Ranked #16

Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo

If you suddenly gained the ability to quite literally leap through time, what would you use it for? The sheer fun of it? Getting better grades? Or something else? What if you merely wanted the present to continue; to still live out those memorable days with your friends, playing around and having fun; rejecting the future and not wanting things to change? In Toki wo Kakeru Shojo, a girl is presented with this exact possibility. She suddenly finds out that she has been granted the ability to travel through time, and uses this ability for the purposes mentioned above. At first she tries to correct all the mistakes she made that same day she got the ability; from preventing making a mess out of things in cooking class to dodging people being hurled towards her. And before soon, she tries to keep the times from changing, undoing love confessions and other events which can change her and her two friends' lives.

However, everything has a consequence.

Even the seemingly most insignificant and puerile of acts can have grave consequences, as such acts are often made out of ignorance or selfishness; both which are traits that rarely bring out a good result if actions are based on them. Our heroine has to learn this the hard way, as she sees how fateful her so-called insignificant acts are, and how wrong she is in her childish beliefs. What she want is merely to keep the fun times around; with her and her two beloved friends. She wants time to stop, to remain in the present. However, time is inexorable; the future is relentlessly closing in on us. And she has to learn this the hard way. But she learns. Through hardships, through death, and most important of all, through love, she learns that the future is not something to be avoided. Rather it is something to be cherished; something one should embrace.

And that is the basics of the plot and characters in this story; a girl who repeatedly travels back in time to keep the times as they are, and actually learns during this process that it is better to look forward and into the future rather than intransigently dwell on the present. Her two friends aren't focused on that much, but both are portrayed beautifully when they are, both the though-shelled Chiaki and the obliging Kousuke. Accompanying the beautiful plot is a standard-fare movie animation; which means beautiful and detailed landscapes, cityscapes and backgrounds. And while character movements are fluid, the designs themselves are a bit lackluster, and should have been more detailed. The soundtrack which follows on top is equally beautiful, with serene piano tracks accompanying the at times laughter-provoking and at times melancholy story, and a somewhat expected, yet beautiful ending theme.

Toki wo Kakeru Shojo is a beautiful movie, which is good for many things, but especially its underlying hints about looking towards the future and accepting that the present will change as well as the simple message that every act has a consequence; especially childish and ignorant acts at that. And even if such themes does not interest you, I think this beautiful story is well worth spending one and a half hour of your life watching. read more

Hands down the best movie (animated or otherwise) I've seen in at least five years.

Although the character art is simple, I love it <i>because</i> it is simple and clean. The backgrounds, environment, and special effects are a different thing entirely. They are rendered in such gloriously realistic detail. The landscapes, the classrooms, the streets -- I have never seen such detail in an animated film. It makes things like Beowulf and Final Fantasy: Advent Children look really silly.

The movie also has such beautiful sound. The effects are perfect and clear. This is topped off by one of the most beautiful soundtrack and score I've ever heard outside of...well, nothing! The music is so appropriately poignant at times that I almost cried from it, fifteen minutes into the movie. I actually knew, glowing reviews aside, fifteen minutes in, that it was going to be a wonderful film. I mean, if the music can make goosebumps rise on my arms, then it can probably save even a disaster of a film -- which this is certainly not. The ending theme is the most appropriate song ever written for any anime. Ever. Just listening to it makes me go "awwwww" and I really want to find it. I'm making it my mission. It's like a direct line to Makoto's head at the end, and made me cry all over again. I'm really not normally a sap, but I'm very sensitive to music, and this movie's music is just so awesome. Not in a grandiose and sweeping sense, but in a gentler, more subtle way. (In fact, subtle describes this whole movie: subtle but effective.)

The characters are also very well-written, complemented by good voice actors. Chiaki's has a tendency to mumble so much, I can barely understand him sometimes, but it actually fits his character well. They're quite convincing as high-schoolers, though, and I love how they were all created so realistically, without following any staple formulae or types. They're all just...normal, even though two of them can do very abnormal things.

