious young man who has been appearing throughout the film. After the dangers have been averted, the group enjoys a Cherry Blossom Festival celebration. However, as Suzume watches the festivities, she sees brief glimpses of similar disasters occurring in other locations, indicating that more challenges may be ahead. The final shot shows the mysterious young man walking away, leaving viewers wondering about his true identity and purpose.

We have analyzed the final scenes as suggesting that the young man is a representation of Suzume’s own inner strength and resilience. This interpretation is backed by scenes throughout the movie implying that Suzume has been struggling with trauma from a past earthquake. The film’s conclusion is left open to interpretation, with various layers of meaning to be explored and discussed by its audience.

Conclusion