Ranked #51

5 Centimeters per Second

From Makoto Shinkai (Voices of a Distant Star, The Place Promised in Our Early Days) comes 5 Centimetes per Second, a movie that tells the story of two childhood friends in love, and how they try to keep their relationship going through hardships that life throws at them. Throogh three small stories, or episodes as they're called, we're told the tale of how they grow up and farther away from each other.

The movie tells of a love that's slowly torn apart because the lovers move further away, both in heart and home. It's underlying themes are beautifully incorporated into the story; about growing up, letting go of an unreachable past, and taking control of one's own life. Though they're not necessarily very obvious throughout the movie, the final scene symbolizes these themes, and what the main characters decided on in the end.

The character we follow through the movie is Takaki Tohno, and we get to see how he looks on the events that unfold as a child, a teenager and finally, and adult. We see how he develops through these stages of life, and how it all relates to his childhood friend and love, Akari Shinohara.

The emotions are protrayed in an incredibly beautiful and realistic way; how they portray the love between Akari and Takaki, how they portray the girl who has a crush on Tohno during his high school years, Kanae Sumida, and finally, how they portray their development from children to adults all makes them characters you'll place your heart with. They're characters you'll love, feel sad with, and you'll wish for them to live happily.

The animation quality is astounding, from the detail in backgrounds to the astounding ligthing effects and camera angles that help bring the mood of the scenes to a level different from mostly anything else. The only beef I have is that the characters' faces lost a bit of detail from time to time, but aside that the movie is a visual pleasure that goes beyond pretty much everything I've ever experienced.

Tenmon, who's made the soundtrack to other Shinaki films, does an astounding job on the soundtrack for the movie, with piano pieces that effectively and beautifully amplifies the mood of the movie, be it melancholy, calmness or nostalgia. However, if you don't like piano soundtracks, chances are you'll not like it, since it's mostly the piano that's used throughout the movie (I love them though, and that's what made me give it a 10).

The seiyuu also do a marvelous job of portraying the characters, their emotions and age. I've only watched the Japanese version of the movie, so I can't say anything about the quality of the English voice acting. But I'd recommend it in Japanese anyways =)

5 cm per Second is a movie that takes a story of growing up and makes it into something that cannot be described as anything less than a masterpiece, with astounding themes, storytelling, art and sound. If someone told me I could watch one movie before I died, I'd undoubtedly choose this one.

To 'Not Helpful' voters (and you 'Helpful' voters too): Feedback greatly appreciated =)
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I finally got to see this movie, and after watching Voices of A Distant Star and The Place Promised, My expectations were high. And once again, Shinkai's work delivers.

The story of the movie's three episodes is absolutely nothing to write home about, as there is no exciting plot with twists and turns. Rather than focusing on epic storylines and grandiose plots, 5 Centimeters per Second, like the rest of Shinkai's creations, focuses on a small core set of characters and their relations to each other. The main selling point is how the characters interact, and how precisely and skillfully their emotions is portrayed.

The art is as one would expect from Shinkai. The backgrounds and the various scenes are depicted in a more beautiful way than in any other anime I have ever seen, and many great works of art pale in comparison to the beautiful, living scenes Shinkai delivers. All the little details from the magazines in the shops to the rime on the windows and the clouds in the sky blend perfectly, and is in my opinion, the thing that defines this movie as the masterpiece it is. Especially the skies look unbelievably beautiful, and really creates the atmosphere in the movie. The characters on the other hand, are far more sketchy, at least compared to the environments, yet the whole thing meshes perfectly together once you get used to it. And that shouldn't take long.

The sound does not stand out too much, except for the insert song right at the end, but rather blends into the wholeness of the movie, and becomes a part of it. If you do try to simply listen to the music, it is rather good, but the truly wonderful thing about it is how it becomes one with the scenery, the characters and everything, and does just what it is supposed to do: help create the feeling and the atmosphere of the movie.

As with the story, the characters are not the usual kind of characters I would give top ratings to. They are not especially exciting individuals with dark mysterious pasts or epic quests, but rather normal people just like (most of) us.
Yet, it is this normality that is the winning factor of the characters, they are normal people with feelings, hopes and dreams, and it is these hopes, dreams and feelings that bears the entire movie. And the most important thing, the characters are presented in such a way that you truly feel you know them, that you can understand them and sympathize with their cause.

With the beautiful art, the atmospheric sound and the simple, yet complex characters and their all too familiar emotions, 5 Centimeters per Second portrays the melancholic feelings of loneliness and uncertainty, the empowering fire of hope and love, and the harsh ceaseless march of reality in such a way that one can truly feel it and recognize it. It is a beautiful and simple, yet complex story of emotions, hope, sadness and distance between people.
This inevitably tragic story portrays perfectly how reality marches ever onward, heedless of peoples hopes and dreams, and how happiness is always just out of reach.

A masterpiece indeed. read more