So what did I like about it? Animation aside which is BRILLIANT, I have to talk about the characters first. I gave the way the characters were written a 6 because the main leads themselves aren't really memorable nor do we know a lot about them. We know they were really close friends throughout childhood and their teenage years, we know that they meet up again and realize that they are in love and we know what comes after years of them not seeing each other. Other than their love for each other, we really don't know much about their character or personality.
However, unlike the way Cowboy Bebop used it with Spike and Julia and unlike the lazy writing that is called Twilight, here it is actually a VERY GOOD THING as the 'not very well rounded' nature of the protagonists lets us project ourselves into their shoes. It makes you think what would happen if, together with your own back-story and experience with romance, you were one of the 3 main characters. That’s something I actually realized after finishing the movie as I saw my own interpretation of the events that were happening instead of the story of two star-crossed lovers. At the same time though, the protagonists are fleshed out enough so that we still feel for them when things start going bad; we know their love is genuine and we both want the main female lead the secondary female lead hit it off with the male lead.
Sound is very good. I don't recall the movie having a really great soundtrack or music except for the montage at the end set to the song 'One more time, one more chance'. I flipping love that song BECAUSE of the ending. 5CMPS has one of the best, most poetic, symbolic and ingeniously put together endings I have ever seen in an anime. I guarantee watching the ending made me feel more for the protagonists than even the rest of the movie which was still excellent did and in my opinion, the whole movie is worth sitting through just for the last 5 minutes.
Like all anime, 5CMPS does have its flaws. This is a nitpick but the first segment of the movie is rather boring as half of it is just the male lead riding a train and running late for his meeting with his childhood friend. While it is spread out with flashbacks of their childhood and how they came to really like each other, I didn't care much for pointless descriptions of how the snow was falling and how beautiful the scenery was. It's an anime not an audio book, we can see how the snow was falling, no need to describe it to us! Again, it doesn't ruin the movie at all.
In the end, I really can’t think of any other flaws. You know, when searching for flaws in an anime or any work of fiction, you must be careful in picking them. Plot holes that make no sense are different from stuff where you can suspend your disbelief: we can buy a man chopping off a monster's head with his sword clenched between his teeth but we can't buy villains acting all illogically. Bad writing is also different from narrative devices that are otherwise done well and because 5CPS had a creative and fresh narrative, it can't be called out over having bland characters.
My final verdict for 5cm per second is a 9/10. It's a great anime, one that stays with you and one you will really empathize with. It's a really different romance story and highly recommended for fans of the genre.