Though the plot itself is very simple, the way the characters develop throughout the seemingly minor conflicts (and that big, heart-pounding one toward the end) gives the story incredible depth. And when it reached the ending, I didn't want it to end but, at the same time, I felt the ending was perfect. I'm a sucker for this type of ending: very, very hanging. Like most of the novels and movies and anime I like, the movie ends just when another story is about to start -- the rest of Konno Makoto's life. I mean, the movie is set within two or three days, I think, though with the time leaps it may feel like it takes place for a much longer period of time. Those days are when Makoto is merely poised at the threshhold: summer is drawing near, school is almost out, and they have to decide on their majors. Yet what happens in that short time is so profound that I'm sure it will affect the rest of her life.

Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo also drives home a message. The line "time waits for no one" is mentioned several times during the course of the film, and by the end it makes sense why the writer chose that line. That there is no time like the present seems like such a cliche, but when we can't leap through time and change events to suit us, the present is all the time we have. We have to cherish each day as it comes and each person as they are, for how do we know that by tomorrow they won't be gone? read more

This movie caught my attention way back when it first came out, due to the interesting premise of a high-school drama played out to the tune of quirky time travel - a fascinating combination of genres and concepts. Where time-travel is usually limited to the geekdom of science-fiction, and as such is used as a platform for (often overly) serious storytelling, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time whacks it onto an otherwise basic drama story to create a fresh, accessible movie with a gratifying romantic plot, and a zany, time-leaping twist. The protagonist, Makoto, has as much fun with the idea of time-travel as her audience, abusing it for the frivolous and the trivial, as a source of unending entertainment, which leads to a whole slew of amusing scenes toward the beginning of the film. However, it is not until she begins to utilise her ability to travel back in time to avoid responsibility, particularly in avoiding being asked out by someone she considers a friend, that the consequences of her selfish antics begin to accumulate to disastrous effect. This leads the film in an emotionally gripping and turbulent direction as she begins to regret what she has done.

The dramatic themes of the films are juvenile in nature, that is, they deal quite simplistically with the indecision of youth, the inability to look to the future, and unrequited high school love. Some people above this age-group may be hesitant in this respect, but I found it wholly enjoyable because of a strong sense of Nostalgia. I found that it was disturbingly easy to relate to these characters from my memories of how I felt then. Makoto’s emotional immaturity and short-sightedness felt very familiar to me.

The main theme of the film revolves around the line “Time waits for no one”, which Makoto reads on a blackboard the day she gains the ability to leap through time, and is an understated strength of the film. The romantic aspects of the film perhaps are allowed to overshadow this theme, but the very end of the film delivers a strong conclusive moral; it is not until Makoto has well and truly learned her lesson from her obsession with shaping the present, that she is able to look to the future and truly appreciate the meaning of the phrase “time waits for no one”. It was interesting to see time-travel used in this respect, by this kind of character. Whereas the consequences of time-travel are usually dealt with in terms of the dangers of changing the future by changing the past, this movie deals with the idea of consequences resultant of using it to try and avoid changing the present. Makoto’s desperation to maintain the status quo of the life she enjoys so much ultimately proves to her that it’s better to face the future.

The romantic aspect, thanks to very believable characterisation and sharp dialogue that doesn’t pander to soppy romanticism or employ passionate monologues of profession, is very satisfying. For most of the film, love is approached in a realistic day-to-day-life approach that lends it an engaging sincerity. Clichés of romance, begone! More anime need to adopt the concept that you don’t need to look like a French aristocrat and carry a rose to fall in love. The central romance between Makoto and Chiaki is given above average depth by her initial obliviousness to his interest, which, through the challenges the film hits them with, turns to a believable yearning. The network of crushes and adolescent infatuations built up by the supporting characters is perhaps a bit tiresome and needlessly melodramatic, but the relationship between the two lead characters certainly elevates the film from interesting to engaging.

