

In the second half of _Your Name_ (after the body switching stops happening),
Mitsuha and Taki can't remember each other's names. They can even end up
forgetting the names within 10 seconds of seeing each other. Why does this
happen? One theory I have is:

> Before Taki intervenes, Mitsuha would have died when the comet hit. Taki
> couldn't remember her name because her future was hanging in the balance.

But this answer doesn't entirely work. For one,

> He still fails to remember her name after they rescue Itomori, and Mitsuha
> is no longer at risk of dying

And second off

> Taki was never in risk of dying in the comet, but Mitsuha still can't
> remember his name either.

So why did this happen? I know this is somewhat the main theme of the whole
movie, but it never made sense to me how they could forget so quickly. It's
almost like something was actively causing them to forget.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-17T02:13:46.447
46605
2020-11-27T21:42:28.007
28818
question
your-name
Why couldn't Mitsuha and Taki remember each other's names?


Losing the associated memories is one of the effects of this mysterious
phenomenon that the entire movie is based around, it happened in the scene you
are asking about, but it also happened in reference to Mitsu's grandmother.
All the supernatural occurrences in the movie are supposed to be caused by the
shrine god, comet, the shrine maiden (Mitsu) or some combination of those
three. Losing the memories associated with the body-swap/time-travel was quite
simply just one of the effects of the supernatural phenomenon surrounding
"Kimi no Na wa".

Going into specifics as to why it was that moment, exactly what memories they
lost and why it happened so suddenly starts to enter the territory of artistic
interpretation, [this reddit
post](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/54ptzv/help_explaining_kimi_no_na_wa_spoilers/)
explains a few useful plot moments for understanding this and comes up with
quite a good interpretation for why it happened at that moment because it had
just reached twilight and they had just left the shrine which holds the
symbolic meaning of leaving behind your most precious thing (their memories of
each other).

The issue that I think you noticed with your theory is that it limits the
forgotten memories to be specifically about death when really it was about
much more. The reddit post is just one interpretation, exactly why is really
up to the viewer.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-18T07:10:47.340
46624
2018-04-18T07:10:47.340
36431
46605
answer


I had to read this elsewhere - but when Taki and Mitsuha respectively go into
the shrine (the Underworld) they have to leave something behind in exchange
for being allowed to return alive. That something is their memory of each
other. In the twilight, Taki gives Mitsuho the thread she gave him [3 years
later / earlier] so he loses his reminder of her.


CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-01T16:09:55.200
53453
2019-07-01T16:09:55.200
47904
46605
answer


Since they mostly switched bodies after going to sleep, one could think of it
like forgetting a dream. Sometimes when you wake up from a dream you don't
remember what happened soon after, even while you are currently thinking about
it; details can quickly fade away.

This also goes hand in hand with Mistuha and Taki not remembering anything
while they were "awake". They were living as the other person, so large
swatches of their days were unknown unless the other chronicled it for them
while they were there. Taki would have no idea what happened that day if
Mitsuha hadn't written in his e-dairy and Mitsuha wouldn't have know what had
happened if Taki didn't leave her notes (or if her friends hadn't told her
what happened).

When Mitsuha disappears, so does all of her data entries in Taki's e-diary,
making it seem like she was only a dream and that all of Taki's memories of
her and living as her were also a dream.

This is idea of dreaming is especially prominent when Grandma (Who knows that
Mitsuha actually Taki) asks him, "Are you dreaming?".


CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-02T13:26:45.817
53478
2019-07-02T16:33:36.173
2019-07-02T16:33:36.173
47278
47278
46605
answer


Maybe the producer brought in this idea to slowly bring the movie to an
intense, beautiful end and to link the idea of that specific scene to the
title (Your Name). You see, the fact that Taki and Mitsuha couldn't remember
each other's name wasn't important-it was for us to realise that despite the
confusion Taki and Mitsuha were both in, the fact they knew not a thing about
each other but indeed, knew each other better than they know themselves was
important to acknowledge. Because that was...love. This was love. Without
thinking twice, they continued their quest in finding whoever it was within
them during those times they thought they were "dreaming". When people thought
the 2 of them were mad, little did they know they were just determined to find
each other(or in more beautiful words, the person's life they were living).

Or, maybe it was the idea of understanding how love can blind you and make you
do the unbelievable; how it drives you mad, doing things you'd never do
before. And that's what I love the most. We've all been attached to this movie
after watching it. The music, the scenes, the script, it all constructed not
just a movie, but a story of love and life within itself.

And whether or not this was done intentionally by the cast and writers, it
gave the movie a beautiful effect and made it so much more aesthetic. You're
left with so many questions, everyone interpreting things so differently, but
still, we're all coming to the most wonderful conclusions. I love this. <3


CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-26T17:23:42.823
53763
2019-07-26T20:20:48.600
2019-07-26T20:20:48.600
28818
48263
46605
answer


I think that they forgot each other's names because in the movie Mitsuha's
grandmother says "you need to leave here the most important thing for you,
which is the Sake" But then, the most important thing for Taki and Mitsuha was
remembering each other's name.

I hope this is clear, if you have any doubt you can ask me :)


CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-15T15:18:28.327
57905
2020-06-15T15:18:28.327
53869
46605
answer


Honestly just seems like a plot hole to me. It seems to central to the movie
to have something like this left unexplained and "up to the viewers
interpretation". It almost seems like this was added so that they could name
the movie "Your Name".


CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-27T00:34:37.733
61128
2020-11-27T00:34:37.733
57342
46605
answer


At the moment they forgot their names, in the past mitsuha had already died,
and that's why the memories were changing to fit what happened. In the story,
when they change the past, taki could still remember who mitsuha was, but all
documents said she died. That's why he started forgetting to fit the previous
events that were changed.

PS: I don't know if it was clear...


CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-27T21:42:28.007
61132
2020-11-27T21:42:28.007
55607
46605
answer