Directed By Makoto Shinkai
Starring Kenji Mizuhashi, Yoshimi Kondo, Satomi Hanamura and Ayaka Onoue
Taking its name from the speed at which cherry blossoms apparently fall to the ground, 5 Centimeters Per Second tells three short, interconnected tales all surrounding the love that blossoms between childhood friends Takaki and Akari, and the distance keeping them apart. The opening segment ‘Cherry Blossom Story’ introduces us to Takari in the early ’90s, shortly after his closest friend Akari is forced to move away. They continue to write letters to each other, but when Takari is due to relocate even farther, he decides to take the train out to see Akari before the distance becomes impossible for the young boy to navigate. The second entry, ‘Cosmonaut’ picks up in the last years of high school and centres around Kanae, a young girl who develops unrequited feelings for Takaki after he moves to her town. The final segment takes place in present day Japan as Takaki’s grip on the past and his memories of Akari begins to make it impossible for him to live a fulfilling life.
.
.
.
.
The narration for each of the lovelorn characters is delivered with the flowery, melodramatic tone that’s true to the weight that any teenager places on their seemingly life-altering first loves and crushes. Writer/director Makoto Shinkai never lets the film become cloyingly sentimental, though, and for all the poetic, lovestruck inner musings of the characters, the film is filled with quiet, touching, heartfelt moments that deftly capture the universally familiar, bittersweet pangs of young love. Moments like a seemingly endless train journey as Takaki travels alone and overwrought with nervousness to see his crush for the first time in a year, or Kanae quietly fighting back tears as she realises she’s desperately in love with a boy who will never notice her are delivered with quiet, beautiful simplicity. Each moment of 5 Centimetres Per Second is by turns tenderly sweet and utterly heartbreaking, and all the more effective for Shinkai’s delicate touch and how well he taps into those moments of young love that anyone can relate to.
.
.
.
.
That light, tender touch is one that’s mirrored in Shinkai’s visuals, too. 5 Centimeters Per Second is an overwhelmingly beautiful film both emotionally and visually, and the sumptuous animation is filled with stunning countryside vistas and expressive, emotive characters. More impressive is Shinkai’s restraint in using those visuals; resisting the urge to swamp everything in the hyperactive action that stereotypically dominates the anime form, his film is graceful and dynamic without ever being chaotic, and all the more beautiful for it. Sadly, the final section of 5 Centimetres Per Second doesn’t feel as effective as the touching and short-but-substantial stories that come before it – a problem largely attributable to the painfully brief, rushed structure of the last segment. Though the first two stories feel like meaty, self-contained stories, the last is a five-minute short that’s mostly a mash-up of montage, music video and credit sequence. It provides enough of a symbolic resolution to Takaki and Akari’s story to feel satisfying, but still feels awkardly hurried and insubstantial.
.
.
.
.
Still, even though the last act doesn’t quite hold up as well as the preceding segments, it’s admirable that Shinkai embraces subtlety and symbolism rather than wrap everything up entirely in a sappy, subtlety-free bow. The result is a beautiful film that handles the fragile innocence of young love and the melancholy of loss, longing and heartbreak with surprising depth and maturity. And while the story itself if an incredibly beautiful and memorable one, it certainly doesn’t hurt that 5 Centimeters Per Second it’s one of the most breathtakingly gorgeous animated films in many a year.
.
.
.
.
The film is getting a DVD only release thanks to studio CoMix Wave refusing to allow Manga Entertainment to release a Blu-ray version. It’s a baffling decision and an utter tragedy- the mouthwatering visuals in this film beg to be seen in high-definition, and its a massive mistake not to allow a release on both formats. That said, the quality of Manga Entertainment’s DVD is nothing to be scoffed at, either. Filled with amazing detail and capturing the film’s vibrant, almost watercolour backdrops perfectly, it looks as wonderful as you’d hope a DVD release to look. Audio-wise, there’s the choice of two Dolby Digitial 2.0 tracks: an English dub and the original Japanese language track (with English subtitles, naturally). The dialogue and music is clear as a bell, while the beautiful ambient sounds of the countryside in ‘Cosmonaut’ and the pulsing, mechanical click-clack of the train’s trajectory in ‘Cherry Blossom Story’ are all perfectly handled.
.
.
.
.
On the special features front, there’s a small, but fairly beefy selection of extras. An interview with director Makoto Shinkai clocks in at a lengthy 36 minutes, and while he’s sometimes a slow, meandering speaker, the chat covers a lot of ground and is an interesting watch. Individual interviews with each of the voice cast are included, with discussion from Kenji Mizuhashi (Takaki), Yoshimi Kondo (Young Akari), Satomi Hanamura (Kanae) and Ayaka Onoue (Adult Akari) and run around 9-10 minutes a piece. A 5 minute ‘Making Of Montage’ is a short, but excellent inclusion, comprised of the many reference photographs of locations that Shinkai used as a basis for his animated backdrops, behind the scenes snaps and pictures from the premiere. Also included is the original trailer. While refusing a Blu-ray release is a stupefying misstep from CoMix Wave, Manga Entertaiment’s DVD is a wonderful consolation prize, bringing a fantastic A/V treatment and a small, but substantial selection of special features for a beautiful film that’s essential viewing for any fan of animation.
The Film:
The DVD:
5 Centimeters Per Second is available to buy on DVD in the UK from March 14th 2011.
Click here to order the DVD from Amazon.co.uk.