Today I finally watched the Japanese animated film, Shinkai Makoto's 5 Centimeters Per Second. It's been almost a year since Cid told me to download this, but I only got to watch it now coz I'm not a huge fan of seriously mushy love stories. /shot :)) Anyway, I shall proceed with my review.
The whole movie is composed of three stories (well, actually, one story line, broken down into three episodes in different POVs). The first few scenes are breathtaking. I'm a huge fan of beautiful art, and everything in this movie is eyecandy; the colors, the fine lines, the animation... The cinematography is plain awesome! The script was well written too. It's poetic, but not to the point of blatant cheesiness.
5cm Per Second is a slow-paced film, primarily because its aim is to just give the viewers a tasteful touch of what life and love is... or so I think. The first episode is tearjerking. It tells a story of two people, Takaki & Akari, who are separated by distance but bound together by love. I really like how sincere and pure the emotions of the characters are, and how the whole story was narrated. It is honest and sweet; not pretentious.
Episode two begins after Takaki moved to this city even farther away from Akari. It tells the story of a girl, Kanae, who falls in love with him. She eventually realizes that what Tohno-kun (Takaki) really desires if far beyond what she can give her. It's one heartbreaking story from Kanae's pov. One sweet tale of an unrequitted love.
The third episode is the last chapter of the story, and also the shortest. begins on the location of the first scene of the first episode, in the city where Takaki and Akari grew up. It's a painful realization of the lost essence of life and of the love that he was never sure of. Takaki and Akari continue to live their separate lives, on the hope of finally getting to watch the cherry blossoms together again, one day.
"If I could live life over again, I would be at your side every time.
Because I would want nothing more precious than you."
I am totally in love with open endings. I believe it gives the viewers the freedom to think of what will happen next. It lets the story progress on each and everyone's minds. I literally teared up when the ending theme played, partly because I always wanted Takaki and Akari to be together; And I always thought moving on was the hardest thing one could ever decide on. It's like letting go of what you've dreamed of, and building another dream from scratch.
Thank you for reading my short, incoherent film review. I recommend everyone to go and watch
5 Centimeters Per Second, and download a high-res copy for maximum viewing pleasure.
Labels: anime, reviews
Born on the 14th of January 1991, Louise Anne Manuel (Luisa to most people) has been captivated by all things surreal. Art has never been her passion, for it is her life. She is currently keeping herself busy with commissioned and personal shoots where she either models or works behind the lens. She's not as busy as you probably think; anime, movies and japanese dramas still eat most of her time. Coffee runs through her veins, and she can never have too much junk food (and food in general).
