Every director has the same main goal: touch the emotions of the audience. I wouldn´t say that there aren´t many who can actually achieve this, but there are definetly very few who can pull it off in less than seven minutes. 6 minutes and 40 seconds of screentime is all that Makoto Shinkai needs to tell the bittersweet story that is Dareka no Manazashi.
In this little story about family values, it is impressive how Shinkai manages to use the seven minutes he has here... we learn just enough about the characters and their background to care about them, making the film quite a tearjerker if you tend to weep easily. Despite the runtime, nothing seems rushed and the show is surprisingly slow paced.
The animation is, like the story, beautiful. However i could´t help but think i´m watching Garden of Words again, a film from the exact same writer, animated by the exact same studio in the exact same year. Those two just look a little too similar for my taste, a bit of originality would´ve been nice here.
The theme song is not for me, but i can´t say that it doesn´t fit the overall feel of the show...so what we have here is a lovely piece of art that should not be missed by anyone (like all of Shinkai´s works in my opinion). Come on people...it´s seven minutes of your time!