For the most part I pretty much have liked most Anime I have watched, except school days ending. So it really hurts that I have found an Anime I don’t like. At this point I have watched 95 days worth of Anime so that is a lot to get through and to like them all, but I guess it was inevitable.
The anime,as you can tell from the title, I didn’t like was 5 Centimeters per Second.
It isn’t that it is a “bad” Anime as a lot of people like it. My problem was i spent most of the time going “wtf”. I honestly did not get what was going on and I have re-watched it a couple of times. I would honestly have to say I think it is because of the pretty significant time jump between the episodes there is a lot to fill in that is hard to figure out while watching it which takes away from what you are watching.
As far as the animation style I thought it was awesome and wish I knew more about style’s so I could find similar Anime to watch.
NOTE: I posted this on my first attempt at a blog, only got one post on it, almost exactly one year ago. I figured I should go ahead and bring it over, so please excuse how poorly it is written and I updated a couple of the numbers because it is still relivent.
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
What the hell is hard to understand? In part one, the guy and girl are in love, but he has to move away. In part 2, he’s living somewhere else, and there’s this girl who likes him, but she realizes that he is still in love with someone else and she gives up. In part 3, the guy moves back to the place he used to live, but life has already moved on and the two never meet each-other again.
That’s it. That’s everything that happens.
Really… the level of intelligence across the world is dropping to fast… I think it’s true what is been said about people from america… You’re a laughing stock in Europe with you inability to read maps and vice president who doesn’t know who is the PM in spain…
In order not to understand the plot or time gab you have to be either under 12yr or a bakayaro.
LOL, I think I problem was I either wasn’t paying enough attention or trying to hard. I watched this over a year ago so I have no idea what state of mind I was in when I watched it. And yeah I can be an idiot at times.
If I recall correctly there wasn’t a whole lot of dialog and that might have been my problem I get bored if there isn’t dialog and my mind starts to wonder which can lead to me not paying much attention.
As for being an idiot all the time. heh, far from it.
Thanks for the comments guys.
I watched this recently, and I found it quite moving.
The contrast in the effect of the relationship has over time is outstanding!
I really liked “The Girl who Lept Through Time” it was really good. I will have to check out Paprika.
@PhantomOtaku – thanks for those recommendation I am going to watch them and see if it is the director that I don’t like or the show specifically.
I think that this story is made all the more sorrowful by the irony in the third part and the fact that they met one last time in the first part of the movie. As Touno passes by the train tracks he thinks to himself, “If I look back I can imagine her looking back as well,” or something to that effect. This affirms that nothing in life is permanent, you don’t know how much something is worth until it’s gone and everything is fleeting. One minute you could be surrounded by all that you love and enjoy and still not be satiated. The next moment you could look away and turn back to see that everything is gone. Truly and eye opener if anything else. As for the dialogue, I agree that there was little interaction in the movie and that there was somethings that flashed on the screen. Things like empty areas which added to the depressing scene of the story. I think it was very well done and would like to see it as a live action version. There’s no real attachment to the characters, I find, but more of an attachment to the story and struggle of the characters that make it so easy to relate to. The writing was truly a work of art. I don’t understand your dislike of this movie but everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Post again after you’ve seen the movie again and maybe your opinion will change.
I finally got around to watching this, and I was really disappointed. The animation was beautiful to watch, and the sorrowful scenes and anime “cinematography” was amazing as well… but in the end the heart wrenching story just ended up feeling like a gimmick or a cop out: an easy way to get an emotional response from the audience without tying anything up at the end. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t expect a soppy happy ending, but something a little more unique would have been welcome. Also the last song was… annoying… *sigh*
I watched “The Place Promised in Our Early Days” the night before it, and enjoyed it a lot more. Character development was much better, animation was equally amazing and I actually cared about the players in the movie. I highly recommend it.
Also the antiAmerican comment above? Seriously? Grow up man/lady, you are just making the rest of the world look bad with such a volatile response. No matter how “ignorant” Americans may appear, you just one upped them with a display of “pompous ignorance”… and granted English is most likely your second language, the combination of your angry content against stupidity and your plethora of grammatical errors is still really entertaining.
I so agree with Pete. Nothing's permanent. The key to happiness? Its with us the whole time. Live life without hesitations… At least, you can easily move on into the future and live your life without regrets. So sad. :C
And I think the script, dialogues and err… lack of dialogues add to the whole melancholic effect of this movie. Unfortunately, it's making me feel crappy now. *sobs*
I watched this almost purely for the animation… it's some of the best I've ever seen. Rivals Disney in every way except fluidity of motion.
makoto shinkai is a genius and he proves this yet again with this movie
yeah this movie was awesome, check out my review:
http://japancinema.net/2009/04/08/5-centimeters-p…
The problem isn't the movie, it's your tiny, tiny brain.
This movie is so good it costs $150 most places.
I have to say that is the most unique comment I have ever read. congrats.
