Headscratchers / Suzume

• If a normal person can only enter the Ever After if you've been there before, and only through the way you entered the first time, how was Suzume able to enter it as a child?
  • Hitsujirō stated there is only one door that allows entry to the Ever After, which is the one Suzume found as a child. Presumably anyone can pass through it, it's just that finding a single abandoned door in the entirety of Japan and thinking to open it is rare.
  • Alternatively, what if Suzume was able to enter because she was on the verge of death? She'd been walking alone in the cold and snow, as a small child, for who knows how long. It's never confirmed, but we do know Ever After represents the afterlife. This also gives more weight to Tamaki's decision to raise her- her niece had slipped through the cracks when her only parent passed away, and nearly *died* as a result.
  • Mixing a bit of the above two ideas I think the meaning is that every person has a single door they each can normally access the Ever After from in their lifetime. Most people will not ever find their own door or experience a tragedy great enough to actually use it but they potentially could.
  • The point is exactly a mix of the two: Hitsujirō clearly stated that there's only one door for every person able to grant access to the Ever After, and also he has a story with Sadaijin (which entrusts to lead Suzume and Daijin to "her" door). It's possible that Hitsujirō, who also stated that bein a Closer is a dangerous job and die on the battlefield (or worse) is a desiderable fate knew firsthand how you can reach the Ever After by finding yourself on the verge of death, that his knowledge is uncommon even between Closers (most of their memories are redacted) and he was clearly testing Suzume's resolve and her exact link to the Ever After before letting her go. As the chances for the average japanese to find the single door among all the possible "doors" in Japan leading to the Ever After are astronomically lower, furtherly lowered by the fact they can't actually perceive them and they need to be in the peculiar state of mind brought being on the verge of death (in most culture "Knocking at Heaven's door"), almost no one gets even to see "their" door, let alone get to use it.
  • Another theory that may mix with the others: Suzume was desperately seeking her mother, who had likely died at that point and would therefore have passed into the Ever After. The worm was also loose, meaning the door between realms was open, so perhaps that all contributed to Suzume being able to pass between realms where it wouldn't usually be possible.
• Kid!Suzume lost her mother and house in the Tsunami. She got back her beloved chair because Older!Suzume gave it to her in a stable time loop. So, where did Suzume find the damaged chair in the first place?
  • The Ever After contains a copy of her hometown's ruins. It's possible that the chair was actually a piece of the Ever After all along, and was simply returned to its point of origin at the end of the movie.
• Why is there time travel at the end of the movie? What does it has to do with the natural disaster tone the film is looking for. I just don't get it. There was no foreshadow other than one time in the opening scene. Just... why?
• If Daijin just wanted to be Suzume's cat, why does he let the evil from the other universe to come to Japan? Does he think it's fun to see all Japan in danger? Is he a psycho?
  • Maybe he wanted to force Suzume's and Sota's hand by forcing them to choose to either between continuing on chasing after him and risk the life and safety of everyone in Japan the longer he remains free or use Souta as a keystone to save everyone in Japan. If Souta becomes the keystone than there is no need for Daijin to become the keystone as someone else took his role and thus he would have a chance to be a "normal" cat.