Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo

When I fist saw this flick years ago I didn't expect it to be so good, especially when considering it was directed by Mamoru Hosoda, director of numerous Digimon titles; but I was very impressed by this movie. So impressed, that I watched it twice back to back, and it can easily make my top ten list of best anime films.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a very well crafted film, and it does a lot of things right. The film does a very good job developing the characters personalities, but the main character Makoto possesses the most depth as it should be. ... The other characters are very likable as well as believable. They have some very fun and realistic personalities. I think there's someone everyone can relate to(that is, if you don't crave completely angst-ridden characters). The character development did surprise me somewhat due to the length of the film. Many anime films forsake character development, and merely utilize their characters only as plot devices, thus making it hard for the viewer to establish some type of connection. Thankfully, this isn't the case here.

Makoto is definitely the heart of the film, in which she drives home the films "coming of age" theme. Watching her grow by making and attempting to correct her mistakes is something viewers can take away, and possibly grow on for themselves.

The premise of the film being able to travel back in time appears to be a pretty realistic and heavy theme to me. I'm sure almost everyone in existence would love the ability to go back and fix some past dilemma. I believe this was a plot device that was used to some good effect.

The film is very fun, light hearted, and packed with a good dose of comedy that actually works. The comedy is more present during the first half. However, later on it takes a very dramatic turn with a thought provoking, yet realistic twist that definitely adds a bit more depth to a story which used such a serious gimmick to begin with. The film teaches one the possible hazards of being able to change past events, while also showing the possible benefits as well. Makoto's intentions on time leaping were innocent in every way, but her unawareness on the trade off proved to have consequences.

The animation is very good as well. It's very fluid throughout with great character body, hair, and facial movements. CG was definitely used and wasn't really a problem, but I've seen it blended in with 2D a lot better. The artwork is fantastic at times but not consistent. Overall, the character designs, and the scenery especially gives off a very neat and clean appearance. The backgrounds are simply beautiful.

I also have to give credit to the very wise use of the budget. The production values were pretty high, and this film could have very easily gotten worst visually over time, but they cleverly reused scenes during time leaps to prolong their budget. Therefore, the animation stayed at its best throughout even though there were a small amount of stills used. However, to a small degree which happens to play into my lows. The reused scenes are actually a negative for me just a little. The time jumps added to the comedy, but sometimes those exact scenes would replay in an almost endless loop, and the comedy would wear itself out. That's like someone telling you a funny joke 6 times in a row. It's just not going to be as funny anymore.

The soundtrack by Kiyoshi Yoshida was also very good. It consisted of piano pieces that would begin slow, and eventually speed up to match events during scenes. This provided a nice tune, which seemed to fit very well with the personality of the film. The voice acting was very well done for both languages. Of course, this is another time the sub outshines the dub clearly; but I will always prefer the dub in almost every thing that I watch. My reason being is simple. When focusing on reading subs, it's more difficult for me to pay attention to the visuals.

Overall, this is an anime film that more people need to know about. It's definitely among my favorites and I think it can fit perfectly in any otaku's collection. I also believe there is a lot here for casual fans as well.

Highs: Animation, artwork, voice work, comedy, story, plot and character development

Lows: Some comedy a bit over played

I've seen a lot of anime films. I've seen almost all made by Studio Ghibli, give or take one or two. My parents know this and so for Christmas all I seemed to get was anime and manga. I'm not complaining, great presents. I had a lot of main stream stuff, and then this. Although Titled as 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time' which is what I shall refer to this as.

The plot is simple enough. A girl manages to gain the power to 'leap' through time, as such she goes back to fix everything that seems to have gone wrong whether it be ... at school or at home even her relationships with people. Then a not very surprising twist, she starts feeling the consequences. Slightly predictable and slightly boring, but keep with it. She ends up hurting the people around her, ect. ect. Things are worse for her than when it first began. After that, it gets better. As all the lose strings are tied, I started crying. In fact, I think I sat for the whole of the last half an hour sobbing my eyes out! It quickly changed from hilarious to so sad. living in the UK, I haven't seen this in many shops. Which is a total shame! This film deserves a lot more attention than it gets. The artwork is pretty good too! The voice acting brilliant. With a very moving plot. If a little predictable at first.

Story - At first, I'd have said a 5, but I'd have to give it a 8 for the surprising twist at the end!

Art - Lovely artwork! The characters are quite simple but the background is stunning! 9 here.

Sound - Great Voice acting, nice music. I don't really have much to say here. 7.

Character - Characters were great! Fairly complex and quite easy to relate too! If I were granted the ability to leap through time, I would do exactly the same things! The romance was very well done too, it was fairly obvious hat was going on, and it made me laugh seeing them all to afraid to ask each other out! Very realistic. 8.

