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So, I watched that anime yesterday night. and well I guess I'd give it a 7 out of 10.

I liked the first chapter, but the other two chapters were a little meh, can anyone help tell me what I didn't get out of the story?

First chapter was good in the beginning, but it got really boring while he was on the train. Once he reached her then it was good.

Second chapter was okay. I don't understand why there needs to be another girl. Does it portray the fact that a guy won't give up his love for someone new? I think about that :P

Third part was short and well, kind of bad. I have no idea why they just showed a song to end everything. The song and everything went by a little fast but I'll explain my questions into detail under.

1st Chapter
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1) Was the letter Akari holding at the end of the first chapter the letter that Takaki had that flew away while he was at the vending machine? What was it for?

2) why did it seem like Akari was the only one who was sending letters?

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2nd Chapter
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3) What exactly was the point of the second chapter? As explained in what I thought about it from above.

4) (Taken from above) Does it portray the fact that a guy won't give up his love for someone new?

5) What was the point of the rocket ship?

6) What is Kanae's point in the story?

7) What happens to Akari during Junior High? (If it's possible to know)

8) So Takaki was sending text messages (to Akari I suppose?) but later on I think he said he couldn't do it or didn't do it? (I have terrible memory lol) Was he afraid of sending it to her or what?

9) Was the significance of Kanae mastering surfing or whatever what she was going to do after school?

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3rd Chapter
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10) In the third chapter, they're all grown up I suppose... Did Akari and Takaki lost contact with each other?

11) From the song playing at the end, was that Takaki with another guy? (it went really fast but someone or her? was waiting in the snow I think, then a guy with an umbrella comes up and she walks away with him)

12) The dumb video went by really fast, but was that Takaki who was always by her or always saw her or someone who looked like her? IDK

13) What exactly is the point of the third chapter?

14) Does the third chapter show that Akari (if that lady was Akari walking with the other man who I think isn't Takaki) wasn't as faithful as Takaki? or was their lack of communication with each other (I guess) cause them to lose touch with each other?

15) Does this story show that distance is possible? LOL I have no idea... What exactly did I not get from this story?

16) At the end where they walk past each other and I guess the girl was Akari, what was the point of that? Will they see each other again the next year? (as Akari said in the beginning of the story when they were children?) They looked back before the trains passed by, but Takaki ended up being the only one there and walked away...


Hehe Guys must be more faithful in relationships ;P

Thanks and sorry for the long and confused questions!

This is all from a question I posted at Yahoo!Answers if you're wondering. I am a curious person as well. I read in the other forums about the cell phone text'. It's a shame they lost contact after the train.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AkTiEKe39crlrgjGy2ciGyLsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20100716051531AA7DmOr

You'll probably need to watch this again in a few years. XD

But jokes aside, 5cm per second is really quite a cryptic piece.

I'll start by answering as many of your questions as I can.

Chapter 1

1.) That letter is actually a different letter from the one Touno lost at the train station. It's addressed to Touno, and was presumably a letter that Akari wrote and intended to give to him.

2.) Touno did reply back, every time. The only reason his letters aren't read out are just because of the narrative style. Basically, that's the way the story is told.

Chapter 2

3 - 6.) I'll try and explain later.

7.) Presumably... she learns? That's what most people do at junior high, or so I believe.

8.) Unfortunately, no, he actually wasn't sending texts to her. If you'll listen to his monologue again, he actually wonders to himself: "Since when did I get into the habit of writing texts to nobody...?". In that scene in episode two, where he gets his little part of the narrative, we're shown one of his texts, where he writes about his dream of the woman with him, staring at the landscape. He chooses not to save the text, and deletes it.

9.) To be honest there's very little 'significance', but in a way, that is in itself important. I'll explain in more detail below.

Chapter 3

10.) Yes, they're grown up. Touno has a job (though he has, apparently, quit it), and Akari is getting married. Presumably they lost contact since before the events of episode 2.

11.) This one confuses me; can you say it again, in more detail? Touno with another guy?

12 - 16.) In detail below.

