5 Centimeters per Second
Beautiful. That’s really the only word that captures the essence of 5 Centimeters per Second because words alone won’t do it justice; the beauty lies in the animation, the detail of the backgrounds, the way every action is portrayed in a subtle way that never lessens the impact it has on us viewers. I don’t want to downplay the role of the story and plot, but it only took a few screencaps to convince me to set aside an hour or so to watch this movie, and it was an hour well spent.
Genre: Romance
Themes: Unrequited love, time, distance, happiness, growing up
Directed by: Makoto Shinkai
If you know even the slightest bit about the plot of this film, it’s easy to see that it tackles some themes that some might find depressing. Who hasn’t had a friend that you barely talk to anymore because you’ve grown apart? (Let alone the love of your life for the starcrossed couple of 5 Centimeters). What hits home is that you could reconcile that friendship. It’s possible, but the harsh reality of it is that it’s hard to overcome distance, and even impossible to make up for the time you spent drifting apart. You see Takaki writing texts but never pressing ‘send’; Akari hopefully checking her mailbox only to see that he’s stopped writing letters. They drift apart. In this particular movie, it’s represented in various forms, but the most prominent is the falling cherry blossoms, slowly going their separate ways. This is a concept that manifests in other stories, too; Bleach uses the image of fireworks gathering into an explosion before going separate ways and becoming further apart, but the main idea is the same. Nonetheless, the silence of cherry blossoms seems better suited for Takaki and Akari’s struggles.
It’s a quiet love story. When you look past the stunning animation, what really strings the plot together is a simple tale of a boy and a girl driven apart by distance. In real life, the guy doesn’t always get the girl in the end, but in a medium like this we’re used to seeing fantastical, unrealistic situations. It’s really a sight to behold when a movie combines plausible situations with surrealistic imagery (the brief glimpses of Takaki and Akari climbing some unbelievably gorgeous hill comes to mind). It makes me wonder if the movie would be as highly regarded if the ending was more of a ‘typical’ onscreen romance. This would, of course, contradict a lot of the themes that the story conveys, but maybe it’s the fact that the fate of their relationship doesn’t turn out well that affects us so much.
On one last unrelated rambling note, my favorite screenshots are when the characters are out of focus. The way you only see the bottom of Akari’s face and her wedding ring catches a glint of light; the two running away, holding hands, with their backs to the camera– in fact, all the screenshots I ended up picking for this post don’t feature the character closely enough to see their facial expressions. But I like it this way. I think they look better from a distance.
/ 23 Commentsleave a comment /
Leave a Reply
- Space Brothers 07 13/05
- Accel World 06 13/05
- Sankarea 06 12/05
- Kore wa Zombie desu ka - Of the Dead 06 12/05
- Accel World 04 - 05 11/05
- Tsuritama 05 11/05
- Space Brothers 06 09/05
- Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom [Review] 07/05
- The Hardest Part About Blogging 05/05
- Welcome to Tourney Visitors! 05/05
-
Tofu on Accel World 06
Justin mate... I know how you feel bro :D From ep... -
Justin on Accel World 06
I wish I could be enjoying this like you have Tofu... -
Test to your hearts content Gureedo and as always,... -
Gureedo on Accel World 06
I'm not really sure why this its happening...... -
oh wow... is there a way to contact this 'pro... -
Ok, this is Bullcarp! It's my provider! He�... -
Test comment from my phone =D Please ignore) ... -
ooo~ sounds very nice, would love to give it a try... -
Vivi on Space Brothers 07
You're so evil hahaha. I've never watche... -
zleihsh on Accel World 06
Continue my last post, yes, I could love to give y...
Tofu
Gureedo
Noblesse
Its a pretty touching movie. I admire Shinkai for creating such fine animation and art. Especially the details, the background and even surroundings really help set a mood.
Off note: I had to redesign a magazine and I chose an anime mag. featuring Shinkai's works<_< haha.
Great recommendation! Now I feel like rewatching the movie, its been a few years.
I feel like rewatching it too; I wonder how it'll affect me the second time through. Maybe it'll be even sadder because I know how it ends though.. ;w;
And I think that Shinkai's art would be amazing for a graphic design project, haha. Good choice!
(And welcome to the blogosphere- looking forward to seeing more of your posts on Metanorn~).
I missed this reply. Thank you for the welcome :3
I still have yet to re-watch this movie, but I shall when I get the time. Yeah, the GD project was pretty fun that I found an appreciation for Shinkai's art on another level.