Enjoyment - It's great all the way through! Eve what I said about the predictable start, it's still enjoyable, 9.

Overall I'd say - 10. I loved it! I watch this over and over again. Definitely worth watching!

Okay so this is my first review so please bare with me!!
So..... here we go!
okay, I literally watched this not even more than an hour ago and I loved it so much that I wanted to write my first review on it. Now I have been hearing fantastic things about this animated movie for quite awhile and when I finally started really getting into anime, I was really interested in watching it. At the beginning of summer, I knew I was not going to be doing a lot of stuff like traveling or doing much with my time so I finally got back to this ... website to see what it was really about; so I have been on here for the past month finding new stuff to watch. I finally found this movie, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and I was so happy; I finally sat down and watched it today and loved every bit of it.

Story: The plot of the movie was very different then what I was expecting; I was expecting more of a Ghibli film like Spirited Away but even if this movie was not a Ghibli film - I was not disappointed at all. They paced the story perfectly with every emotion tugging at your heart strings and making you want to leapt through time like the main character did.Now I am not really a summary kind of person so just read the description.

Characters: every character has an unique thing about them just like they would if they were real people which makes this particularly movie different. The main character is the lovely unlucky Makoto who is the perfect lead for this film; she is quirky, funny and stubborn and I love the way she takes the situation and turns its around to reach her benefits. Chiaki the badass best friend with a secret and personally he is my favorite character because he so out there and makes the movie even more worthwhile. The last main character is Kousuke the kind best friend that is always there for Makato; I love his support and reaction to every situation that he is put in and it reminds me of the reactions my best friend would give me. All the other characters throughout the movie tie the film together and are great support characters that show the true feelings of the main characters.

Animation: The animation is so clean and simple which is perfect for the kinda of film it is; the director, I think he did not mean to make this movie huge and grand. My opinion is he meant for it to be simple but still blow people's mind away and he really did succeed with that. The colors are bright and beautiful like the bright blue sky that gives more of an effect of her jumping higher and bolder; all in all the colors are nice but really stand out with the animation that goes with it.

I did really enjoy this movie very much and will be watching it very soon all over again. I would blah blah blah on about how fantastic this movie is but the best advice I can give you is to watch it yourself. Trust me it is worth every second of your time and it might lead you crying in the end.
Thank you so much if you liked my lame review I will make better ones in the future so thanks guys!!!! -Emmy621

I've spent a long time after watching TGWLTT wondering why I am so infatuated with it, and with Konno Makoto as a character. The obvious candidates apply -- the story is powerful, the pacing and background is gorgeous, and the voice acting is spot on.

But I think the most powerful part of TGWLTT is the feelings it evokes in the viewer -- specifically, one of powerful yearning, taking the viewer back to their young adult lives where they can explore their past regrets, young flames and missed connections. It's extraordinarily melancholy, and overwhelming, and it takes a believable story with believable characters to ... make it happen.

Makoto as a character is one that I'd like to see much more of in japanese animation. Her character profile is modest -- she's lanky, short haired, modestly proportioned. There are no gratuitous panty or cleavage shots, and her eyes look like ones that would belong on an actual human being. Her school uniform borrows more from the boy's side. But the animators are as subtle as they are masterful -- in her movements one can find a girlish grace, and her slender legs and miniskirt help uncover the fact that, despite her tomboyish persona, Makoto is, in my eyes, one of the great anime beauties.

Such a statement certainly requires further defense. She's admittedly a textbook genki girl -- she has boundless energy, and unwavering swagger -- at times. The key here is that we get to follow Makoto's life long enough to realize that her mood and energy ebb and flow, and it is in this flow that we discover her vulnerabilities and idiosyncrasies (credit to Riisa Naka -- her voice acting range is beyond incredible).

Therein lies the great mastery of TGWLTT -- Mamoru Hosoda's unparalleled ability to transition from the comic to the tragic. The funny parts of TGWLTT are hilarious, and the melancholy parts downright disheartening. And Makoto's cry -- her big, wet, blubbering cry, is so genuine and out of the blue, that we can't help but cry ourselves.

It's hard not to fall in love with her at the end. It's hard to not want to hold her in your arms, and playfully muss up her already disheveled hair, and tell her that everything's all right.

TGWLTT is a masterpiece, in every sense of the word.

All of us have wanted to time travel at least once in our lives. To either change past wrong doings or experience the distant future. But many do not stop to realize the gravity of their decision to time travel. You can drastically change any time period. Here is a movie about the benefits of time traveling; but also the consequences that can come with it.