Lol…… if someone starts saying shit about Americans, and you respond like you did your proving what they said is true….. ….
The truth however is if your reading this then you are an idiot ALL the time and should slit your stomach..
Your small contribution will help prevent the "level of intelligence across the world is dropping"…. so go… now…. die… and save the world! it is your duty as an otaku….
Uh…this is a very simple film to understand. it's not at all complex or confuseing.I'm not sure how thsi could ever confuse someone really… Perhaps you are overthinking it? The first poster got it right. Re-read what he wrote, then go back and give this another watch. This is a mature, slow paced, and emotional movie. It's very smart, and very heart felt. You can tell Shinkai really put a lot of work and love into this, it's dripping with emotion. Yes it's not a fast paced film, but it's not meant to be. Slow pacing can sometimes be a good thing, if you are patient. I find the better movies (A Wind Named Amnesia, this, Sky Crawlers) are very slow paced, but they are incredbly powerful films. While I'd never call this a masterpiece, and it;s not a favorite of mine, I really enjoyed this immensely. As for other movies that have artwork/animation that look like this try Shinkai's other movies, namely "Voices of a Distant Star" and "The Place Promised in Our Early Days". As for non Shinkai anime that look like this, try "Time of Eve", and "Pale Cocoon" (both from Yoshiura).
Like I noted on twitter this was a blog post from almost 2 years ago now on a former blog.
I honestly had to go back and re-read the blog post and realize it was a horrible blog post with no actually explanation of anything at all.
As i can recall I was so bored watching it I wasn't paying to much attention to what was going on. Some slow shows keep you interested long enough to watch it. I do remember this was a problem with this show. I was bored while watching it. I wasn't to much of a fan of Skycrawlers, but even though it was slow at times it held my interest long enough to watch the while thing without getting bored.
As for opinions now they have changed a bit. Reading the comments have actually made me care more since of the storyline. Now my general problem is it was too slow in general.
I think this anime should be watched as 3 seperate episodes like it was made. I think people should take some time between each episode for digestion sake. This was presented to me as one long show and not 3 seperate episodes, didn't know until later it wasn't one solid show. That in mind would probably have made it a bit better for me.
Dismissing, circumstance as a problem for liking it. The idea of the movie I have a general problem with that it was inevitable for him to miss the girl and not get with her. I If someone wants something bad enough nothing is stopping them if he truly wanted her he should have gone and gotten her when he was able and not let anything stop him.
So it mostly comes down to difference of opinion and me being a horrible writer as to the problems here. lol.
The general idea of the movie is something that touched me deeply because I can relate to it very well. Almost the exact same thing had happened to me in the past, long ago. I still think about it quite often. People meet each other, become good friends, and maybe even fall in love. But "life" happens, and they drift apart. It's happened countless times to countless people around the world, I'm sure. It happened to me sadly. Sure it's easy to say "ah but he coulda just stayed in touch", "ah he shoulda tried harder to get back with her" etc etc, but life is life, and that's easier said then done. "things" happen, that get in the way. Sure they could be dropped, sure you COULD go around them, but you don't, for whatever reason. Sure there's nothing "stopping them", but that's why it's so sad. Despite the fact that there's no huge obstacle here keeping these two apart, the modern world by just existing, makes things difficult. Sure it be nice to watch a fantasy where the two lovers get back together or something, but this is meant to be realistic. And sadly in life, things like this happen all the time. It's quite rare for the other thing to happen. This is life, and this is what the film is showing us. And as another poster said, you don' tunderstand what happiness is, until it's long gone. That's very true. This film has a lot there, right beneath the surface….Very compelling film.
I really understand what you are saying. I really really do. Its just a difference of opinion. Maybe in 10 years my opinion will change its been known to happen.
"life is life",don't give me that pitiful excuse.My aunt who has no money,no power,nothing,and she,on my advice,tried her best to find her daughter who ran away from home.It took her nearly a year and in the end she's found her daughter in Oklahoma,all the way from California.Sure not everyone is lucky but it'd have been forgiveable if Takaki has at least tried his best to stay in touch and find Akari but he did nothing!Nothing! And then he lost his love and goes into emo mode,quit his job,reduced into a Neet.Do you want me to shed tears to that pathetic excuse of a human being?Sorry but it's like asking me to shed to for a man who died from hunger because he's too lazy to work,and I really can't do that.
Yeah, like how should we say it? Taking things for granted without a backup plan and then emo up because things didn’t happen the way he intended? Now I know why I hate this movie so much.
Everyone who’s had a hard time having real good friends they can trust in real life should know better than to let a trustworthy one out of touch. And everyone who’s had a hard life can do better than this. The only thing the movie shows is the guy being pathetic & expects life go his way.
seriously? u didn't understand it? wow u're an idiot.
Watch It like Studying Poetry Then You'll Understand
man, this movie sucked. I didn’t like it at all. I wanted to see the how and the why. Anyway I guess I’ll just use my imagination like I always do while writing. lame waste of great animation.
