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5 Centimeters per Second is a good movie and does deserve the amount of praise it has gotten over the years. It tackles how things in the past can greatly influence ourselves in the future and that holding onto something that simply can't be because of certain circumstances isn't good. Chances are that the other party did move on after all.
The movie consists of 3 acts/episodes; Cherry Blossom; Cosmonaut and 5 centimeters.
Cherry Blossom: This one begins the story and is by far the best act of the movie. It shows how Takaki Tōno quickly befriends Akari Shinohara when she transfers to his elementary school in Tokyo in a very relatable manner to me. Both being kind of loners bonded over familiar interests resulting a nice, natural friendship. But Akari has to move because of her parents' job tearing the both of them apart as apparent in the scenes where they show how they try maintaining their friendship. The loneliness just seeps from these scenes where they no longer are together, which becomes worse when Takaki has to move away as well. So they want to see each other one more time before it's too late.
So they plan to meet, with the movie showing Takaki seriously figuring out how to get to her. As he finally finished his plan and his love letter he goes out... everything basically goes wrong. The trains are late because of the snow and the wind blows his love letter away. The way they portrait what impact this has on Takaki is amazing and beautifully animated, guided along with the beautiful soundtrack this movie has.
In the end she is still there. They are a bit awkward at first, seeing each other after quite some time for the first time and that after such an emotional torment of whether the other is still coming that late. Slowly they're warming up to each other and spend the night together (keep your mind out of the gutter!). How the act is ended made me cry, the realization of most likely not ever seeing each other was breath taking. They stand there under the cherry blossom sharing their last kiss before Takaki has to leave.
Cosmonaut: Act 2 was my least favorite bit of the movie. I felt like they spent way too much time on the crush Kanae Sumida has on the now in his last year of high school- Takaki. I know that they want to show how his feelings for Akari changed his perspective resulting in how he may have lost a good second relationship with Kanae. She would've confessed if he wasn't still so hung up after all. Other than Kanae's inner struggle about the crush and the aforementioned results of Takaki still hung up over Akari nothing really happens. (The act's name is because they live near a space station, which creates another beautiful piece of art at the end of the act.)
5 Centimeters per Second: Takaki is grown up, has a job and a girlfriend. Of course this doesn't work out as he is distant towards her. She breaks up with him, he seemingly quits his job.This should've gotten more screentime than cosmonaut in my opinion as that bit seemed a bit rushed and was really vague. After that a dual narration from both Takaki and Akari start, they recall their last moments together and hope to watch the cherry blossom again together, someday. In these scenes it's also shown that Akari did move on and is gonna get married. This is why she is at the train crossing where she and Takak seem to recognize each other. They both turn around, but their vision is cut by a passing train.
Filled with hope Takaki waits for the train to pass, but nobody was there. Again, she moved on and he was left behind.
The story is nothing special, but the way it's presentated made it really stick out from all the other romantic dramas. The music was beautiful and fit the scenes. They're great to just listen to on their own too. The art was stunning, especially the greatly detailed backgrounds in contrast to the simple designed characters.
In overall, a good movie. Great art and music. Okay characters, nothing really special as you don't get much details about them, but they got the story across. Man did they get the story across...
If you don't like the somewhat slow pace and focus on emotional aftermath, you should still look up screenshots/wallpapers of it because- gorgeous art, and listen to the soundtrack.
BONUS: Want more details of the 3rd act? The writer of the movie has also written a novel that got those. You can google the English translation quite easily. There is also a manga adaptation that focusses more on Kanae and Risa (the girlfriend of act 3) with a more positive seeming ending for Takaki!