Story:

Our main heroine is Makoto. A generally outgoing and bombastic girl who enjoys playing baseball with her two friends, Chiaki and Kousuke. One day while dropping off notebooks in another classroom Makoto hears a sound coming from the Science room. ... She enters the room but no one is there. She tries to leave out the other door but it is locked. She notices something on the ground, goes to pick it up, but is startled by some sort of shadow. She falls done on the object. Later on while riding home on her bike, her breaks stop working and she is unable to slow done before the train stop. She is flipped over and hit by the train; only that's what should have happened. Instead she finds herself transported back a few moments before the accident.

She later finds out from her aunt that she can "leap through time." Makoto believes that time travel is not possible. But she tries to do it again, and is successful. She then uses the power to redo certain aspects of her past; to make her life easier by doing so. But she eventually finds out that her endeavors of self-happiness have caused others around her pain. Some of which she is not able rectify.

Art:

Being as the animation is done by Madhouse, you can expect high quality. Most of the backgrounds are detailed in appearance and portray a realistic environment well. The character designs are simplistic but do not look ugly. They aren't unique by any means, but they do fit.

Sound:

There is no background song I would say is amazing or is able to be played on it's own. But the music is suitable for the scenes and is not ear-numbingly annoying either. The ending song for the credits was quite enjoyable though. Probably the best song overall. The voice actors were able to display the emotions of the characters nicely. Despite not having many roles under their belts; I think they did an exceptional job.

Characters:

There is a diverse cast here. Most of the main characters receive a good amount of development. As the situation around them changes; so do the characters. While some of the side characters aren't very fleshed out, there is enough to them for you to understand the jest of their personality. Given the run time of the film; I wasn't expecting to see much development from the less important characters. But I feel that what we got is enough.

Enjoyment/Overall:

Having enjoyed Wolf Children so much; I expected to get as much enjoyment out of this film. While I feel that Wolf Children is slightly better, this film is still a great time travel flick. Is there better time travel stories? Yes. Is Steins;Gate better? Yes. But I still feel that this movie is very enjoyable. Mamoru Hosoda is a great director and I hope to see more from him in the future.

"Time Waits For No One"

Wow, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. I recently heard of this movie when I was looking through top rated anime, when I passed by the movies. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is currently the #1 rated movie, and #12 anime altogether. My reaction to this- "WHAT?!?!? A MOVIE HIGHER RATED THAN SPIRITED AWAY!?! NU-UHH! After that, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time went to my plan to watch list INSTANTLY. I finally took the time to watch the movie recently, and I'm happy that I did. And on a note- I watched the movie DUBBED. That's right, the English ... version done by Bandai Entertainment. If you don't like it, too bad. And the dub was GOOD!

The story is basically about a young high-school girl named Makoto Konno, has been having a tough time lately with school. She has been hurt, low grade scores, cooking accidents, and tardiness. Her best friends, Chiake Mamiya and Kosuke Tsuda have noticed this throughout the day, and talk to her about this when they play baseball. After school heading home, Makoto gets involved with a train accident, ending her life. Bt somehow, she has somehow been given the power to travel through the past, which causes her to live. Shocked about this, she goes to her aunt to talk about this. Her aunt then tells her that she can now do whatever she can and change things that has happened in the past. Following this, Makoto decides to go back to the past to change all the bad occurrences that happened that day. But doing so, this causes problems for other characters, triggering sad events in life. But also, this also causes love confessions from other people. Not happy about how this is turning out, Makoto decides to travel through the past again until it ends up how she wants it. Now this is a definitely a sci-fi movie, if you can't tell with all the time travel. I have had my fair share with sci-fi, seeing how my dad is a Star Wars fan and a Star Trek fan, but have I never watched a movie with such a strong story with such great character development. Not only this, but it also has a Digimon vibe to this, but this is pretty much because the director of the movie directed the Digimon movies. Overall, the story is very strong and very unique.

Now about the art, and I'm not being over dramatic about this, but this is the best art in all the animes I've seen. And trust me, I didn't download this or buy/rent the DVD, I watched it on YouTube (in their new HD quality). Most of the animes on YouTube have crappy quality, but even so, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time had great quality (but probably because I used the HD format). The character quality is phenomenal, and the background to the movie is brilliant as well. Watching the times when Makoto is going through time is a breath of fresh air, and when you're watching The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, there is a part close to the end of the movie when time has stopped, and then the movie is showing shots of time being stopped. That was when I realized how outstanding the animation was.

The voice actors FROM THE DUB fit the characters very well. You get a tomboyish voice fitting great for Makoto, you get a comedic I'm-just-messing-around voice, and you get a deep voice that fits well for Kosuke. And as for the score, it was really well done. The part of the score that shined was when time had stopped. That part of the movie I wanted to download and put on my I-Pod, but no luck torrenting it.

