FIVE CENTIMETERS PER SECOND (REVIEW)

Short Outline 1. About “Five centimeters per second” in general 2. Plot: 2.1. Cherry Blossom 2.2. Cosmonaut 2.3. Five centimeters per second 3. Music 4. Backgrounds 5. The features of “Five centimeters per second”: 5.1. Letter writing (romance) 5.2. Connection with reality (comparison with other Shinkai’s works) 6. Conclusion
About “Five centimeters per second” in general “5 centimeters per second” is a Japanese animated romantic drama film of Makoto Shinkai premiered in 2007. It consists of three stories called “Cherry Blossom”, “Cosmonaut” and “5 centimeters per second” which are directly connected between each other and with main hero Takaki in particular, because the stories tell about his relationships with the girls around him.

PLOT

Cherry blossom Akari has been transferred to the elementary school in Tokyo where Takaki studied. They become close friends because of common interests and habits, for example, they prefer to stay in the library, while their classmates play outside. They become an object of bullying, but it doesn’t break the bond between them. One day, Akari has been transferred to another school in another prefecture. Takaki and Akari kept in touch through writing letters on regular base. Time was going, and Takaki chose to personally met Akari and give her a letter with his feelings. Unfortunately, he loses the letter and train goes very slow due to snowy weather conditions. Despite every trouble, Takaki finally appeared in front of Akari. They had their first kiss, and talked to each other almost all the night. Next day, Takaki went home.Cosmonaut In 1999, Takaki is now in the third year of senior high in Tanegashima. His classmate Kanae who learns surfing loved Takaki since the first day he came to the school. However she was always afraid and unsure to express her feeling in front of Takaki and that was the reason he saw only close friend in Kanae. She spends a lot of time with him, but the main goal is still far away. She understands Takaki is searching something bigger than she can offer and decides not to try anymore to express her love.5 centimeters per second 2008 came. Takaki works as a programmer in Tokyo, but lives unhappy and depressed life in uncleaned apartments. He quits his job and cannot cope with feelings for Akari, while she is going to marry an another man. They both remember the promise given a lot of years ago to see the cherry blossom together again. One day, they walked down the same road when they were children and Takaki recognizes her. They try to turn around to see each other, but trains cut off their views. After the last train passes, Akari disappears and Takaki moves ahead. The promise of seeing the cherry blossom again has been completed…Music This film has the most catching and sad music among other Shinkai’s works. Tenmon’s “Cherry Blossom Extract”, “Distant Everyday Memories” and “Kanae’s feelings” in particular are amazingly powerful and breath-taking. What to tell about the song! “One more time, one more chance” by Masayoshi Yamazaka has become one of my favorite songs! I wish I will learn playing guitar someday and complete all described compositions. They are insanely beautiful and accurate.Backgrounds Again, Makoto Shinkai shows high level of scrupulous drawing style even in the 2007. Like with other works, I couldn’t ignore the beauties of backgrounds and decided to download them. However their size was over 1 GB! It took more than 1 hour to complete the loading. The most accurate drawn objects in this anime are trains and sky.

FEATURES OF “5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND”

Letter writing (romance) In my previous review on “The Garden of Words” I mentioned that anime which is connected with something wonderful and elegant (science, poesy, art, traditions, etc.) instantly become catching for me. In this case, I loved how they write letters to each other and start them with descriptions of the weather. Such letter writing doesn’t only show one of the Japanese traditions, but also makes the plot more graceful. It shows how main heroes loved each other and didn’t have indifferent attitude towards each other. Amore, what to say!Connection with reality From the first impression, such works like “Your name” and “Weathering with you” look better than “5 centimeters per second”. Indeed, they have better graphics, plot, happier music and so on, but the main feature of this work is the connection with reality. “Your name” is about bodies replacement, “Weathering with you” is about girl who can change the weather, “Beyond the sky” is about alternative future, etc. From my point of view, the art must be connected with real destinies and real people, it makes art closer to the audience. The story of this anime is closer to the reality than any of Shinkai’s work. Maybe even Makoto had such story in his personal life so he could express these feelings more powerful than if he imagined them. Maybe lots of viewers had this kind of sad love stories. There are lots of possible variants, but facts remain as facts – this anime has connection with real life.Conclusion One of anime-films I will re-watch many times, I think. It is combination of emotional music, catching plot, perfect picture, graceful details and beautiful end.

“At what speed must I live…to be able to see you again?” – Takaki Toono