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As for the questions I have skipped over above: before they can be answered, the meaning behind this anime must first be discussed. Note first, that these are my own impressions and interpretations of this movie, and as with anything else, may well only be a matter of opinion.

5cm Per Second is a story about real life. Not a light, comedic romance, not a fable with a moral, and certainly not some sort of fantasy story. It is about real life.

Episode one begins the story by introducing us to the characters and, more importantly, their feelings for each other. We come to understand through the letters, the flashbacks, and Touno's narrative, that Touno and Akari like each other. These mutual feelings are conveyed through this portion of the story and made obvious with the kiss they shared under the sakura tree. Of course, it also makes one feel rather warm and fuzzy inside, just as you would expect the average romance story to do.

However, it also introduces ideas that are built upon more significantly later, particularly in the last episode. There are several obstacles presented in this part, the first of which is distance; Akari and Touno are separated by it, and even despite their letters it continues to tear them apart, as subtly implied by his having to move even further away. Another such obstacle is time, which has resulted from the snowfalls; Touno's lone struggle against time and his immense sadness not only adds tension to this portion of the story, but also foreshadows their eventual separation as the years pass away. Touno's closing line to the episode, "I just want the power to protect her", also show us his innocent and somewhat childish outlook on the situation. With these woven in, the story begins the departure from a simple romance to something that can depict the long road of one life in a simple hour.

Episode two fast-forwards to a time when Touno has been at his new school for a fair while. It introduces a new character, Kanae, who leads much of the narrative in this part.

The change to a new character's perspective may be quite confusing at first, but hopefully it's more easily understandable after having seen the rest of the episode, or the entire movie. The 'purpose' behind this is to offer a new view, a new window, into the life of Touno. Kanae serves not only as the main character of this portion, but as another way to portray the harshness of love, as well as the gradual growth of a person into an adult.

Throughout this episode we're shown a number of things repeatedly. The first is, of course, Kanae's love for Touno. She's nigh-on obsessed with him, and finds herself happy just by being around him. The other is more subtle, but you'll find that it is actually Kanae's struggles. She has trouble with surfing, can't think of what she wants to do in the future, and finds herself unable to confess to the person she's in love with. Her continued struggles against her failings is the movie's way of depicting real life struggles; her very endeavors represent the way teenagers her age cope with the things that they are faced with.

In particular her resolve to confess on the same day she surfs properly is reflective of the many varied wishes a person of her age would similarly be having. The fact that she manages to surf, but also comes to the realisation that Touno has never liked her, is a way of saying that not all of these wishes or dreams will come true. Her painful acceptance of this fact represents growth.

The rocket is another hint (a metaphor, if you will) at the pain that comes with distance. In Touno's short little intrusion into the narrative in episode two, he wonders about the rocket's liftoff and muses that it must be the most lonely journey in the world, flying above in the darkness of the stars. This is quite tragically ironic, considering that Touno's own life (and that of the viewer, or so this movie assumes) is a journey that will inevitably come with loneliness at some points.

Episode three is the wrap-up to these three short stories and chronicles an unknown span of time in Touno's grown-up life. We are shown glimpses of his new lifestyle and of the life he now leads, and given closure of sorts to the romance that began years beforehand.

I've made this way too long by accident, so I'll keep this part short, but the main message of this last third of the movie is conveyed through three main things showed: Touno's briefly glimpsed relationship with a woman at his workplace (and the subsequent breakup), both Touno and Akari's memories of that meeting in the snow, and finally, their continuing lives.

Touno's new relationship with the woman, which had been going on for three years, revisits the harshness of reality. Their flashbacks portray regret and suggest the idea that life doesn't always go the way you expect.

Perhaps the most powerful thing depicted here, though, is their continuing lives. In the last scene, where the two are about to see each other again but have their view blocked by trains, Touno is seen smiling and turning to walk on. The two of them are able to live on in spite of being separated.

