Back of Book: 

A story of two people determined to hold on to one another.

Mitsuha, a high school girl from a town deep in the mountains, dreams of an unfamiliar life in Tokyo. Taki, a high school boy from Tokyo, dreams that he is a girl living in the mountains. As the two begin swapping lives, a miraculous story is set in motion.

Book Number: One 

Genre: Young Adult | Manga | Contemporary | Fantasy | Romance 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟

I really wanted to read "Your Name" after I heard Dustin Thao, the author of "You've Reached Sam" talk about how the movie inspired several aspects of his debut novel. After reading the first volume, I can begin to see some similarities. In both, two people are thrust into an interesting circumstance in which they cannot quite be together, yet form a bond all the same. Some themes and the like are also adjacent to one another.

The concept of this book is great, but overall it could have been executed better. It took over half of the book to concretely acknowledge the fact that the two were switching bodies, which is the entire premise of the book. I feel by the time that it is "revealed," the reader long knows this fact and is waiting for the story to progress. Despite this, it is quite fun to see the shenanigans that the two get into when they switch bodies. I also didn't instantaneously fall in the love with the characters, which is unusual. I hope that as this story progresses, it gains a bit more depth and allows me to get to love the characters more.

Also, I found the structure of the panels a tad bit confusing, which is probably a me problem, but this isn't my first manga. Thus far in my manga reading career, this is the only one I actively struggled with following the flow. Hopefully, it was just my brain taking some time to readjust and nothing more.

Overall, the first volume of "Your Name" is a quick read that most definitely suffers a bit from "first book syndrome." It takes a while to lay the groundwork, which is quite interesting given the fact that it is a fairly short book. I'll have to read the rest of the books before I'll know if this series is worth recommending. As of now, I am intrigued, but not too highly invested.

Back of Book: 

Fate's intentions are never clear...

After months of swapping bodies with Mitsuha, Taki remains suddenly fixed in his own. Unable to shake the lingering impressions of a remote town he's never been to and a girl he's never seen, Taki sets off to find Mitsuha's village in the mountains. With only a few landscapes sketches drawn from memory to guide his search, Taki's goal seems impossible. However, his journey leads him to a reality more impossible than anything he could have imagined...

Book Number: Two 

Genre: Young Adult | Manga | Contemporary | Fantasy | Romance 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The second installment of "Your Name" really threw me for a loop! I was not expecting what happened at all.

Luckily, all of the problems I had with book one were not present in this one. The side characters became more important, allowing me to appreciate them more and feel like I know them better. The rapid back and forth wasn't present, because Mitsuha and Taki were no longer switching bodies. The stakes were also raised in this novel, which leaves me desperate to know what happens in the final volume in the main series.

Overall, I flew through the second installment; I was much more absorbed in this one than the first. This book hit me in the feels and I was confused whether I should be gasping aloud or crying uncontrollably. This series is looking very promising and I cannot wait to fly through the third one!

Back of Book: 

They never should have met...

The comet's arrival is imminent, and Taki puts his plan into action to save Mitsuha and the people he has come to care for during his time in her body. Convincing a whole town of skeptics that the sky is falling will take some doing—and a little delinquency—but if Taki wants any hope of a future with Mitsuha, they will have to save the town in the here and now! 

Book Number: Three (Last Book) 

Genre: Young Adult | Manga | Contemporary | Fantasy | Romance 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟

The final installment in the main series of "Your Name" was a whirlwind of a read. Full of heart, with a touch of sadness, it's no surprise that "Your Name" has stolen so many people's hearts.

At times, I was a bit confused while reading this manga. It often jumped through parallel worlds in a jolting fashion, which is the thing I attribute to this confusion. Despite confusion usually being a negative factor in a story, I think that it added a bunch to Mitsuha and Taki's tale. There were moments of strife that both of the protagonists undergo, in which neither one of them is quite sure what is happening. Feeling their confusion first hand as a reader was quite helpful. Also, the pinnacle moment of my confusion did end up leading to one of the cutest romantic gestures I have ever seen, so there is that. (Mitsuha X Taki <3)

After all the action with the comet subsided, I found myself liking this book even more. The desperate search for one another that the two underwent was incredibly stressful while simultaneously really adorable. I loved the ending, but I do wish that we would have been able to see a bit more of their lives unfold.

