ELITERATE: Journal of English Linguistics and Literature Studies

Vol 2 (2) 2022

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SUPERNATURAL EVENTS

BETWEEN “KIMI NO NAWA” AND “TENKI NO KO”
Andi Ananda Humairah1, Abdullah Abdullah2*
Universitas Negeri Makassar
*Corresponding Email: [email protected]

Abstract
The aim of this research is to find out the supernatural events occurring in “Kimi no Nawa” and
“Tenki no Ko” Films using the Dunwich (2002) Supernatural theory and Comparative Literature
approach based on elements of film. This research used descriptive qualitative research in order to
describe the phenomenon and its characteristics that are related to the topic. Using Dunwich's
theory, the researchers categorized the supernatural events in both films based on 5 out of 10
aspects. The researchers also compared the supernatural events with the elements of film in order
to classify the supernatural events in both films to find the differences and similarities. The result
of this study indicates that there are 9 similarities and 10 differences found in two films based on
Plot, Structure, Visual, Conflict, and Resolution elements of film. 12 supernatural events are
captured in Kimi no Nawa and 25 supernatural events are captured in Tenki no Ko based on
Plantasms and Ectoplasms, True tales of Ghosts and Hauntings, Spiritualism, Ghostly superstitions,
and Deities of Death and the Underworld supernatural aspects. There are no connections found in
this research between the supernatural events and reality. As a conclusion for this research, the
researchers were able to classify the supernatural events and compare them.

Keywords: Supernatural Events, Film, Comparative Literature

INTRODUCTION
Humans can never get away with an art text and writing called literature. Everything we read, or write, and has
beautiful meaning inside is literature. Derek (2015) stated that his term of “Literature” has implications value,
which is all written text refers to all texts of a fictional nature, or all texts belonging to a recognizable literary
genre, or all imaginative writing. Anime has been very popular all over the world especially in Japan since the
twentieth century. Japan is considered to be the founder of Anime. There are no absolute definitions as to what
Anime is, but the researchers would define Anime as a cartoon made by not just Japan, but also other countries
under the name of Japan.
Speaking of Anime, the researchers explained what is film in order to understand “Kimi no Nawa” and
“Tenki no Ko”. According to Agee quoted from “Komunikasi Massa Suatu Pengantar” by Ardianto “Film is a
dominant shape of mass’ visual communication in this world”. (2004: 364). Film contains messages to
communicate with its viewer whether it’s in horror, comedy, romance, etc. (Susanto 1982:60) explains that
film is a combination of moral messages through moving pictures, using technology, color and the atmosphere.
These aspects are the background of a story that contains moral values that wanted to deliver from the film
director to the viewer. Effendi (1986:239) states that film is the result of culture and the expression tool of art.
“Kimi no Nawa (Your Name) is a Japanese animated movie released in December 7, 2016, the main point
of the story is about two students (boy named Tachibana Taki and girl named Miyamizu Mitsuha) swap their
souls and they tried to figure out why it happened. The interesting part of this story is Mitsuha is 3 years
younger than Taki (they were described to be at the same age but Taki’s timeline is 3 years in the future that
Mitsuha’s). Tenki no Ko (Weathering with You) is also a Japanese animated movie released on August 21,
2019. The story is about a young boy named Morishima Hodaka who ran away from his problems and met
Amano Hina, an orphan girl who can manipulate the weather because she went to a shrine when her country
was in a heavy rain for years. These two films have been watched by millions of viewers and many of them
have discussed the theory and why the supernatural events occurred. The researchers provided documents
supporting the data from articles and Youtube channels that are related to the topic.
As for the previous study, the researchers took one from Ima Masofa (2018) explains in her research
“Comparative Literature in Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily and Pramoedya’s Panggil Saja Aku Kartini” tries to
find the similarities and differences of the feminism in Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily and Pramoedya’s Panggil
Saja Aku Kartini by using comparative literature (comparison social condition of two literary works) and
descriptive analysis and library research in qualitative method as the research design. The similarity found in

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this article is that Emily and Kartini are from a noble family while the difference is Kartini can influence
women in that time in order to get their rights, however Emily is afraid of the rules of society so she couldn’t
stand for herself.
Based on the background above, it is clear that the comparison of supernatural events between “Kimi no
nawa” and “Tenki no Ko” is worth further exploration. Therefore, the researchers provided two research
questions which are: 1. What kind of supernatural events occurred in these two films?, 2. What are the
similarities and differences of the supernatural events?, and 3. Is there any relationship between supernatural
events and the real world?

