PROS
-realistic and VERY likable main cast/personalities. No extremes like tsundere-moe dichotomy or goodie two shoes. Trio baseball get-togethers are fun to watch, not expositional
-confident female protagonist--pro b/c it's a rarity to have a great one w/out making her seem rude/conceited
-relative lack of pillow shots which plot and pace-driven viewers can appreciate
-transitioned Makoto's adjustment to time leaping in a concise, humorous, and appropriate way to development. Props b/c this is hard to do--even in Steins;gate, I felt that some of the time leap sequences were slow and boring
-nail biting climax. Having watched this after wolf children, honestly wasn't sure what Hosoda was going to do.
-STRONG POINT: the film KNOWS its limits and works within its boundaries. It doesn't try to take the butterfly effect to tremendous, unnecessary proportions like world war 4 or politics or pretentious philosophy. Hosoda's message is clear and focused. The element of time leap is humorous and more importantly relevant to the protagonist. Yes it contains anime "tropes:" high school, friendship, and romance, but is it cliche? absolutely not, and almost no elements felt shoehorned. And this is great: sticking to a tradition shouldn't be dismissed as cliche. A great deal of it is what makes anime anime.
-loved the ending: Hosoda executes a tricky element in which he doesn't reveal everything about the story but doesn't make it feel inconclusive or incomplete. This was no gimmick of leaving it ambiguous for the sake of it. I think it was executed perfectly. The conclusion was frustrating >< but mature, honest, and understandable.
-Hosoda reveals a very underrated and particular message about maturity and young people--look for it!
-music wasn't amazing and couldn't find a piece that I think stands strongly on its own. But it works within the parameters of the film.
CONS (virtually nothing major)
-all stories dealing with time leaping does have some illogical inconsistencies when you start to deconstruct it
-some elements came to me suddenly but I got on board
-was not a fan of his animation style in wolf children but slowly becoming one
Ultimately, I liked Girl who leapt through time better than wolf children. In both movies, the themes/lessons aren't anything ground breaking, but takes a fantastical element and uses it to depict real/relevant messages. This movie was, to use the perfect adjective, breathtaking. I'm thoroughly impressed for its hard to find a film that has both great entertainment and a message that I can take away for a long time. I'll leave this at a 9 but the future me (no pun intended) might change it to a 10. I see now why people are paying attention to Hosoda. He might be a catalyst that fuses the eastern and western story telling forms to make globally appreciated films in his prime.
Feel free to read the analysis on what I thought the take away message was about its coming of age theme
END OF REVIEW
WARNING: SPOILERS in the analysis.
Notice that blunders and borderline tragedies occurred when she ironically tried to "help" others and by extension ignored/disregarded her own desires. This seems cruel and counter-intuitive at first: Shoudln't selflessness trump selfishness? Well, I think what Hosoda wanted to show through Makoto's story was that, even if you have good intentions, when you launch into action without wisdom, it can unfortunately harm others and yourself. Even though we may THINK we're doing "good," our young, still-tunnel vision of the world may not know the consequences. Through this film, I think Hosoda values practicing introspection in youth as opposed to blindly helping others, especially at the cost of ignoring your own enlightenment. Of course, he showed the consequences of premature decision making in a VERY dramatic way but he has a point here. At the end, Makoto finally confronts herself and others about her honest feelings towards Chiaki and, even though it doesn't work out perfectly, there is definite emotional closure and finally launches her passion for the future. And because of this underrated message, the conclusion doesn't feel like a duex ex machina--it instead makes perfect sense. Respect and understand what YOU want, for it is a way of helping others find their way as well. This is not a new idea, but certainly hits home and he shows it with finesse. And that's what I love about it. It's not a grand social commentary on the dangers of time leaping or butterfly effect or overarching philosophy. Hosoda was focused and very clear from the beginning about what he wanted to present.