Now here's why I can't give the movie a perfect score, the characters. Now, you have a really good main character, but even so, you can't give something a perfect score over just one character. Chiake in my opinion is also a great character, but I still wanted more story about him. And for Kosuke, I can't really give him an opinion since he isn't involved with the movie as much as Makoto and Chaike are. I still think the characters are good, in fact the movie has a great set of characters, but I wish that there was more story into them.

There are parts of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time that will leave you in shock, in tears, in a smile, and in anger. All of these emotions PROVE how good this movie is. I was left in all of these emotions, and I'm glad that I was left in these emotions, because if I didn't have these emotions during the movie, I would've been bored and not have enjoyed the movie. I'm even glad that I was left in tears and anger because it proves how in depth the dialogue is.

Overall, I think The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was a really good watch, and for people who haven't seen the movie, I am telling you to watch it NOW. Although a lot of people say that it's their favorite anime movie, I can't say it is, seeing how great Spirited Away. If there was a little more depth to the characters, I bet it would be a close race between the two.

( warning : may contain hints of spoilers )
I stumbled across this movie in a facebook post, and I ended up googling the title and deciding to watch it after reading the synopsis. I have to admit, I felt like the movie was lacking a bit in "mind-blowing" factor, but that may be because I've watched the movie "Secret" (you know, the one with the piano battle and Jay Chou?) and the movies are quite similar. I thought that I would be moved to tears, but I ended up just being moved. It was still overall a great movie, and I would definitely recommend watching ... it if you haven't seen Secret already. If you have, still give it a shot.

"Time waits for no one"

Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, or "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time", is yet another drama and romance anime, but this time with a bit of SciFi in it. The movie is an adaptation/ sequel of the novel with the same name, but has very little to actually do with it.

Story:
The story revolves around a 17 year old high school girl called Konno Makoto. The other 2 main characters are her 2 male friends, of which one is the typical "guy who studies a lot and is smart" and the other is the "rebellious exchange student".
After having a really bad day Makoto, ... just before falling before a train, gains the ability to literally "leap" back in time. After trying her new ability out you would think she would do things like save peoples lives or use her ability to make a lot of money. But no, her first action is to eat the pudding her sister took from her last evening, or jump back to the day where the family had a delicious dinner.
After she tries everything out she goes to visit her aunt, who works at a museum. After telling her all about the time leaping you would again think she'd answer something like "Oh my god!" or "Don't lie!". But except she just tells Makoto that she did the same when she was her age. Through out the movie Makoto keeps on returning to her aunt to seek advice, which adds an interesting view to the plot. By the way, the aunt is supposed to be the main character from the novel "Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo".
But things get difficult after she uses her ability to save herself from uncomfortable situations and the whole story leads up to a climax. The only thing left to say is that there is a really unexpected twist towards the end of the movie.

Animation:
The animation was excellent! The characters are designed very "clean and clear" and don't have anything wacky about them. The background is designed beautifully during the whole movie, as at times I even gasped.

Sound:
The sound is also excellent! Not only does it perfectly fit the mood of the movie, but is even worth listening to on its own.

Characters:
From what I've said you would think this movie is the most stereotypical anime type one ever. But although the base of each character may seem stereotypical, the characters themselves are very well fleshed out and you can really feel for all of them. I've seldomly seen such strong, interesting and sympathetic characters in movies in general.

Enjoyment:
I enjoyed the show a lot. I think it really fits perfectly into the movie format, since everything goes very fast paced and you don't really get bored while watching, since although there are times where the scene may not be very interesting, the art just blows you away anyway.
On top of all that this movie also carries a "deeper meaning". The movie basically is trying to say: "Care about now and not the past. Even if you could change the past you will still remember how it could have been".

The best soundtrack ever in any anime, most definitely. I basically felt like I was floating the whole time cause the awesomeness scale was mega billion. The main character was good at being not a default character. She was very original with dominance and the development of her awakened feelings was good also. Then the story's organization was pretty good but not perfect, of course.

I liked how "time" was involved with some detail and understanding, not some Godly thing, which usually happens in other stories. The movie brought it down to the human level. The Animation/Art was very ... good and usual for an anime movie, very impressed by that.