Comparative Literature
According to Susan Bassnett(1993), comparative literature is concerned with the study of literature outside of
one culture's borders, as well as the study of relationships between literature and other forms of human
expression such as philosophy. Comparative literature, according to Damono (2013), is the study of literature
beyond the borders of a country, as well as the relationship between literature and other domains of knowledge
and belief. The researchers will be able to compare and contrast numerous works for the aim of comparison
and justification.

Supernatural
According to Dunwich (2002), a supernatural event is one that has no natural explanation. It usually refers to
divine deeds, although it can also refer to spectacular acts brought about by malevolent forces. There are ten
categories of Supernatural, according to Dunwich Supernatural's theory. They are Phantasms and Ectoplasm,
True Tales of Ghosts and Haunting, Spiritualism, the Necromantic Arts, Possession, Obsession and Exorcism,
Spell and Sorcery, Herbs Associated with Ghost, Ghostly Superstitions, Creatures of The Night and Deities of
Death and The Underworld.
Ectoplasm is a term used in spiritualism to denote a substance or spiritual energy "exteriorized" by
physical mediums. Phantasms is a term used in spiritualism to denote a substance or spiritual energy
"exteriorized" by physical mediums. This component, according to Dunwich, is about a ghost that happened
based on observational studies, demons, and haunted dwellings. The act of moving objects on their own or
some unidentifiable noises can be used to establish this. Humans have evolved to have mytholiminal rationality,
which allows for the creation of symbolic coherence and transcendence through the formulation and enactment
of creative and empirically unverifiable propositions about the nature of the world and about humanity. Herbs
associated with ghost, plant that usually grows in areas of funeral or plans that have a history or myth
Necromancy is a form of black magic that involves communicating with the dead, either by summoning
their spirits as apparitions, visions, or raising them bodily for the purposes of divination, imparting the means
to foretell future events, discover hidden knowledge, bring someone back from the dead, or using the dead as
a weapon. Possession is a condition in which a spirit or ghost gains control of your body and moves with it.
Obsession is a psychological disorder in which a spirit, usually seen as malevolent (or, in some circumstances,
a demon), exerts a powerful control over a person's mind. An exorcism is a religious ceremony in which a
priest or religious person prays for the salvation of a possessed individual. Spell is the language, symbol, and
ritual that people use in the supernatural realm to do magic and protect themselves from evil spirits.
Superstitions Any belief that does not make sense in light of known scientific rules or what is widely accepted
as true is referred to as ghostly.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The purpose of the study and the research problem, this thesis belongs to the domain of descriptive qualitative.
This research is conducted in a descriptive study by using a qualitative approach. Qualitative method aims to
collect the data from different sources in order to understand the topic. Qualitative research uses nonrandom
or purposive selection techniques based on a particular criteria (Ary, 2010). Descriptive method is used to
describe an event or phenomenon and its characteristics. It can also be used to describe an event or something
that has happened. In this research, the focus of the descriptive method is to describe any supernatural events
found in “Kimi no Nawa” and “Tenki no Ko” films. There are two kinds of data sources that the researchers
will use in this research which are: The main data, which is taken from the movies itself (Kimi no Nawa &
Tenki no Ko) that have been translated from Japanese into English. The other source is the supporting data,
which is taken from articles, journals, books and YouTube videos that has relationship with the main data.

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In collecting the data, the researchers used a descriptive qualitative method. Therefore, the data collection
procedure can be described as: Watch and re-watch the movie “Kimi no Nawa” and “Tenki no Ko”, taking
notes or screen capture the supernatural scenes based on the time occurred in the movies, identify the
supernatural events using Dunwich Supernatural’s theory, compare the two films using the elements of film,
and make a conclusion about the supernatural events and the expectation and the reality of the supernatural
events itself.
The techniques of data analysis are very important to any research. According to Miles, Huberman, and
Saldana (2014), there are three steps in analysing data which are: (1) Data condensation or “Data reduction”
means that qualitative data can be reduced and transforms in many ways such as selection, summarizing,
paraphrasing, subsumed in a larger pattern and many more. (2) Data display is the second process of data
condensation, which is a process of organizing the data that has been extracted from the previous step. The
data that has been organized can finally help the researchers to understand more about the data analysis. (3)
Miles, Huberman and Matthew (1990) state that conclusions are also verified as the analyst proceeds.
Verification can be called as the last step of this process, which is taking a conclusion. Qualitative analysis
needs to be well documented as a process to help us learn and understand more clearly the data being analysed.

