If you haven't watched 5 Centimeters per Second go watch it and come back here :)
5 Centimeters per Second is probably one of Shinkai's most controversial works, it's often misunderstood and described as boring. I hope with this review I can give you insight into the movies themes and help introduce a new perspective.
#Story (9/10):
At the start of the movie there is a small clip, which is silent in the Japanese version, where young Akari and Takaki talk about watching the cherry blossoms fall together. Cherry blossoms are culturally very important in japan and symbolise the nature of life.
Cherry Blossom:
The first episode describes the connection between Takaki and Akari, they grow close through the time they spend together and their similar interests and start calling each others names without honorifics (a sign of deep friendship). Akari and Takaki are forced apart by their distance after their parents both relocate further away. When Takagi goes to meet Akari he prepared a letter to confess his feelings but lost it on the way there but after they spend the night in the snow covered town in the morning when Takaki departs he decides that their time together replaced the need for a letter, this decision is reciprocated where Akari also decides not to give a letter she wrote to him as he leaves.
Cosmonaut:
The second episode is a more saddening story of the unreciprocated love between Takaki and Kanae. Kanae falls in love with Takaki but through Takaki's distant demeanour and his ignorance to her feelings she realises that Takaki wasn't looking at her but at a future where he could be with Akari. This episode features heavy imagery of space and distance which I'll explore later. Once Kanae realises that his aspirations are far beyond what she can offer him she decides not say anything, even though she believes she will always be in love with him. It ends with her crying herself to sleep.
5 Centimeters per Second:
The third and shortest episode concludes the story of Takaki. A time skip of 9 years has occurred and Takaki is living in the 'modern era', he has a job as a programmer and an estranged girlfriend. Takaki's longing for Akari has brought detriment to his own lifestyle and he shows major signs of depression. Meanwhile Takaki is a distant memory to Akari, she is preparing to marry another man, however she finds a letter that she had written for him years ago. The movie gives a sentiment of hope as both Takaki and Akari recall their meeting some years ago in the snow covered town in dual narration. The final and most prominent scene of the movie shows Akari and Takaki opposite each other across the railroad from the start of the movie, the same place they had promised to watch the cherry blossoms years ago, they look back at each other but a train cuts their view off. By the time the train passes Akari has gone leaving Takaki. Takaki smiles to himself and continues walking.
The Ending:
This ending was not the most satisfying ending nor the happiest, however it did play into the key themes of the movie very well creating a fitting ending. Their promise made at the start was fulfilled which is a good example of Shinkai's brilliant cyclic storyboarding. Akari not waiting for the train to pass pisses a lot of people off however in my opinion it is fitting; women tend to have a more impulsive attitude to their actions while men are very goal orientated. Thus Takaki was only a distant memory to Akari while Takaki had not stopped thinking about a life with her up to that point which would have been why she didn't stop. Takaki's smile at the end is a positive sign to show his acceptance of Akari moving on, he realised that he couldn't live his life in the shadow of the past.
There are several key themes in this movie: Distance, Loneliness , Human Nature and Modern Society.
Distance is the primary theme, as shown in the movies caption "a chain of stories about their distance". In the end the physical distance between Akari and Takaki is what drove them apart and the emotional distance between Takaki and Kanae stopped her from admitting her feelings. Distance is also shown through the railroad crossing that divided Akari and Takaki in both the start and the end.
Loneliness is a theme in the movie directly attached to distance. The visuals of the movie really helped emphasise this. Throughout most of the movie Takaki is alone, when humans are alone they become detached from reality which you can see egregiously effects him.
Human Nature is referenced to by the title itself, 5 Centimeters per Second describes the rate of which cherry blossoms fall, they are a direct parallel to humans representing the slowness of life and how humans often start together but slowly drift into their separate ways. Human Nature is a prominent feature of all of the characters as well.
Modern Society is one of my favourite themes, Shinkai gets tremendous credit for his realism in his movies and this is no exception. During the time space of the movie we are subjected to the changes in technology over the years. I found this quote while looking for other interpretations on the movie which demonstrates exactly this:
the world pushes closer together as a result of technology and globalisation
We also see in the third episode that Takaki is working with APIs in an office programming jobs which is a modern concept, detailed excellently.