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I do not think that there is any clear-cut, obvious moral to this story, like "people should be more faithful" or anything like that. Rather, to me, it means that people will meet and create memories, move on, and be able to hold these close despite having left. In the end, what 5cm Per Second shows is not really a matter of fixing, keeping or even having a relationship, but a part of life that comes and passes.

I really think that it's up to your own interpretation for the most part, though. I would advise you to pick a little less at the details of this, and feel the emotions behind this yourself. ^^

Haha thanks! Very clear answer =]

Sorry about number 11, I meant to say Akari with another guy :P
I also noticed a girl with glasses, who probably texted Touno during the song part of ep. 3.

and alright I get ya. I'll have to get over the romance part and look at its other features of what make it a movie =]

I thought the Rocket Ship was sort of like an easter egg to his other movies? I was told that. Anyway thanks a lot!

The man with Akari is her unnamed fiancée, and that woman with glasses is Touno's girlfriend, who breaks up with him.

I have absolutely no idea whether or not the rocket is an easter egg. XD

And I can actually understand exactly what you mean when you say the other two chapters are a little meh. Unless you're really looking for deep meanings in it, 5cm can be quite dull or strange. I also found the ending incredibly hard to stomach, since it seemed so tragic to me. You can think of that tl;dr post I wrote above as my way of dealing with it.

Meh, I think I have a slighly different opinion for this anime...
1) The letter Akari was holding was from her to Takaki, it just means that she loves him just as much as he does. She was exactly as him.
2) I don't see why this question was asked at all :D. The idea is to show that Takaki was reading them all, just look at him while he's reading, if my memory's correct they don't show his face, that's the whole point.
Chapter 2:
3) They show that even after years of separation Takaki still holds the same feelings towards Akari. This is a really difficult question... One more point to this chapter is that He can choose another girl at anytime, this is to show us how strong indeed are his feelings for Akari.
4) More like guys are really affectionate, but in my opinion this is solely for the character.
5) Now this is an interesting question. I have some ideas about this, I hope that both of you, midgemage and Chu4Lyfe can help me about it.
It represents something beautiful getting farther and farther away ahead of us all. About that moment, Kanae realizes that her hopes and love for Takaki are one-sided and sees the rocket. But she is desperately in love with him. The same day she said: "If I don't tell it to him today, I will never do it". And in the end of the day she didn't confess. We could say that something departed along with that rocket towards space, and we're sure that this thing wasn't her tears. This is a partially tragic chapter. Why partially? Well he isn't as torn as she is, Takaki suffers because he can't see his loved one, he doesn't think of anyone but Akari, which is a critical hit for Kanae.
Practically the first sentence answered the question directly <.<.
6) Hmmm, I believe I made that clear in the upper paragraph.
7) That's not given because it's not that important, or this is what I believe :D
8) I'll try not to repeat, but... Those text messages are addressed to nobody, he never sends them. They are to represent his loneliness. They are about events that he made up. Now that's more interesting, why does he make these things up?
9) I won't answer that.
Chapter 3:
10) Well, that's what the impression makes you think. We can't say for sure.
11) Really? I couldn't bring myself to focus the images, my eyes were soaked so I couldn't see.
12) - 16) I too think I'm going to answer it as one.
"Yesterday I had a dream. A dream of the distant past. Within that dream, the two of us were still thirteen... standing upon the vast field, blanketed in snow as far as the eye could see. In the distance, the lights shimmering in the houses were set sparsely, far and wide. All that was left upon the newly fallen snow were our footprints. Just like that we wished, without hesitation, that one day the two of us would be able to see the cherry blossoms together again."
--- Last lines in the anime.
That quote should contain almost all of the answers...

I know this is a bit too late but I just had to answer, so I registered :P
What I think is the rocket was just something to let Kanae mention that the rocket travels at the speed of five kilometers per hour, which reminds Takaki about Akari mentioning cherry blossoms fall at the speed of five centimeters per second. You can watch the scene again and look at Takaki's expression. Just my opinion though :P

In the end before the song, did they both get on the train together?

It's been so long since I asked this. Lols. But the Manga summed up a lot of questions I had, not sure if its canon to the story or whatever but I loved it ;D