FINDINGS & DISCUSSION

In this chapter, , the researchers took the data from Makoto Shinkai’s films named “Kimi no Nawa” or “Your
Name” and “Tenki no Ko” or “Weathering With You” to find the answers of the research questions that have
been mentioned above. “Kimi no Nawa” is 01:46:35 length while “Tenki no Ko” is 01:52:55 length. For further
analysis, the researchers focused on the supernatural events occurring in each film and the main characters.
After explaining the two films, the researchers can finally answer the research questions that had brought
the research up to this far. The first question is what kind of supernatural events occurred in these two films?
In order to answer the question, the researchers used Supernatural’s theory from Dunwich (2002) in order to
categorize the supernatural events that occurred in “Kimi no Nawa” and “Tenki no Ko”. However, the
researchers only used 5 out of 10 aspects of the supernatural theory, because the other five aspects are not
related to the context of the film. After the process of extracting and categorizing, the researchers found 12
supernatural events captured in “Kimi no Nawa” and 25 supernatural events captured in “Tenki no Ko” based
on 2 Phantasms and Ectoplasms, 8 True tales of Ghosts and Hauntings, 11 Spiritualism, 8 Ghostly Superstitions
and 8 Deities of Death and the Underworld from Dunwich’s Supernatural theory.
Referring to the definitions of supernatural and anime, which are both relevant to this analyzing outcome.
So, what exactly is the supernatural? According to Stinson, the supernatural is something outside the scope of
nature. The term "supernatural" refers to phenomena or events that are not common or unusual and are seen to
go beyond the limitations of human capability in general and are not in conformity with natural law. According
to Murray (1998:5), supernatural refers to a force that is not natural and exists outside of the natural order
because of direct divine intervention. The five features used to categorize the supernatural events in both films
are outlined here, based on Dunwich's (2002) Supernatural theory.

Phantasms and Ectoplasm

Phantasms means a creation of the imagination or fancy, fantasy, a mental image or representation of a real
object while Ectoplasm is a term used in spiritualism to denote a substance or spiritual energy "exteriorized"
by physical mediums. As for this aspect, dreams of ghosts or something magical is also part of the supernatural.
Extract 12:
(Kimi no Nawa. 00:03:45 - 00:03:59)
Mitsuha and Taki dreamed of themselves in a train asking for Mitsuha’s name while Mitsuha gave him her hair
tie.
Taki: “What’s your name?”
Mitsuha: “My name is….!”

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In this extract, Mitsuha and Taki dreamed the exact same thing as if they were connected in their
dreams. When Mitsuha and Taki woke up from their sleep, they cried without knowing what made them cry.

True Tales of Ghosts and Haunting

Dunwich explains that this aspect is about a story of a ghost that happened based on observational research,
demons, and haunted houses. This can be proven by the act of moving objects on its own or some unidentified
noises.
Extract 3:
(Kimi no Nawa, 01:00:52 - 01:01:02)
Taki went inside the shrine and went back into the past with comet paintings on the ceiling.
Taki: “Give me a last chance…”

In this extract, Taki tried to save Mitsuha by going to the shrine where Mitsuha’s family used to prey. It
was explained before by Mitsuha’s grandmother that “if you crossed the small river between the shrine and the
mountain, you will be entering the other realm. And if you ever want to come back to real life, you must sacrifice
something that is important to you”. In this picture, you can see on top of the shire there was a painting of
comet and stars, which is a sign that there will be something happening in the future that is related to the comet,
and Taki and Mitsuha were the tie in order to save Itomori and Mitsuha herself from the destroying comet.

Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a movement that aims to provide evidence of life after death of the physical body. It is believed
that some spiritualists or psychics with skills that can only come from claimants in the world of spirit are
capable of summoning spirits and communicating with them directly or through mediums.
Extract 2:
(Kimi no Nawa, 00:04:27 - 00:05:13)
Taki was inside of Mitsuha’s body for the first time and squeezed his breasts.

When the first time Mitsuha and Taki switched their souls, Taki appeared in the first scene waking up in
a traditional room and feeling like there’s something weird about his chest. He looked down and saw breasts,
unable to believe what he just saw, he squeezed them.

Ghostly Superstitions
Superstitions Ghostly is any belief that does not make sense with known scientific laws or with what is deemed
true as does not exist or is not magic.
Extract 9:
(Kimi no Nawa, 01:35:29 - 01:35:37)
The news reported 8 years have passed since the comet appeared.
Host: “It’s been 8 years since the comet appeared. However, almost all of the villagers in Itomori were safe.
They evacuated people to the high school were confirmed….”

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In this chapter, eight years have passed since the Tiamat Comet appeared and destroyed Mitsuha’s village,
Itomori. It was shown that the villagers were unharmed and safe in Mitsuha’s school. This was because when
Taki and Mitsuha got back to their own bodies, Mitsuha went to see her father, who was a mayor of Itomori.
She begged her father that the comet was going to destroy Itomori. Her father listened and urged the villagers
to evacuate to Mitsuha’s school.

Deities of Death and the Underworld

Dunwich explains in this aspect, it is about gods who have supernatural powers.
Extract 8:
(Tenki no Ko, 00:25:37 - 00:24:55)
Hina: “The rain sucks, isn’t it? Let me show you something”

In this extract, Hina met Hodaka after running away from bad guys. Hina felt sick of the rain, so she asked
Hodaka to join her to the rooftop where she got the power to control the sun. She prayed to the sky, and when
she did, the sun suddenly came and stopped the rain. This implies whenever and wherever Hina prays, she can
always stop the rain.
The second question is what are the differences and similarities of supernatural events of both films? To
answer this question, the researchers must learn about what comparative literature is. According to Damono
(2013), Comparative Literature is the study of literature beyond the boundaries that are connected by the
literature and the matter of knowledge and belief. After understanding the meaning of comparing, the
researchers used the elements of film for comparison, consisting of Plot, Structure, Characterization, Scenes,
Visual, Dialogue, Conflict and Resolution.

Plot
Plot is the chain of connected events that make up a narrative. The similarities of plot in these two films are:
(1) Both supernatural events occurred in two places, (2) Both films are based on Romance, Slice of life, and
Fantasy Genre, (3) The supernatural events in these two films occurred because there is a love story along with
the conflict of the story, (4) The supernatural events in these two films are not real, and (5) Both films are made
of Japanese culture. As for the differences there are: (1) “Kimi no Nawa” setting is in Tokyo and Itomori while
“Tenki no Ko” is located in Tokyo and Kozushima, (2) “Kimi no Nawa” is more focusing on Romance than
the actual supernatural events while “Tenki no Ko” focuses more on the supernatural events, and (3) “Kimi no
Nawa” uses traditional culture (Shrine, sake, etc.) as the story’s background while “Tenki no Ko” uses the
history of Edo (Japan) which is longer that the other’s culture.

Structure
Gustav Freytag states that there are five steps of the structure which are:
Exposition, which is the introduction of the story. It usually shows the character and put the root of the
conflict. There is one difference between “Kimi no Nawa” and “Tenki no Ko” in this part, which is “Kimi no

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Nawa” already shows the supernatural event at the beginning by showing a dream that is connected to both
person while “Tenki no Ko”’ ‘s supernatural event is explained by just leading the heroine to a building.
Rising Action is a series of events that escalates the rest of the story in motion. There’s one difference,
which is “Kimi no Nawa” improves their story by just showing the daily lives of switched souls while “Tenki
no Ko” improves the story by stopping the rain with Hina’s power.
Climax is the most interesting part of the story where the conflict explodes. The similar thing between
these two films is “Kimi no Nawa” and “Tenki no Ko” lost the heroine due to the appearance of supernatural
events. What’s different is, in “Kimi no Nawa”, the heroine died from the comet while in “Tenki no Ko”, the
heroine sacrificed herself so the rain would stop.
Falling Action is the bridge between the climax and resolution that shows how the conflicts are being
solved. “Kimi no Nawa” and “Tenki No Ko” save the heroines, but what’s different is in “Kimi no Nawa”
Taki” went back to the past to save Mitsuha while in “Tenki no Ko” Hodaka went across the other world to
save Hina. Taki in “Kimi no Nawa” sacrificed his memories with Mitsuha in order to save Mitsuha, while in
“Tenki no Ko”, Taki sacrificed Tokyo for saving Hina.
Denouement or resolution, which were explained in the last element.