You know that special friend that you never forget. Whether it be a boy or a girl, its someone who stood out from the crowd, someone who touched you in a way that made you feel special. That someone who you spent hours with, that one person, that decades from now, in the future, you still have on your mind. I got hose kinds of feeling from watching Mamoru Hosoda little melancholic sci/fi coming of age film, "The Girl who Leapt through Time"

Once I figured I'd write a review for TGWLTT, I wanted to approach it more like a film then an anime. I ... wasn't completely drawn to the animation, I thought it looked to cartoony and some of it even felt blotchy. I focused more on the story and the characters. The story is about high schooler, Makoto Konno, she is a bit of the ditsy type and is even forgetful. The first shot of her is a dream sequence that she wakes up from only to find out she is late for school. She gets there just in the nick-of-time. And its by this ditsy ness that she comes across her time traveling powers, and just like any naeve young kid, she uses it to mess with people or just play around. Her actions begin to bend time and space and the world she lives in. Just then, something happens in the second half that was like a complete left turn in story telling. It becomes a high school romance story, because of her actions with time traveling, Makoto finds out that one of her guy friends likes her, which creates a chain of events that leads Makoto to find out about a group of her friends and their love triangles. Does her other guy friend like her? does the shy girl with the glasses like him? It went from an interesting sort of sci/fi prankster film, to a sappy romance story that has been done so many times not just in anime, but other media as well. But thankfully by the third half, it gets back on track with the time traveling and some very interesting things are revealed by certain characters that actually really surprised me. I didn't expect them to be who they were and it not only restored my faith in the story, but in the characters as well.

The character of Makoto Konno herself like I said, is of the ditsy type. A trait that was developed to obviously get her to the point of which she obtains the time traveling ability. And how they do is nice, but I found myself annoyed with her character.....at first. She comes off as brash, loud and obnoxious. even in the beginning of the film she almost runs a lady over with her bike, and nearly smashes into the safety rail at the train stop. People give her the stink eye cause they know who she is, and the kind of trouble she can cause. I was hoping that she wouldn't be this outcast that everybody hates then she comes to the rescue and saves the world from a giant monster or something. (I mean we are talking about the director of the Digimon movie and Summer Wars so I had the right thoughts) but thankfully it doesn't head into that territory and sticks to kids and time traveling instead of ghouls and goblins.

The rest of the characters are great, typical high school anime characters who are voiced by great actors (I saw the dubbed version and thought it was good) the music was excellent and gave its melancholic high school slice of life feel (my kind of style!) but had any interesting and innovative take on time traveling, a formula that has been used countless times in anime, movies, tv shows, books in many different ways with many different origins to it.This is one of the more quite ones, slipping under the cracks because it wants to make you like its characters more then its premise, which is cool because if you want a film with light hearted, well written characters, this is for you. But if you want a story with cool time traveling elements and some sci/fi effects, you guys will get a kick out of it too, nice to see a film pervide both those story elements and still get an enjoyable film.

Take care Everyone.

I liked this movie and enjoyed myself watching it. It made me laugh with its subtle comedic moments. The story is simple and not all that dramatic, simply because the characters are simple. Just a bunch of higher schoolers on the verge of making their way into the adult world. Their simple lives are coming to an end, and in the case of the main character Makoto, this scares her.

On the surface, Makoto is a pretty average and normal girl. Her monologue in the film about her not being graceful but not clumsy, not smart but not dumb, etc. reflects this fact. There really isn't ... anything outstanding about her. When she acquires the power to leap through time, though, a whole different and otherwise unseen side of her personality emerges.

The power to alter her reality brings with it power over not only her own future, but the future of those around her. These consequences are not apparent at first, and she uses her 'time leap' as she pleases, for whatever ends she sees fit. Although it may take a few leaps on her part, she has effectively become God. Didn't do well on a quiz? No problem! Want to avoid getting confessed to? Zip! Trying to hook two people up? Only took about ten tries.

It becomes apparent with Makoto's choices that she doesn't want anything to change between her and her two friends Chiaki and Kousuke. She hopes that they can remain strictly friends forever. And yet, as she continues to use to power to keep the world around her from changing, her life becomes increasingly complicated. Despite wielding such power at her disposal, Makoto never once uses it for corrupted ends. I guess the creators of this film were not interested in questions of the human psyche, which is fine. Simply put though that if it was me, I probably would have used the power for much more morally questionable ends.

In the end, nothing detrimental happens to Makoto as a result of her messing with the space-time continuum. In fact, nothing but good comes out of it. She discovers the truth about her feelings and decides on what she wants to do with her future. This film has a much different take on time traveling and its effects on peoples' lives than other other time traveling story I know of.

While the overall story is good, the details within it became a little bit difficult to follow at some points. Later on it becomes apparent that she is not the only person to possess this power, though this is shown to not have been a bane, but a great boon.

The animation of the film is expectedly top-notch, though there is a scene where Makoto is running and breathing hard for a good thirty seconds. Obvious time-killer? Personally, the fact that Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo is a movie raises my expectations of it in the art and sound department, and I have to say that neither of them are above average.

Time traveling is a theme that has been explored throughout movies and books to many degrees, however, most of them use it a conceptual tool to explore the human psyche. This is the first time I have seen time traveling used as a predominant theme in an anime, and the result is that it is used in much simpler and more innocent ways than I have seen it used before. I mean that as a good thing.