Overall, "Your Name" was a cute series that I flew through quite rapidly. I enjoyed the premise of the story, but oftentimes found the execution not one hundred percent there. I have heard many people say they like the movie better, and I would be interested to see if I agree. I think if the characters wouldn't have been as flat and if the series would have had more content (the books are so short and I feel they could have benefited from more!), I would have been able to love the series more intensely. Despite this, the manga was still worth reading and I would most definitely tell people to read it if they asked my opinion of it.

Back of Book: 

During the events of your name., Mitsuha and Taki's miraculous encounter forever changed their lives. But they weren't the only ones affected by their body swapping—Mitsuha's friends and family have their own sides of the story to tell!

Book Number: One 

Genre: Young Adult | Manga | Contemporary | Fantasy | Romance 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

In "Your Name: Another Side: Earthbound" volume one, we get to see another angle of the story.

I personally had a much more fun time reading this book than I did the entire rest of the series. Taki is by far my favorite character and I just love the shenanigans he gets himself into. He really knows nothing about how to be the proper lady, and it is so hysterical to witness. As Mitsuha, Taki trash talks, confronts gossipers, and struggles indefinitely with these things called bras and skirts. I also love the interactions he has with Mitsuha's little sister; she has to think that there is something truly wrong with her sister after the things Taki puts her through. :) I had so much fun learning more about Taki, and this novel really helped me understand how much he loved escaping Tokyo. I feel it is abundantly clear that Mitsuha wants to escape her hometown, but I was left wondering what was in it for Taki. This installment helped me see why Taki enjoyed the swaps just as much as Mitsuha.

The second half of the book focuses in on one of Mitsuha's friends, Tesshi. He is also tied down due to his obligations to his family. Much like Mitsuha, he wishes that he can escape their small town, but he seriously doubts this will ever happen. I love the bond that forms between Tesshi and the "off-kilter" Mitsuha (Taki). There friendship really blossoms and I love all the little moments between the two in this book.

Overall, I thought it was really fun to experience this world in a different way. Personally, my favorite part of the manga "Your Name" is the weird situations that Taki found himself in when he was inhabiting Mitsuha's body, so experiencing a more fleshed out version of these incidents was quite a hoot. I'm glad that "Anotherside: Earthbound" exists; I feel like it is helping me appreciate the full depth of the story much better. This book is a lighthearted tale of Taki's confusing journey of learning how to act as Mitsuha, but it also features many touching moments in which the friend groups gets even closer and the reader gleams some inner truths about the characters. I would highly recommend checking this out if you love "Your Name" (the manga, the light novel, or the movie!).

Back of Book: 

Mitsuha Miyamizu may be experiencing a mysterious bond with an unfamiliar Tokyo boy, but she's not the only member of her shrine-keeping family with transcendent connections. Her little sister, Yotsuha, finds herself getting a curiously closer look at the Miyamizu traditions. Their father, Toshiki, remembers his wife, Futaba, and all the love and pain.

Book Number: Two (Last Book) 

Genre: Young Adult | Manga | Contemporary | Fantasy | Romance 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟

The second volume of "Another Side: Earthbound" is a deep dive into Mitsuha's family. I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first volume, but it did give some pretty interesting backstory into Mitsuha's parent's backstory.

The first section of this novel follows Mitsuha's younger sister, Yotsuha, as she learns more about the traditions of her family's shrine. I think that Yotsuha is such an amusing character, so it was fun to explore her more. There is some brief interactions with some returning characters, which is cool, but nothing too shocking was revealed.

The second segment of the manga followed Mitsuha's father, Toshiki, and the backstory of how he fell in love with Mitsuha's mother, Futaba, along with how he ended up as a grouchy mayor that nobody really likes. I think that this section was enlightening, but it wasn't the most exciting read. My favorite part was when Futaba told Mitsuha her name. I thought it was such a cute moment and it tied into the namesake of the series, which I thought was great.

Overall, this book wasn't the most enjoyable, but it does give a bunch of backstory on Mitsuha's family and filled in some of the blanks surrounding the magical aspects of the series. If one was a huge fan of "Your Name" I'm sure that this installment would be literary gold. I'm not addicted to the series, so this book was mostly just filler content for me. The series was still a fun read, and I am glad that I have added "Your Name" to my beginner's list of manga.