Characterization
Characterization is the process for the author to reveal the personality of each character in the story. There are
no similarities or differences found in this aspect due to the supernatural events.
Scenes
There are no similarities or differences in this element because every extracts that have been captured are the
“scenes”.
Visual
Visual is as important as the scene. Visual is also an aspect of the screenplay that must be dealt with what the
viewer sees or and how they see it. The only similarity for this element is that the graphics or visuals of these
films are both fantastic and have no difference at all because these films are directed from the same author
which is Makoto Shinkai.
Dialogue
Dialogue is originally from the Greek which means dia (through) and logos (meaning). There are no similarities
or differences in this element due to the supernatural events that are extracted based on only pictures of occurred
scenes.
Conflict
In literature, conflict is a common element that involves a struggle of two opposing forces. The similar thing
on “Kimi no Nawa” and “Tenki no Ko” that can be found in this element is the main character (man) must save
the heroine (girl) from the supernatural event that is going to kill them.
Resolution
Resolution is the final outcome of the story. The similar thing between “Kimi no Nawa” and “Tenki no Ko” is
both of the heroines are saved and have a normal life. What’s different from the resolution is in “Kimi no
Nawa”, Taki and Mitsuha forgot each other for 8 years while in “Tenki no Ko”, Hina and Hodaka remembered
each other and only got separated for 3 years.
The last question is, is there any relationship between the supernatural events and the real world? Based
on the research and the results that the researchers gathered, there is no possibility for the supernatural events
to occur in the real world. However, there are some myths in Tenki no Ko that might be true according to the
eastern culture and Japanese beliefs. Looking back to the first question of this research, which is what are the
supernatural events found in these films, there are many kinds of supernatural events happening inside of the
film itself. One of them is the ability to communicate with spirits or something that is not alive or normal in
our world. There are many people who said that they can, but there is no scientific evidence yet saying that the
statement is true. Japanese’s culture and belief is not similar to any other worlds’ for mystical context. Japanese
people believe that even trees or stray cats are possessed by mystical creatures and pray to them for protection.
Supernatural topics are pretty common among Japanese society, yet there is not much to prove that the
supernatural are real. Therefore, there is no connection between the supernatural events and the real world.

CONCLUSION

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After explaining and identifying the supernatural events and their comparison, the researchers concluded that:
1. Using the supernatural theory from Dunwich, Tenki no Ko has the most supernatural events that have
occurred that Kimi no Nawa has 12 and Tenki no Ko has 25.
2. There are 9 similarities found in both films. The similarities are compared based on the elements of
film consists of: (1) 5 in Plot, (2) 2 in Structure, (3) 0 in Characterization, (4) 0 in Scenes, (5) 1 in
Visual, (6) 0 in Dialogue, (7) 0 in Conflict, and (8) 1 in Resolution.
3. There are 10 differences found in both films The differences are compared based on the elements of
film consists of: (1) 3 in Plot, (2) 5 in Structure, (3) 0 in Characterization, (4) 0 in Scenes, (5) 0 in
Visual, (6) 0 in Dialogue, (7) 1 in Conflict, and (8) 1 in Resolution.
4. There is no possibility for supernatural events to be happening in the real world.
The result of this research is using Dunwich (2002) supernatural theory and comparative approach for the
element of film. In this research, the researchers have solved three problems which are identifying the
supernatural events, comparing, and looking for its relationship with the real world. Moreover, due to the lack
of supernatural research, the researchers would like to give some suggestions. They are:
1. Use this research as a reference for related study in the future.
2. Analyze a different aspect than the supernatural in these two films.
3. Deepen the study of comparative and supernaturalism.

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