This reminds me of looking back and realizing how looking back is not moving forward. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time holds a special place in my heart and truly spoke to me on a very emotionally level. I'm so very happy that I took the time to see such a wonderful masterpiece and very heart wrenching story. Needless to say, this film trumps anything Hollywood could ever put out, and yes I'm probably being bias, but watch and judge for yourself.

Story: 10/10
I absolutely fell in love with this film. The story is about a young girl, Makoto, who literally gains the ability to leap ... backwards in time. Unfortunately, she uses her new found power to better her grades and to prevent mistakes in her personal life. She is a typical teenager who is clumsy to a fault, lazy, and self-indulgent. Yet, her choices will affect the future in ways she can't possibly imagine, and the price is higher than she is capable of bearing alone. The story definitely has a slice of life feel, but it is well done and hardly noticeable in comparison to the excellent plot.

Characters: 9/10
The characters are just a great mixture of close friends that do almost everything together. However, no one person is underdeveloped and remains very distinctive throughout the film. Each character plays their role, while our protagonist navigates her own life and that of time itself. Makoto's character development was seamless, and truly mirrors the emotional change that one undergoes during their teenage years.

Art 10/10 and Sound 9/10:
The blending of the mundane Japanese life with a fantastical concept makes for excellent animation and scenery. I felt like the artwork was down to earth, but detailed in even the simplest ways. However, the design and animation was not a ridiculous amount of over detailing. The proper amount of everything was in perfect balance that it was so believably real.

Enjoyment: 10/10
The Girl who Leapt Through Time is one of my favorite films of all time. I could watch this movie over and over, and I'm sure I would notice something I missed the last time. I can't help but admire and commend those that created this excellent masterpiece. It is timeless, hilarious, and a thought provoking film. This one should be definitely be in the collection of all anime fans.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a film directed by Mamoru Hosoda based on, but also loosely a sequel to, a novel by the same name written by Yasutaka Tsutsui. This does not mean it is completely a stand-alone story following Tsutsui's novel. Instead, the events of this film mirror many of the events in Tsutsui's novel, however, the film is set in the future (compared to the novel) with slightly different characters. This allows the film to take on Hosoda's style, which is perhaps a major reason for why it has become a fan favourite over the past decade.

The "girl" in The Girl ... Who Leapt Through Time is Makoto Kanno, a simple high school girl who lives only in the present. She doesn't study or have any real goals for her future, she doesn't think much of long term consequences for her actions (making her fairly accident prone) and most of all, she simply wants to enjoy her time with her closest two friends; Chiaki Mamiya and Kousuke Tsouda. Konno then gains the ability to "leap" into the past. While this time leaping could let her do anything, she's a simple girl and therefore only time leaps to change minor events in her life to enjoy it more, for example, acing a test or being able to re-live karaoke sessions. However, time waits for no one. Life begins to change for Konno's best friends as they seek new romantic relationships, while she wishes life to stay the same. This leads to her time leaps changing the lives of others as well as her own, for better or worse.

I have included somewhat of a synopsis in this review because it is important to establish that Konno isn't the ordinary girl that most synopses describe her as. The film's focus is on her learning to deal with the fact that life changes and that she can't forever be stuck in the present. It's also focused on her maturation and realisation that her actions create consequences, short and long term, and how she deals with them. The sci-fi elements take a back seat in this film as the story is driven by Konno's actions. This isn't a film about the consequences of time travel, but instead the difficulty of growing up.

For the most part, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is incredibly entertaining. There is a good balance of drama, comedy and romance. The themes are explored well, mainly through Konno's discussions with Kazuko Yoshiyama. Unlike shows which have philosophical dialogue dumps, these discussions relate directly to the problems Konno is experiencing. As for the characters, the film has a small cast with most of the time given to the main trio. Even though the characters are relatable and entertaining, apart from Konno they can be somewhat forgettable and feel quite shallow. The main downside of the film is the ending. While the dramatic moments are executed well, it feels rushed and leaves you with more questions than answers making the conclusion to the film somewhat unfulfilling.

The art style of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is similar to the other two films Hosoda directed subsequently; Summer Wars and Wolf Children. The animation is impressive, especially during the time leaps with the use of surreal imagery. The soundtrack to the film is also similar to Hosoda's other films; mostly piano based, but also beautiful and appropriate. The voice acting is of a high standard, especially for Konno's many emotions and expressions.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is definitely a film I would recommend to everyone of all ages to watch. It is an enjoyable, fun film that will be memorable for years to come.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time there is a lot of things I can say about this anime but I can keep it short by saying everything in this was perfect. The amazing animation for that time when it was released it is even still pleasing to the eye now. The amazing story behind it a love story of two kids from different times that come together. Amazingly made characters each one kind of just made you really connect with them. This is easily hands down my favorite movie of all time without a doubt. It was honestly incredible I wish I could give it ... higher then a 10/10 this is a must watch for anyone.

