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
