Suzume Ending, Explained

Summary

• Great dialogue and captivating visuals drive Suzume’s Locking Up’s compelling narrative.
• Souta’s resurrection and sealing the worm require teamwork and sacrifice for a satisfying resolution.
• The poignant meeting of past and future selves brings closure and hope to Suzume’s journey.

Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume’s Locking Up is a story of grief and acceptance told through Suzume’s journey across Japan in her attempt to correct her mistake and lock an evil spirit away. It is 120+ minutes of gripping action, chilling suspense, and heartbreaking drama.

Suzume’s Locking Up has done a great job of telling its story through great dialogue and captivating visuals. However, some viewers might still not fully understand what happened at the end of this amazing movie. With that in mind, here’s an explanation of the ending of Suzume’s Locking Up. For the sake of clarity, this article will talk about five key moments in the third act of the movie that make up the ending of Suzume’s Locking Up. Needless to say, Spoiler Alert!

Daijin, Sadaijin

The Western Keystone and the Eastern Keystone

On her way to visit a place where she accidentally wanders through a door that leads to the Ever-After years ago, Suzume meets a black cat who calls himself Sadaijin. Just like Daijin, Sadaijin is also a keystone that seals the worm. Daijin is responsible for the door in Kyushu, while Sadaijin is responsible for the gate in Tokyo. When Suzume partially seals the worm with Souta who was turned into a new keystone, Sadaijin is effectively freed from his seal.

Unlike the carefree Daijin who wants to play around and forgets about his job, however, Sadaijin wants everything to be back to the way it was. He knows Suzume is trying to do just that, so he hops into the car and rides along with Suzuma and the gang. Once they find the door and jump into the world of Ever-After, Sadaijin turns into his true form, a colossal fox-like creature, and tries to hold the worm down while Daijin stays with Suzume and helps her find Souta.

“Return everything as it was, with human hands.”

Souta, Resurrected

Return to Human

• Character’s name: Souta Munakata
• Voice Actor: Hokuto Matsumura (JP)/Josh Keaton (EN)

According to Souta’s grandfather, once a person turns into a keystone, there’s no way for them to regain their humanity. This means Souta will forever serve as the seal that prevents the worm from running amok in the real world. But Suzume doesn’t believe him. At least not until she tries to do anything she can to get Souta back.

When Suzume finds Souta stuck on top of the worm’s tail—he is still in his frozen little chair form at this point—she tries her best to pull him out but to no avail. So she starts to call out his name. She tries her best to reach out to his frozen heart. Souta himself had already given up at the time and nearly lost consciousness completely. Fortunately, Suzume’s voice reaches him at the last moment, freeing him from the worm.

Sealing the Worm

A Two-Person Job

Shouta’s freedom means there’s no longer anything that holds the worm back from storming out of the Ever-After. Knowing how dire the situation is, and because she comes to like Suzume and wants what’s best for her, Daijin finally agrees to return to being the keystone to seal the worm. Likewise, Sadaijin is also ready to be the keystone to seal the other end of the worm.

Now that both Daijin and Sadaijin have returned to their stone statue form, both Souta and Suzume are ready to seal the worm away. The keystones teleport them up to the sky, right on top of both ends of the worm. Without hesitation, Suzume pierces the worm with Daijin, the western keystone, and at the same time, Souta pierces the worm with Sadaijin, the eastern keystone. In the blink of an eye, the worm vanished without a trace. It’s not dead though. The worm is merely sealed like it used to be.

I Am Your Tomorrow

When the Past Meets the Future

Right after Suzume regains consciousness after sealing the worm, she immediately notices a little girl walking in the distance. She is crying as she shouts her mother’s name. That little girl is Suzume.

When she lost her mother in a disaster over a decade ago, little Suzume stumbled upon a door that connected to the Ever-After. She walked into the door looking for her mother, not knowing that she had actually stepped into a different realm. This version of Suzume is the one that the current Suzume sees right now. The Ever-After is a world where the souls of the dead reside. This is a place where all time collides. Here, the past, present, and future happen at the same time. That’s why it is possible for Suzume to meet her past/future self.

“You see, Suzume…No matter how sad you are now, you’re going to grow up. So, don’t worry. The future’s not that scary. You’ll meet a lot of people you care for. And you’ll meet lots of people who’ll care for you, too. The night might seem endless right now, but one day, morning will come. You’ll grow up basking in that light. I’m sure of it. It’s written in the stars.”

—Suzume, talking to her younger self.

Everything finally clicked. The woman that she met in her dream all those years ago is actually the older version of herself. Now that she realizes what happened, Suzume immediately gets up and talks to her younger self. She calms her down and slowly reassures her younger self that everything will be alright. She also gives the three-legged chair to her younger self. Once she ensures little Suzume safely back to her time, Suzume and Souta return through their own door.

We Meet Again

Same Place, Same Time

• Character’s name: Suzume Iwato
• Voice Actor: Nanoka Hara (JP)/Nichole Sakura (EN)

After they conclude the whole ordeal with the disaster worm, Suzume part ways with Souta. Sometime later, possibly near winter as both of them wear warmer clothes, Suzume finally meets Souta again, right at the same place as they met for the first time. They greet each other with a smile.

This is the final scene of the movie. This part of the ending is actually pretty straightforward and doesn’t require any further explanation. But since we’ve already talked at length about the previous scenes, might as well mention this final scene. And that concludes Suzume’s Locking Up.

Suzume’s Locking Up is available to stream on Crunchyroll.