Story: The story is quite typical in one way. Takaki and Akari are really good friends in middle school. They do get closer and closer until one day Akari has to leave the town.
One year later Takaki gets told that he also is going to another town with his family. Before leaving he decides to visit his old friend Akari one last time by train. The whole story deals with the concept of distance, just as other works of Shinkai Makoto do. But this only is the first part of this movie.
7/10
Characters: The Characters of Byousoku 5 Centimeter is probably it's strongest point, since it does show every character in a unique way and creates an attachment for them that is hard to get in a 60 minute movie.
We at first have our main character Takaki, that never stops loving the girl he loved back in middle school. He may seem a bit cliché at first glance, but the show depicts all him just as everyone else so well, that you just have forgive for this.
Then we have Akari, the girl that had to move away from her boy. She isn't shown for a very long time but while she is shown the viewer is already growing attached to her.
The last main character in the cast is Kanae, the girl who has fallen in love with Takaki and just is too shy to confess.
10/10
Art: The art of this Movie is just outstandingly good! The Animations are all fluent and the backgrounds look incredible! The character design makes them all the more likeable and everything just adds to the style the show wants to have.
10/10
Sound: The Sound might be the weakest part, since it does fit quite well, but isn't anything special or incredibly good. It does add to everything but doesn't really stand out on it's own. The Voiceacting though is just great and the characters sound really believable.
7/10
Enjoyment: Overall this Anime depicts the element of distance in such a beatiful way, that it really shouldn't be missed. It's strength is not that it is unique, cause it definitely is not, but that it executes it so perfectly, that there is no way around this Movie if you ever liked any kind of Romance or Slice of Life.
9/10