The music, while far from bad or intrusive, is entirely forgettable, employing the time-old (and sufficiently effective) use of violins and piano to back the emotional scenes. The animation is nothing spectacular for a movie anime at all, but because we can’t grade all cinematic anime with the high-budget Ghibli productions, I don’t really have any complaints. The cel animation is very simplistic, but also very fluid and colourful, which may well be a style that is more fitting of the energetic youthfulness of the protagonist. It is an attractive film nonetheless, with really fantastic character designs (particularly Makoto) that don’t rely on stupid hair colours or styles to differentiate characters. The background art is high quality, as should be expected at the movie level, but is nothing exceptional. The element of the production that most seduced me was the seiyuus; Makoto’s seiyuu, who appears to be relatively new to the anime scene, was a perfect casting choice, and put in a strong performance. Without her performance bringing Makoto to life with such vibrancy and gusto, the film could have very easily been quite dull. Chiaki’s seiyuu was also notabley well-cast and was a perfect match for Makoto’s voice, making their interplay very fun to listen to.

When all is said and done, this film is not the kind of film that will go down in history, or leap to the forefront of people’s favourite anime lists; it is not an exceptional movie, but I think anyone who enjoys a well-written drama will agree when I say it is a good film. If anything, it is a film that will be remembered for its sincerity and its quiet originality. Older fans may not appreciate its immature themes, but for the rest of us, this is a very hard film to dislike. It is perhaps bogged down in the middle of the film with Makoto’s frustratingly silly actions and the unnecessary complexion of the many romantic interests, but it is, for the most part, fun and engaging.
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I found no problem with the movie at all, other than the melodramatic overstated mood they went with for the ending considering the natural and low-key presentation they used for most of the running time, although at least they left the science fiction concepts as a subtle wink and kept it as just a medium to the true story of character interaction. It’s amazing how entertaining and delightful the overall product was, and with my words here I am doing no justice to the real feeling behind my statement but want to avoid needless hyperboles and keep this the more down-to-earth I can for now. Safely can be said that as a whole, be it for artistic attributes, good story telling or the really lovable protagonist and those charismatic personages surrounding her, this is seriously one of the most enjoyable films in recent years, animated or not.

As a “time-traveling” tale the script does has it share of faults but even so I can’t find any as idiotic as what we could already see in “Back to the Future 2”, which even when finding itself in the middle of such paradoxes managed to keep itself a classic thanks to the fact that it can be resumed as juvenile yet somewhat meaningful fun from beginning to end, and by the finale the point of the plot wasn’t really to develop the whole physical mechanics of moving in a temporal plane but rather how such an ability, in a metaphorical sense, affects the life of a young girl, who is by the way one of the most wonderfully done and likeable female teenagers in the medium.

Interesting was also to see how the directorial maturity of Hosoda is much more firm now, the melancholic stylishness is still here but for some reason with a major focus when compared to his still brilliant Digimon movies. He remains both trendy and lyrical but perhaps now he turns out even more restrained and introspectively social than before, probably a reflection of the natural movement beyond Tai and his pubescent friends, or the Superflat Monogram girl, towards a state that borders adulthood.

Besides Hosoda’s firm commandment the other incredibly remarkable technical aspect was the graphical design, which turns up as pure urban magic achieved through visuals, a thoroughly endearing representation of youthfulness, with simplistic and amazingly humane movement that retains a cartoon-like expressiveness that helps it in going beyond the representation of reality and achieving much more aliveness through un-noticeable and at the same time deeply underlying exaggeration. The team went with a very modern interpretation of what “old-school” signifies and they did a brilliant job at that approach.

As a whole TokiKake is as a film unpretentious and sincere, eradiating enchantment in every minute it is shown on the screen. Besides, even if you can’t empathically sympathize with the characters you can’t deny their charisma, the entirely believable naturality of the presence they represent as individuals. Go watch this now, at worse you'll be entertained. read more

I put this movie on with absolutely no expectations, as I had read nothing about it nor read any reviews. And, I was very pleasently surprised. Of course, pleasent surprises sometimes shift appraisal drastically, so take my review with that as being a possibility.