The rocket that launched in the second act was planned for a decade long journey alone in space, this may seem out of place however it fits into all of the key themes of the movie. It also gives us the metaphor of the episode's title, 'Cosmonaut', which describes Takaki as a Cosmonaut in space, a long way away from Kanae. Being a Cosmonaut requires dedication and courage; this is a parallel which can be drawn to one confronting their own feelings.
A focus in modern society nowadays is peoples roles and their plans for the future. In the second episode Kanae is shown to have doubts about what she wants to become in the future shown through her being stuck on the Careers questionnaire. In the movie Kanae folds her questionnaire into a paper aeroplane which symbolises her choice to play things by ear and see where life takes her, almost how a Cherry blossom will find its own way through the air.
#Characters (8/10):
The characters in the movie are surprisingly detailed given the short runtime of the movie. Akari gets given the least detail which makes the most sense as the story is focused around Takaki. Takaki is built really well, he is shown to have a complex emotional psyche. He does have issues with letting go of what he is attached to however.
Kanae is the most underrated characters to this show and she probably has the most detailed character out of the three. She is the opposite of Akari in character and isn't the most graceful or intelligent, she spends a lot of time in her own head. Kanae feels that Takaki is the centre of all her troubles. She decided she’ll confess her love when she successfully manages to stand on her board again. Even when she manages to stand on her board again, which was a really beautiful scene to watch by the way, after being caught waiting for Takaki her fear of rejection sets in and she becomes internally conflicted again. She scrambles for the right words to say to Takaki to deliver her feelings but never manages to do so as she realises the truth of his character.
The way these characters were portrayed is very different to Shinkai's newer works. Only anime elitists such as myself are really able to read between the lines to deduce the personality of the characters. There isn't a lot of character interaction in this which is something that the movie really limited itself to. Shinkai did take a step in the right direction when he chose to create stories with lots of character interaction as it means it can be enjoyed by even those who aren't completely serious about what they watch which is completely fine. However this does by no means mean that internal monologue was not a good choice for this movie.
A lot of characters from other shows are great and you end up caring a lot about them, but they cant realistically exist, they're basically the ideal version of a human; they're made for our enjoyment. However I felt these characters are strongly planted in reality, I cared a lot for these characters because they actually act, think and behave like humans.
#Production (9/10):
The art in this movie is simply gorgeous, it may not be on the level that Shinkai's newest movies are but for 2007 when it released I am convinced this would have been one of the prettiest anime to date.
The art is just too good at delivering the perfect atmosphere for each scene in the movie for example below there an image of Takaki being all depressed and like it genuinely looked like me after finishing this movie.
The soundtrack, written by Tenmon, is a lovely ambient and extremely powerful yet simplistic score which is all acoustic. One of my favourite tracks from him was "Kiss" which was an inspired simplistic motif however with just the playing technique it created this really beautiful moment where Akari and Takaki kissed which is unforgettable. Obviously Tenmon didn't really stand a chance against RADWIMPS who write the music for all of Shinkai's new movies however. I would seriously suggest listening to the Weathering With You soundtrack fr it hits. The smaller scale for this movie and its deeply emotional and personal message allowed the music to resonate beautifully. So yeah 10/10 well done Tenmon.
For the main event we have One more time, One more chance written by Masayoshi Yamazaki. The entire movies soundtrack revolved around this song, Tenmon wrote most of it his work in the same key and was obviously inspired by its melody. The song itself is a beautiful song which perfectly encapsulates the feeling the movie provoked, almost as if it was planned. The sequence the song plays over really works with the flow of the song. Its also good for the flow of the show as it lets you mellow in the depression it just gave you.
#Final Thoughts
Thanks for sitting through this long review it took hours to create so it would be cool if you could perhaps interact with it somehow, my twitter is on my profile if you want to message me.
If you didn't enjoy the movie your not alone and in some respects I don't blame you, not everyone's brain works the same and not everyone will click with it on the first watch but I hope reading this might give you a little insight if you decide to watch it again.
Makoto if your reading this you owe me my will to live :)