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".