At first, I was a bit hesitant to watch this film. From the trailer and a small synopsis of the story, I found the plot to be clichéd and somewhat unoriginal and the female protagonist slightly annoying. During and after watching the movie, I realized that I had been wrong. The concept of time travel within the realm of cinema is nothing new, but the way it is portrayed in this story can be seen as interesting and somewhat thought-provoking. I found myself wanting to know more about it. The female protagonist as well as the other main and ... side characters had their flaws which were developed throughout the storyline, thus making them appear more realistic and believable as actual human beings. As I had watched it dubbed in English, I found that the voice actor of Chiaki portrayed the character exquisitely. Towards the end of the film, I found myself at the edge of my seat. Being a little nitpicky, I only had two main issues/suggestions with The Girl Who Leapt through Time. 1) There were a few scenes of slowed reaction and minimal talking that could have been shortened or removed to move the plot along. 2) As someone who hasn't read the manga or other interpretations of this film, I was left with some really annoying questions. (I won't discuss them here as I don't want to provide spoilers) These questions wouldn't necessarily have to be answered fully, but I would've preferred for the movie to have provided at least some closure on a couple of them. Other than these two issues, I thoroughly enjoyed watching The Girl Who Leapt through Time.

Fast paced movie with a simple story and well developed characters. My favorite movie of animation, which I've watched at least 5 times.

The story is really simple: a happy and clumsy girl who doesn't worry about anything suddenly finds out she has a unusual power.

What is very interesting is that she uses this special power in a very naive way. But the as the unintended consequences of that start to appear, the atmosphere changes a lot, and there are a lot of sad parts.

Makoto matures a lot during the movie, in a painful but beautiful way.

Also, the "goldberg variations" from Bach suited the anime very ... well.

The only thing I miss is some more details in the final part. There is a lot that could be told. However, I actually like this kind of endings.

I actually recommend this movie to a lot of people who are not much into Japanese animation, and I had good responses. I like it so much I think is the only video I never deleted from my PC.

Jumping into the past is cool, but it's no DeLorean.

Story:
I love time travel stories. BttF, Chrono Trigger, Bill & Ted,...I seem to enjoy them all. That said, the concept is nothing new and has been done a million times, so to get youself noticed, you need to give it your own little twist. So, did this movie manage to pull that off? Well...a bit. The way time travelling is used casually here has been done before, same goes for the butterfly effect (I know that's not the right term, but you know what I mean). But the way the movie slowly shifts from harmless fun ... into drama works very well. In terms of pacing, this is wonderfully done. A big issue with stories like these is the huge potential for plot holes, but it avoids that as well. That's not saying there are none, but nothing major. Still, for it to be truly outstanding, I miss a little innovation.
8/10

Art:
I have to say, I am not a big fan of this artstyle. It took me some time to get used to it, but once I was, I greatly enjoyed it. The scenery was wonderful and the motions were flawless and good-looking. I also liked the character design (again, besides not being into this style). This is the one thing movies will (probably) always have over series and it really shows here.
9/10

Sound:
The voice acting was absolutely solid, though it misses a truly outstanding performance. The music was fitting and not abstracting, which works well with the movie. Not much else I can say.
7/10

Characters:
Makoto is a very relatable character. Who wouldn't think of their own enjoyment first after discovering you could time travel with (apparently) no consequences? As soon as she learns how her actions negatively affect others, she tries to correct everything, trusting in her time travel abilities, realizing too late that she only made it worse in the process. All her actions and decicions are realistic, making her a great main character. Everybody else seems to be just...there. Not that it hurts the movie, they were going for realistic people apparently. I didn't really get into Chiaki however. I didn't really understand his motives and the plot twist kinda came out of nowhere.
7/10

Enjoyment:
I get bored easily by movies. If they don't grab me early on, they will most likely become background noise while I do something else. The Girl who leapt through Time (I tried to avoid spelling that out the best I could) managed to entertain me through its whole length. That's impressive, as not much happens for most of the time. I think it depends on how much you can get into Makoto or not. She is the focus of 95% of this movie. I liked her, so for me, the movie works. I wouldn't want to see it 10 more times, but I can safely say that my time was not wasted at all.
8/10

