The Place Promised in Our Early Days

__The Place Promised in Our Early Days [spoiler free]
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It’s funny how a movie can be “nice” but still end up sticking with you way longer than you expected. I went into this one without expecting much. In fact, I had a little history with it--I actually dropped this movie almost six years ago when I first started watching anime. At the time, it didn’t click with me. I was new to anime, still figuring out what I liked, and for some reason I just left this one unfinished. Fast forward to now: I haven’t watched a single anime movie in two years, and I haven’t even touched an anime episode in the last six months. It’s like I drifted far away from that part of myself.
So why pick this one to come back? I don’t even know. Maybe because I remembered the title. Maybe because I wanted to finish what I once left incomplete. But man, am I glad I chose it. Getting back into anime through this movie made me realize how much I used to enjoy it. I remembered that feeling of discovering new stories--stories that didn’t need to be huge and loud to make me care. It felt nostalgic in the best possible way. And the story? It was hitting me right where I wanted it to.

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__A Simple Promise That’s Bigger Than It Sounds [slight spoiler] __ The movie’s setup feels almost too simple. Three friends--Hiroki, Takuya, and Sayuri--living in Aomori in a Japan that’s divided between the Union (basically a fictional stand-in for Russia) and the US. Across the water, there’s this enormous tower in Hokkaido, built by the Union. No one really knows what it’s for, but it dominates the skyline. From their little corner of the world, the three kids dream about flying there in a plane they’re secretly building together. They name the plane Bella Ciela--beautiful sky. They don’t talk about changing the world. They don’t make any overly dramatic speeches. They just say they’ll go there together one day. That’s the promise. And even though it sounds small, it feels huge in the way childhood dreams always do. That’s one of the first things that really got me--the way this movie captures that feeling of being young and making promises that feel like destiny.

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__Nostalgia That Hurts a Little [spoiler] __ Those early scenes with them tinkering on the plane, laughing, hanging out--it hit me with this weird ache. I used to have moments like that in my own life. Summer afternoons that felt endless. Joking around with friends when there was no bigger plan, no adult responsibilities hanging over us. The movie makes those moments feel warm but also fragile. And that fragility becomes real when Sayuri suddenly disappears. One day she’s there, the next she’s gone. No explanation at first. Hiroki and Takuya just… stop working on the plane. The dream falls apart quietly, without some big dramatic ending--it just fades. That’s how a lot of real-life dreams end too, which is maybe why it hit so close.

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__The Twist--And Why It Still Feels Personal [spoiler] __ The disappearance isn’t just a normal missing-person thing. Sayuri has fallen into a mysterious, unshakable sleep. Turns out it’s connected to that strange tower--they find out later that the tower is tied to parallel universes, and somehow her mind is stuck in one of them. This is where the story gets a little sci-fi, but not in a way that feels cold or technical. It still feels deeply human, because at its core, it’s about missing someone and not being able to reach them. Hiroki moves to Tokyo, but he’s still haunted by thoughts of her. Takuya ends up working with scientists and getting pulled into a political mess involving the tower. Their paths split, but the ghost of that promise never goes away.

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__Why the Sci-Fi Doesn’t Break the Mood [spoiler] __ The sci-fi stuff about the tower replacing the world with another dimension could have been confusing, but it’s handled in a very dreamlike way. It never tries to be hard science fiction. The tower is more of a symbol than anything--it’s this unreachable, otherworldly thing that still feels weirdly familiar. I think that’s why the movie works for me now in a way it didn’t years ago. Back then, I might have been expecting something straightforward. Now, I appreciate that the tower isn’t fully explained. It leaves space for feelings and mystery, which honestly is what memories are like.

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__The Reunion [spoiler] __ When Hiroki and Takuya reconnect after years apart, they decide to finish the plane. There’s urgency now, because war is about to break out between the Union and the US, and the tower might be destroyed. Hiroki’s determined to wake Sayuri before it’s too late. They actually manage to get the plane airborne, and the flying scenes are gorgeous--wide skies, the tower looming closer. Hiroki reaches Sayuri inside her dream world, tells her about their promise, and finally wakes her up. It’s the kind of moment you want to cheer for.

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__And Then… The Heartbreak [spoiler] __ Here’s the part that hurts. Sayuri wakes up--but she doesn’t remember the promise. She doesn’t remember the feelings they had for each other. It’s like all that emotional history has been erased. She smiles at Hiroki, but it’s the smile of someone meeting a stranger. And Hiroki? He doesn’t break down. He just promises they’ll start over. They’ll make new memories. It’s bittersweet, because it’s hopeful but also sad--he got her back, but not in the way he dreamed.

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__That Epilogue That Lingers [spoiler] __ The movie could have ended there, but instead there’s a little epilogue. Hiroki as an adult, alone, looking back and saying he wished he’d understood something she told him sooner. It’s vague, a little haunting. It makes you wonder if they stayed in touch, if they really did start over, or if life pulled them apart again. Some people might find that frustrating, but I kind of like it. Life doesn’t wrap everything in neat bows. Sometimes even the happiest reunions leave loose threads that never quite get tied.

__The Music and Atmosphere [spoiler free] __ I can’t talk about this movie without mentioning the music. Tenmon’s soundtrack is full of gentle piano pieces and soft, almost fragile melodies. It matches the film’s tone perfectly--quiet moments that carry a lot of weight. The music doesn’t tell you how to feel; it just creates space for you to feel it yourself. The visuals aren’t flashy compared to modern anime movies, but they have this handmade quality I like. The sky shots are pure Shinkai--big, detailed clouds, light spilling through like it’s alive. The character designs are simpler than what he’s known for now, but that almost works in the film’s favor. It’s less about visual perfection and more about the feeling of the scenes.

__Why This Was the Right Movie to Come Back With [spoiler free]
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Coming back to anime after such a long break, I could have picked something recent, something super polished with huge hype around it. But I think this was the better choice for me. It’s not perfect. The pacing is a little uneven. The sci-fi plot could be confusing if you think about it too hard. And some scenes feel like they’re missing an extra layer of explanation.
But honestly? Those imperfections made it feel more human. Life doesn’t make sense all the time. People drift apart for reasons you can’t fully explain. Promises get broken, then picked back up in a completely different form.
Watching this, I remembered the part of me that loves stories not for their perfection, but for the little cracks where the feelings leak through. The scenes that aren’t “epic” but stick with me anyway. The way a certain line or glance can feel heavier than a giant action sequence.

__Final Thoughts [spoiler free]
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If I had to sum up what this movie gave me in one word, it would be remembrance. Not just of the movie itself, but of how I used to feel when I’d sit down to watch an anime--excited to get lost in a new world, ready to meet characters who would stick in my head for days.
I’m glad I didn’t try to judge it like a critic. I just let it be what it is. A slightly messy, deeply emotional, sometimes slow, sometimes confusing story about a promise, about growing up, about losing and finding someone again--maybe not in the same way, but still finding them.
It reminded me that stories don’t have to be perfect to matter. They just have to hit you in the right place. And this one did. Right where I wanted it to.