Despite the aforementioned, the animation/art was absolutely fantastic. Visual effects were tastefully intermixed with standard animation bringing what might have been trite visuallizations to rather astonishing moments, if brief, to colorful life. Although I was not particularly fond of the background used during the main character's many "leaps". Accompanied soundtrack was nothing extraordinary, as I can hardly remember it. Though it may have simply been overshadowed by the story and art.

If there was something truly enjoyable, it was the character interactions and scripting. Within such a brief span you could become enamored with several characters, laugh at their hysterics and cry through their moments of loss and frustration. This accomplishment alone deserves praise, by comparison many serialized anime fail to do this in even quadruple the time given.

Also making this title shine was its conclusion; it perfectly avoided the trap so many anime fall into, thinking they must throw in a dramatic twist simply for a dramatic reaction, regardless of how it affects the overall story and audience's emotions. My own personal afterthought was of a euphoric and character involving story that left me with a smile and a regretless time well spent! read more

If you haven't already heard, this film Toki o Kakeru Sh?jo (a.k.a. The girl who leapt through time/Tokikake) was awarded "Animation of the Year" by 6th Annual Tokyo Anime Awards/Fair in 2007. Now that that's down, this anime appealed to me because of the interesting concept and theme of "going back in time". I really enjoyed it but, not as much as I should have for some reason. The animation and sounds were theatrical and sufficient. Characters were interesting and easily affected by what is happening. There were some moments however, where the story seems to recount another story and expect you to know it. This is in fact because this film is a continuation of a book, that was only written in Japanese, called Toki o Kakeru Sh?jo (unofficial translation: The Little Girl Who Conquered Time). Plot twists, great SFXs, and a good concept to begin with, are what makes this movie great. read more

First, let me just say I tend to enjoy watching/reading stories that involve the theme of time travel. Going back in time to fix things and relive various moments in our lives has always intrigued me, as well as the consequences behind doing those things. Every little thing we change in the past may adversely affect our futures/present, kind of like the butterfly effect. Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo takes these ideas and themes and creates a very enjoyable film.

Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo is a modern reinterpretation of a well known Japanese novel of the same name. The original protagonist makes an appearance in the anime adaptation as the Aunt of the main character, Makoto.

Makoto is quite a likeable character that has problems and worries that your average high school student may have. In addition, she is a very energetic person yet isn’t the bit annoying, perhaps this is due to the more subdued nature of the film. Sadly the other characters weren’t as interesting or charming as Makoto. However, for a film that’s 100 minutes long this is to be expected as they don’t have time to delve into the other characters.

In terms of technical merit there isn’t anything to complain about. The animation was done by Madhouse as well as being a movie, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that the quality was top notch. Music and sounds while not as good as the animation it was nevertheless very good. The only thing I can mark down it terms of technical merit would be the voice acting of Makoto. Mind you that I rather liked Makoto’s voice actor. Her voice reminded of Kana Hanazawa (CV Ryoko from Zegapain) and it was enjoyable to listen to. However, I wasn’t convinced when some of the more emotional scenes came up, especially when she cries. For the most part Makoto’s voice actor did a very good job with the charming and very energetic character. The other roles really didn’t stick out as Makoto really stole the movie.

As I mentioned before, Makoto is your typical HS girl and uses her newfound powers to solve her mundane problems. This is to be expected, as when your in HS the problems we had were typically small in scope. I’ll be honest, when I was in HS my biggest problems were not embarrassing myself or doing well on some random quiz. So it was quite entertaining to watch Makoto abuse her powers on the most ordinary things. From helping her friends love life to reliving your favorite meal. Ok going back in time to relive your favorite meal is simply brilliant and if I had time traveling powers I probably do that.

