Jul 9, 2013
"Five centimeters per second. That's the speed the cherry blossoms fall at."
And so begins a brilliant yet tragic tale into 5 centimeters per second, and do be warned, this review WILL contain some major spoilers.
Story - 10
The story begins with our main character Takaki Tohno in school. It opens with the story of how he met a girl, Akari Shinohara who had recently transferred into the school. She was bullied and teased quite a lot in school because of their close relationship, so they tended to stay away from most people in places like the school library, which is the place they met as they
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both frequented it before they were acquainted. It is clear that they both have feelings for each other, and before long, they both realize that too. They understand they love each other, but they aren't sure how to go about it and it slowly causes them to drift apart despite those feelings. That is the first brilliant part about this movie. It doesn't try to be a fairytale romance, it doesn't try to give a perfect 'happy ever after' like a lot of romances nowadays. It tries to show what happens to some people in their lives, and it does it perfectly. It draws you in, makes you want them to be happy, but at the same time makes you realize just what kind of a task that is for them. It slowly but surely shakes that notion of 'love conquers all' and tells you what life is REALLY like. It tells you that life isn't all happy days and that things don't always go your way. The story is top notch, and it follows the 2 through childhood, their teen years and adulthood. The ending is one of those open endings where it leaves you hanging, nothing confirmed so you can choose for yourself what you think happened. There are many interpretations of the final scene, where after years of no contact Takaki seems to spot Akari at the place they often walked past. He turns around and two trains pass, blocking the view, but when they pass, the girl is gone. He turns away, smiles and carries on walking. One version is that she was his hallucination, a memory of being there with her and that her disappearance meant that he had finally managed to move on. Another version is that she was a hallucination and that her disappearance meant he realized it was over between them and had finally accepted it, so he could be happy. Some people think she was really there and walked away because she knew how painful it would be for him to see her, and she left because she cared about him.
Art - 10
The art is absolutely fantastic. The animation is smooth, and not a single detail is left out. Background characters are animated and even small things like the clouds moving in the sky, not a single aspect is forgotten. It immerses you, and that only makes it even harder when the inevitable comes.
Sound - 8
The sound is good, the characters are voiced very well in both Japanese and English, and both portray a good amount of emotion. It doesn't really matter whether you watch it dubbed or subbed, in my opinion both are equally good. The music is also good, it's not something to write home about except for the final 2 songs in the show which are brilliant. The rest of the music is fitting for the scenes, and it works.
Character - 9
The characters really shine in this movie. They develop over time, and they have personalities that they stay true to. They admittedly don't have a bucket load of backstory, but come on, its an hour long in total. We aren't expecting to see something like Katawa Shoujo, the visual novel produced by 4 Leaf Studios where extensive character development and backstory is the main driving force of the entire thing. All in all though, the characters are well made and they feel human, unlike a lot of characters in anime now.
Enjoyment - 10
I absolutely loved this movie. It was beautiful, it was realistic and it was tragic. Most of all, it was GOOD. It immersed you, and it made you care about the characters. In my eyes, its a masterpiece.
Overall - 10
Everything in this movie is fine-tuned to perfection. The story is amazing and realistic, the characters are three dimensional and don't stray too far from their personalities, amazing attention to detail with the art and a lovely soundtrack along with a great ending. I believe the moral of it is that sometimes life is cruel, and that is a fact you'll have to accept if you ever want to be happy. If you want to hold on to what you love, you need to learn what to let go and accept it. It's a masterpiece.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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