Before you read this, its full of spoilers. So be sure to keep that in mind. These are all also my speculations on the matter. Seeing that this blog hasn’t been updated since Feb 2010 (more than a year ago), I doubt anyone will read it but I hope it provides insight to those who do.
See. I’ve read all the replies and I think all of you have failed to understand the true motive and the brilliance of this story. (No offence intended to anyone of course).
The first chapter is pretty straightforward. The young and naive protagonists where in what can be referred to as ‘child’s’ love. The sort of love that seems irrational and spontaneous (she waited for him at the station even though he was VERY late and it was snowing.) The first chapter ends with a sense of continuity and longing between the two main characters; this quickly will change in the second chapter. The fact that the girl didn’t give him her ‘pink letter’ means that she realized it was impossible to keep him in her mind as she moved on with her life. At the end of Chapter 1, she has moved on completely.
The second chapter delves into the mindset of the male main character, Takaki Tōno. Even though he was now in what appeared to be late high school, he was still unable to move on with his life. The ‘mail he wrote but never sent’ can only be explained as mail that was left unanswered. The girl protagonist, Akari Shinohara, at this point had stopped replying to his messages and in fact stopped sending any messages herself. He was stuck at the ‘boy’ stage, while she was moving on with her life and building upon what she had with him. For her, it was very evident that it was time to move on. (I find her to be a bit cold hearted, but also more rational). The third girl that is introduced in the picture, Kanae Sumida, is a very emotional girl and is actually quite the counter-part of Akari. She is very emotional and much more sentimental and considerate. The proof for this is that she refused to tell Takaki her true feelings, because she could tell that he was still stuck with Akari on his mind and was being rejected through ignorance.
In the third and essential chapter to this story, and to my conclusions, we meet a new, unnamed lady. The girl with the phone and the glasses who appears to be trying to call Takaki. She is an affair. A relationship that Takaki had started when he moved into his company in an attempt to move on with his life. There is even a scene where they are in bed together. This is shortly followed by him ‘drinking’ away the sorrow of his relationship. This third girl was now left in the shadows, as she was nothing but a substitute for Akari in Takaki’s head. What’s next could be wrong, but then again, this is my speculation. Up to this point, Takaki thinks that Akari is indeed still in love with him, in the same childish manner that he is. This gets proven wrong when they both meet one last time. (she has a coffee cup in hand and you can see her engagement ring; she is in love with someone else and meets with Takaki to explain this to him). At this point, Takaki now knows that Akari has learned and decided to move on; he also accepted it (this explains the drinking scene, he was trying to get over the fact that she moved on while he didn’t). This is proven in the end when they meet each other at what is essentially a ‘life-crossroad’. Two trains going in opposite directions symbolizing life. They are fast moving, sudden and come in the way between people both metaphorically and physically. After the trains move on (or life moves on since Takaki’s life = one train, Akari’s life = the other) Takaki looks back at his past (or physically looks behind him after the train has passed) and finds that Akari is indeed no where to be found. This means that she has moved on both from his present AND his past; he also got over her. Takaki smiles and then looks ahead and takes a turning step forward continuing his life.
From this point on, what happens to Kanae Sumida (the highschool girl) can be speculated. But I think Takaki moves back to that island where he completed high school to meet again with Kanae.
What is true about this movie is that it is very confusing and very subtle indeed. I had to watch chapter 3 2/3 times to really understand the chain of events, but I think my conclusions are spot on.
In short form:
Chapter 1:
Both Takaki and Akari are in love with each other, they exchange mail.
At the end of the chapter Akari (main female protagonist) doesn’t give Takaki her letter, because she realizes she has to move on.
Metaphorical evidence: The letter that Takaki looses to ‘the wind’ symbolizes how sudden life can be and that it can literally steal away what is most precious from you at any moment. This leads people to adapt to what life has to throw at them, and this is a part of why Akari moves on.
Chapter 2:
Akari stops responding to Takaki’s messages, and he stops sending them. He realizes he needs to move on but can’t due to his feelings. Kanane (third girl) also realizes that he is still not ready to move on and selflessly avoids to confess to him. At this point Akari has clearly matured and moved on, while Takaki is still living in his past.
Metaphorical evidence: Takaki states that ‘I didn’t know when I started writing mail that I don’t send’.
Chapter 3:
In this chapter, Takaki forces himself to start a relationship with the ‘office, glasses lady’. This relationship is empty (proven by the scene where they are sleeping in one bed but on separate sides). Takaki quits his job to avoid the glasses girl and is in a low point in his life (when he was drinking). He then is pulled out of the bottom of the barrel by Akari, who meets with him one more time and exposes that she has moved on.
Takaki moves on as well after their meeting and this is proven by the fact that they both walk past each other, go on opposite directions and smile.
If you read this and have opinions thoughts, do contact me at arwud_91@hotmail.com
since I doubt I’ll be checking this.