The pacing of the movie was nearly flawless. Each time she jumped the consequences escalated and peaks around 2/3 of the film. At this point the movie falters quite a bit. I’m not saying the last third was bad its just nowhere near as good as the first 2/3. The science fiction part became more apparent, but that that didn’t really annoy me as it never became the focus. Most of the problems stem from Chiaki, in particular the questions that arise from him as well as his motivations. I find it extremely difficult to talk about the last third without spoiling some things so you’ll have to live with my ambiguous comments.

In the end, Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo is a very enjoyable film that stumbles a bit in the end. read more

Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo is a sci-fi semi-slice of life semi-romance movie. The main character, Makoto, attains the ability to "leap" through time. Paradoxes ensue.

Story: For the most part, the story was very good. However, I felt it was difficult at times to follow exactly what is going on. Drawing out a timeline along with alternate timelines could help clarify the plot. The ending could have been a little better, but is okay as it stands. 9/10

Art: The movie in general has very good art, especially on landscapes and specific details. However, some of the movements made by characters seem poorly done and sometimes it looks like the artists didn't bother drawing in faces from a father distance. For the most part, Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo has good art, but cannot really rival to Makoto Shinkai's works like Byousoku 5 cm per second or The Place Promised in Our Early Days. 9/10

Sound: The music for the movie was very good overall, but I had only one problem with one aspect of the overall sound. This is my personal opinion. I thought Makoto's crying was rather annoying, as if she were a 5 year old. Otherwise, the movie's sound was great. 9/10

Character: The movie has a very interesting cast of characters. The interactions among these characters can be very amusing and allow the audience to understand more about the characters. Most characters turned out to be very likable (except for a crazy one or two =P) 10/10

Enjoyment: I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie. There were definitely the funny moments of this movie. The movie was able to leave me with a sense of satisfaction and the thought, "Man I'm so glad I decided to watch this movie." 10/10

Overall: A few pieces still don't click in my head yet, mainly from the plot, but I would highly recommend watching this series. It doesn't matter if sci-fi is not your genre. The other parts of the movie will pull you in. 10/10 read more

Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, or The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is the simplest masterpiece I have seen yet. It was so simple, and yet so deep at the same time. When I first started watching it, I was like, okay it's just gonna be another movie about a girl who can go back in time and in the end messes a lot of things up because of what she does. And it kept true to the point. But the development between the characters is what kept me leaning in my seat.

The character art is nothing to brag about, but the story doesn't call for spectacular characters. Its simplicity is what makes it something you have to see.

The characters are very believable as well. There just ordinary high school students, coming to the end of the year, summer ahead and deciding what they want to do with themselves. Well except for the very obvious 'time leap' which is not ordinary. But the relationships and the kids themselves are so ordinary and so real. I found myself immersed in how each interaction was going to play out. Sometimes I cried, or I yelled out in frustration, or I laughed at how ridiculous they could be. And how Makoto reacts to Chiaki is exactly how I imagined a girl her age, in that position might do. But she grows because of what happens.

The sound was perfect.Especially at the end. The song fit exactly with Makoto and how she was thinking. Personally, I loved the music.

I didn't care much for the scenes of when Makoto time leapt. It didn't seem to fit with how I pictured it.

The recurring theme 'time waits for no one' is the most important point. It's all about making the choices now, because there is no time like the present. It also points out that, in reality you can't just jump back in time and redo your life. What you choose now, is how you live. So you should live how you want and make each day count. Take the time to cherish what you are given in the time you have.

And the ending was perfect. I almost wish that something different had happened at the end, which is the most heart pounding, tear jerking scene I had seen yet, but it fit just right. There could be nothing better than an ending with a beginning.

All in all I myself give it a 10, because it deserves it. The depth it had behind its simplicity is astounding. I couldn't have spent my time more wisely than in watching this movie. If you liked 5 Centimeters Per Second, The Place Promised In Our Early Days, or Voices of a Distant Star than you should definitely take the time to watch this. I bought it.

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Great story that was taken from the movie with the exact same name from 40 years ago, plain artwork that fits in with the movie, nothing much to say in music, somewhat boring characters that do go through changes, high enjoyment, orevall 9.