Overall
7.8/10

~~~ NO SPOILERS AHEAD~~~

The movie greatly justifies the notion ~ "Time waits for no one".
The girl who lept through time is a time traveling concept based movie which revloves around 3 friends makoto, koushki and chiyaki, and what happens in their life.. makoto is a careless girl who once stumbles up in the lab after being given to keep question papers and thus starts her time leap, she couldnt know first how she could predict what will happen today by travelling the "today" part by time leaping and when she faces the "today" part she was shocked as she could predict everything and turn it ... to her advantage, then she meets her aunt witch where she knows about time leaping and thus she gets very overjoyed knowing she can undo all her mistakes, with passing of time, then she faces the harsh reality and then she steps unto undo that and to keep a promise about a precious thing to a friend who will get to cherish it in the future..

Story ~ its a 9/10 for me...everything is so beautifully explained, with a heart touching note. makoto was so beautifully and cutely exceuted with her confusing state and how she behaved when she did mistakes.

Art~ the art is really very cutely done, you will feel the sense of attachment seeing the characters and you will love it too...
9/10 in art section too

Sound~ with heart touching beats and the music will surely steal your heart. awesome soundtrack to keep up your attachment to such a great time leap based concept...
9/10 for me in Sound part

Character~ characters are well described with their schooling life, their struggles, their confuison, love story...every thing is well described vividly..
9/10 for character development stuff

Enjoyment~ i thoroghly enjoyed it, well driven time leap concept with touch of school drama , struggles. teenage crush and confusion.
9/10 for me in Enjoyment section

Overall~ i found it heart touching and i thoroughly loved it and ending was awww!!! [i did it for the first time though :D (the aww part )] loved every bit of this movie

There may be spoilers ahead - please don't read this review if you have not yet seen this particular movie.

Damn the lack of 9.5 ratings on these things! >__<

Toki wo kakeru shoujo (時をかける少女) is not what you would call your typical slice of life anime - there is nothing even remotely typical about this particular anime. Despite having sci-fi references, they are kept to a relative minimum - which took nothing away from the movie, in fact, it actually added to it. In itself, its an adaption from several other live action movies of the same name, as well as a manga/light novel, ... of which, the original protagonist is actually the aunt of the protagonist in this anime. However, that's where the connection between the two. I watched this movie without any prior reservations, or otherwise - and I have to wholeheartedly admit that I was very thoroughly impressed. However, this review is just my personal opinion - I'll leave it to you to appraise the movie yourselves.

Artistically speaking, the animation style is nothing short of fantastic - with the level of detail really bringing the movie into its own. The subtle mix of styles all adds to the richness that this movie offers. Accompanied with the wonderful soundtrack - both the sound and visual qualities bowled me over. However, I do have one little complaint about the soundtrack - many of the tracks tended to be different variations of the same tune... although, slightly repetitive, it's really nothing worth getting worked up about.

What really made the movie was how the characters tended to interact with each other, as well as the story line itself. It's littered with comedic moments - such as when Makoto (the protagonist of the movie) is knocked over by a flying student, as well as the numerous bumps to the head that she receives throughout the whole movie. This is the type of movie that tends to make you empathize with the main characters, and the trials that they face. In fact, you can quite easily argue that Makoto is one of the most likable teenage protagonists that anime has seen in recent years. Or at least, in my opinion. It's also interesting to see how the decisions and actions of one person, can have lasting repercussions on everyone around them. The ending was a really nice touch, and actually left it open for further continuations. However, that might actually take the "originality" away from this anime.

This is quite possibly one of the best Anime movies I've ever seen. I'm not going to give a plot summary because frankly, you can get that from the other reviewers, and from the plot summary listed above. What I am going to do is tell you why I liked this movie so much.

It gives us a rather mundane story, with a lackluster explanation (in regards to the time travel), and tells it with a light touch, filled with charm, and true emotion. These are not the stock anime characters one finds all over the place, but characters with depth that slowly ... reveal themselves organically through the storytelling, instead of us being beaten over the head like so many other anime that I can think of. I got so involved in the characters and the drama (not melodrama, but true drama handled subtly as to feel real) that the time travel seemed almost incidental. A means to explore teenage relationships, and not using teenage relationships to exploit the fun sci-fi device that is time travel.

Time travel, though literal in the story, is really used more as a thematic metaphor to explore youth, friendship, the pitfalls of one's first love, and growing into responsibility. The story isn't about a girl who learns how to travel through time, rather about a girl who learns what kind of person she wants to be and how she wants to live her life through her experiences traveling through time, albeit sometimes only one hour at a time.

It is the light touch, the ease and depth of the characters and their relationships, and the richness of their inner lives that makes this otherwise common science fiction tale glow with life. If you are looking for a film with the standard sci-fi tropes this is not the film for you, but if you're like me, and enjoy the sci-fi to be a means to an end and not the end unto itself, then you'll enjoy this movie as much as I did.