The movie does feature some gorgeous landscapes and sunsets :) This one's a real tear jerker… ;o;
Yess, the scenery is breathtaking. So pretty… I made it all the way to the end of the movie without crying and then that last scene with the train just killed me. ;__;
Oh wow~~ I can already see and possibly feel how deep this story is and the art is definitely amazingly good. I really want to watch 5 centimeters per second now but I don't know where I can find it ><" Anyone glad to help a distressed tofu? ^^
I can already tell this story would be very touching and I love touching stories, especially ones that contain awesome art and strong characters than you can maybe even physically feel there emotions surging through your body… Oh how I want to cry once more ^^ (Yeah, I actually want to feel tears, weird ey?)
You know it's a good movie when you can feel the emotions in still shots, eh? I like how effective it is when dialogue is minimal. You can find it on Youtube pretty easily. ^^ A user called YojuToshi uploaded it in HD, I think.
Save your tears for the ending of the movie! I kinda envy you for having not seen it before, so I could experience it all over again. It's very touching, so hope you enjoy. :3
Thanks a bunch Mint! ^^ I really enjoyed the movie and omg the ending was SO SAD! T____T It was… such a sad ending, I've never seen such a sad ending before… I ain't gonna go into spoilers just in case anyone hasn't seen it yet. But yes, it was very touching, I really liked the first part of the movie more than the rest x3
everything about this movie is breathtaking to me, personally.
I can see why. Even the music is simply gorgeous, and everything comes together so beautifully. 5cm/second is just the total package. =D
One of the better anime films I have seen. Story was top-notch TBH. The final scene when Takaki and Akari cross the railroad at the same time, yet are not able to see each other is just amazing. I guess fate is cruel thing in their story.
The music was also beautiful at the same time.
All in all 9.5/10 from me.
I've been meaning to get around to watching this movie for such a long time, and I haven't done it yet. Why haven't I done it yet? Every time I see something about it I just want to see it even more! I'll have to get around to looking it up very soon.
The fact that they could not overcome the distance(and probably time) at the end made their moments together all the more precious. I rewatched it and found that the first part (when they met at the train station) affected me the most because I knew they would not meet again.
Definitely one of the best anime I've seen.
I first watched it(attempted) something about a year ago, but got so depressed after the 1st part that I didn't finish it. But when I did…. it was still just as sad, but breathtakingly beautiful. The combination of these 2 in this movie was literally perfect!
Anyone, whom didn't watch this, go and do it now!!
This really is a beautiful movie even if the story didn't touch the hopeless romantic in me (she was on vacation so the cynical realist in me took over). I got really hung up on the fact that Takaki couldn't get over Akari – even after all those years! Eventually she became an emotional wrench in his love life, and whether he pined for her or subconsciously blamed her for his failed relationships, the guy seriously needs to move on. Because Akari did. I was really hoping in the last scene with the passing train that it was symbolic of Takaki letting go.
@Tofu No problem! And aww, if you've never seen such a sad ending before, it must have been devastating. (I desensitize myself by watching too many tearjerkers haha.)
@Cyklops I can't believe I didn't mention the music! Especially since it ended with that music video-type-thing. That ending kind of killed me inside for a bit, but it really got me thinking… fate, time, distance, those two just can't catch a break. ;_;
@Arianna You'll give in eventually. Go watch it, nowwww!
@Canne Too true. The first scene with the train has a whole new meaning, too. Just goes to show how masterfully made this movie is. I'll have to prepare myself before I rewatch that first part, but the seeing all that foreshadowing should be a new experience. =D
@Namika Agreed! I guess the beauty makes the emotional torture bearable, haha. It's still easily recommendable, though. It's not the same as a combination of humor and tearjerking scenes, but pretty unique.
@blindability The train could've represented the whole barrier of distance between Akari and Takaki, with Akari letting him go while he still waited for her… I think it was symbolic of Takaki getting on with his life, though. Because he did manage to leave in the end, and maybe even with a smile on his face. It was an amazing scene overall.
This is one of my all time favourite movies. Always leaves me wanting for more and a bittersweet feeling, yet it is artistically so vibrant that every time I watch, I am just enthralled by it. My first time was on Blu-ray and I literally could not take my eyes off this anime at all. So beautiful and so worth the watch! <3
This must be godly on Bluray!! I've never actually watched something on Bluray before…
5 centimeters per second is definitely one of my favourite animes. Although, I think "The Place Promised in our Early Days" ,from the same author, is better.
It's definitely up there in my favorites, too! And I tried watching The Place Promised In Our Early Days but I couldn't quite get through the first twenty minutes. The dialogue seemed so… stilted. But I think I'll give it another try (;