What are the worms in Suzume no Tojimari? Japan's worst nightmares, reimagined
Suzume no Tojimari is a Japanese animated fantasy film that has gained a lot of hype and attention lately with its worldwide release in 2023 by Crunchyroll, Sony Pictures, and Wild Bunch International. The movie is produced by CoMix Wave Films and written and directed by Makoto Shinkai.
Suzume no Tojimari follows Suzume, a young girl who encounters a mysterious man named Souta Munaka. Together, they set out on a perilous journey to close mysterious doors located all across Japan, serving as an entrance to a giant supernatural "worm" responsible for causing real-world earthquakes.
In Suzume no Tojimari, the "worm" represents natural disasters and their destructive effect
Directed by Makoto Shinkai, Suzume no Tojimari is a film that takes its inspiration from real-life events, turning them into a beautiful narrative that's complimented by stellar animation and voice acting. The film features several metaphors that hold real-life tragedies to account, showing us the aftermath they left behind.
In the film, the main antagonist is a giant supernatural worm that lives in the Ever After realm. However, this worm can enter the real world through mysterious doors located throughout Japan in places that have been left abandoned due to natural calamities. These doors need to be locked by Suzume and Souta in order to prevent the worm from entering the real world.
The film revolves around Suzume and Souta locking these doors and in the end sealing the worm in the Ever After with the help of Daijin and Sadaijin. In the film, Makoto Shinkai uses the worm as a metaphor for natural calamities, depicting its destructive nature and the effect it has on people and places.
Japan has been ravaged by natural disasters in the past, with millions of people losing everything. The "worm" is a grim reimagination of this very real nightmare faced by the country. The worm can enter the real world in the film through doors present in abandoned places that have been ravaged by natural disasters.
The doors represent a bridge between the past and the present, also affecting the future. Thus, they essentially act like our memories, taking us back to the disaster that had a significant impact on our lives. The doors act like a mosaic in time that lets someone relive the tragedy yet again. That's why Suzume and Souta closing the doors is them laying the past and its tragedies to rest and not letting them ruin the bright future ahead.
Suzume no Tojimari is all about coming to terms with the past and giving yourself the power to live for a brighter future. Shinkai's film does a brilliant job portraying the worm and shows us what can happen if we let it in through the doors that are built on a graveyard of our broken dreams and memories.
The film urges us to comfort our past selves and show resilience by overcoming every obstacle in the way of closing the door to the worm. Dwelling in the past is something we do to cope with everything we have lost, however, life still needs to be lived as there are brighter days to come. The worm is something the film says doesn't belong in the real world and we should work on sealing it in the Ever After.