I am so stupid! I was watching story 2 and was thinking, “geez…that guy looks very much like the one in story 1…” For some odd reason, I had the preconception that these three stories were all standalones. Well they’re not. Let me correct myself. All three stories revolve around the guy, Takaki Touno.
Story 1: Cherry Blossoms
After their one night reunion, Takaki and Akari go their separate ways…
Story 2: Astronaut
Here, Takaki is a highschooler and is friends with a classmate of his – Kanae Sumita. She has feelings for him and near then end decides to bring up the courage to tell him. But she realises that his heart is elsewhere and that she is not the one to fill up the emptiness within him. We see Takaki as a gentle character but always seem to be yearning for something. He expresses this in his text messages but they are never sent…
Story 3: 5cm per second
Takaki is now an adult and working in Tokyo – he throws himself into work, up to a point when he realises that he’s lost all direction in life, living basically an aimless life. One day, Akari sends him a message…
Story: 9
Characters: 8
Music: 9
All three arcs of the story was amazing. The whole animation draws you into the world of Takaki and Akari. Completely breathtaking…the whole gentleness of it…As I’ve mentioned before, the soundtrack also compliments the work. I just realised that the OST is not available for sale on its own!! It was released together with the Limited Edition of the animation (Japan version)! Well luckily someone has their hands on it – it’s on IMEEM. Have a listen…if you’ve watched the anime, I’m sure you will enjoy it!
I don’t know what it is but I really like this scene…all I can say is that Makoto Shinkai is truly incredible!
Edit: One thing that bugged me just a little was why Takaki and Akari could not have a happy ending. To me, distance would be the easiest thing to overcome. To say that distance pulled them apart was probably acceptable when they were kids but as adults? Sounds like a bit of a stretch…aside from this, I still consider it to be a 1 hour well spent!!
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July 14, 2008 at 12:05 am
dingsan
Makoto Shinkai likes depressing stories. You may want to check out Voices of a Distant Star if you liked 5 Centimeters per Second.
Personally, I felt that the story was pretty horrible. His art was great, but the plot was incredibly slow. Slower than the asian dramas I watch sometimes.
July 14, 2008 at 5:07 am
Sleepy
I agree that the story was a bit slow but to me, the art (seriously amazing) and the soundtrack (also great) made up for it. Also, I had bought the DVD out of randomness so had no expectations to start with. As a result, I was pleasantly surprised. To me, the main focus was probably the art and music – rather than the story itself. Thanks for the comment anyway!
April 2, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Thingle IS da Asian Sensation
There is but ONE antidote to Shinkai’s plot devices: The CELLPHONE.
April 2, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Sleepy
Hehehe You’re quite right on that point. Honestly I’ve checked another anime of his but never finished. The art is great but the stories??? They need working on…
May 17, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Kratos
Interesting review. I just got into the film.
However, I believe that its’ Takaki’s current girlfriend (who is unnamed, but seen) that sends the text message during the 3rd story. After Takaki moves away, he never meets Akari, and ceases communication for some reason.
I found it awfully sad, and also awfully telling of how real relationships go. People just drift apart, and while childhood relationships sometimes turn into something greater, it just doesn’t happen usually…
Do you have the ADV version of the english DVD? I unfortunately missed out on it, so I hope the release by Bang Zoom comes out soon.
May 17, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Sleepy
The story is really quite sad. I think the story does highlight one thing. Despite the ease of calling or emailing someone, it is very easy to not do anything and just let time slip pass. I think it was like 4 years later, until I approached a friend and apologized for something that I did – it wasn’t like she wasn’t speaking to me, but it had been nagging me in the back of my head and I just decided to get it out. I like this anime – bit of a soft spot for the music and animation.
DVD? Why don’t you check this one out? I got this copy. It’s got English subs and I think it’s cheaper!! http://www.yesasia.com/global/秒速5厘米-dvd-香港版/1005118197-0-0-0-en/info.html
May 17, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Kratos
Thanks for the recommendation. It is a lot cheaper (Used versions on Amazon sell for over $60, since the ADV version is discontinued), and I’ll still be able to play it on my computer (although I can’t play Region 3 DVDs on my DVD player). But I’d like to see what they include on the Bang Zoom dvds.
The best thing “5 cm per second” does is create that mood, the feeling of drifting apart. I think that’s why the OVA can recall such things.
Well, Makoto Shinkai is going to start developing his next work this year. I can’t wait!
May 18, 2009 at 1:51 am
Sleepy
Hey Kratos! In 5cm per second, I thought the music really elevated the mood in the anime. I was crazy about the OST for a while.
Do you like his other works? I know he has two other reasonably well known, Voices of a Distance Star and The Place Promised Our Early Days? I have only watched a little of the second one but it was too slow on me. I will give it another try later.
http://www.yesasia.com/global/星之聲-香港版/1004541197-0-0-0-en/info.html
http://www.yesasia.com/global/雲之彼端-約定的地方-香港版/1004541200-0-0-0-en/info.html
May 18, 2009 at 3:30 am
Kratos
I probably will get the ADV-licensed DVDs from Amazon when I have money. Shinkai is a relatively new director, with only 2 films and 2 other animations right now.
I’ve watched “Voices of a Distant Star” before. I thought the story was good, but you could tell the animation was his first; the characters were not as well drawn and animated as in “5 Centimeters per Second”.
I also have the OST from “5 Cm”, and I really like how it sets the mood. Its somewhat melancholic, which really compliments the mood of the movie. Some tracks are even good standing alone, although with any movie soundtrack, some songs only work in context.
What other OVAs do you like? Right now, I’m not into Anime partially because I have no time right now, and partially because I found long-running anime series get monotonous around the 50th episode. However, I really do like the concept of the stand-alone, 1 hour episode, simply because I am able to watch them.
May 18, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Sleepy
Yeah I’m going to give those 2 anime another try later. Just that they do require a lot of concentration so will have to be when I’m in one of those moments. haha I must say the only kind of works that are comparable to Shinkai ones are the Hayao Miyazaki ones which I LOVE especially with Joe Hisaishi’s music. Other than that, then I just usually watch the typical TV anime series. Nothing too exciting though despite their incomparable anime quality, they can still be pretty entertaining!! Anime series are good – only 13 episodes in general so pretty short. I’m short on time usually so I stay away from anything longer.
ANy other favourites?
May 18, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Kratos
Before I started getting really short on time, I watched Honey and Clover (38 Episodes), Saikano (13 episodes), and Mushishi (26 Episodes). Those were all good series, and I’m kind of glad they didn’t go over 50 episodes; Saikano and Honey and Clover are both somewhat short series, and Mushishi works best with stand-alone episodes (the chapters aren’t linked together either).
Right now, I’m picking at Ga Rei Zero (which has been recommended), but also Hayate no Gotoku (ongoing…) and Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (13 Episodes).
For Animations (films), Brave Story is very good. It’s based off of a really long novel, though, and as such, a ton of stuff is cut, but the movie still isn’t too bad. Read the book if you get to it, though; it’s written by Miyuki Miyabe, and has been translated by VIZ. The Evangelion film (soon to be films) also are promising, although personally the series went downhill at the last few episodes, and I hated the ‘alternate’ ending.
And if you’re really weird, Gregory Horror Show, which is only Anime in that it comes from Japan.
May 20, 2009 at 12:21 am
Sleepy
I’ll note those names down. I’m really busy right now but when I find some time I’ll look into them. I’m not very familiar with the names at all – except for Honey & Clover – so I’m interested in checking them out. Ooooh! Ga Rei Zero! I want to watch that one too. Someone recommended me that a while ago.
Sounds like you’re bit of a veteran anime watcher! I’m pretty new to all this. I’ve always watched animation movies like Spirited Away but series and manga I only picked up just under a year ago.
Thanks for dropping by!! Good little chat we had. Hope to see more of u in the future. If you find anything interesting, pls let me know!!! THanks!!
May 20, 2009 at 7:02 am
Kratos
One interesting, one-minute short I found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAhZ-rz91Eo
It’s not subbed, but it’s easy enough to understand.