Byôsoku 5 senchimêtoru (2007)

Director:

Makoto Shinkai

Writers:

Steven Foster (adaptation) and
Makoto Shinkai (writer)

Release Date:

3 March 2007 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A chain of short stories about their distance

Plot:

Told in three interconnected segments, we follow a young man named Takaki through his life as cruel winters, cold technology, and finally, adult obligations and responsibility converge to test the delicate petals of love.

Plot Keywords:

Petal | Love | Dream | Telephone | Wave

Cast

Kenji Mizuhashi	...	Takaki Toono (voice)
Yoshimi Kondou	...	Akari Shinohara (segment "Oukashou") (voice)
Satomi Hanamura	...	Kanae Sumita (segment "Cosmonaut") (voice)
Ayaka Onoue	...	Akari Shinohara (segment "Byousoku 5 Centimeter") (voice)
Risa Mizuno	...	(voice)
Yuka Terazaki	...	(voice)
Yuko Nakamura	...	(voice)
Masami Iwasaki	...	(voice)
Rei Kondo	...	(voice)
Hiroshi Shimozaki	...	(voice)
Takahiro Hirano	...	(voice)
Akira Nakagawa	...	(voice)
Keiko Izeki	...	(voice)
Suguru Inoue	...	(voice)
Rion Kako	...	(voice)

Also Known As:

5 Centimeters per Second (International: English title) (literal title) (USA)
5 Centimeters per Second: A Chain of Short Stories About Their Distance (International: English title)
5 Centimetres per Second (UK)

Runtime:

Japan:63 min (original version)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (animation)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hong Kong:I | South Korea:All | Canada:PG | USA:TV-PG | Australia:G

Company:

CoMix Wave

Trivia:

Four months to the day after the DVD release in America, ADV Films announced they were discontinuing release of the film.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Akari Shinohara: Hey... They say it's five centimeters per second.
Takaki Toono: What do you mean?
Akari Shinohara: The speed at which the sakura blossom petals fall... Five centimeters per second.

Movie Connections:

References Kanojo to kanojo no neko (1999) (V)

Great movie, greater emotions.

"The movie is named 5 Centimeters Per Second for the speed at which cherry blossom petals fall, petals being a metaphorical representation of humans, reminiscent of the slowness of life and how people often start together but slowly drift into their separate ways."

Beautiful. Absolutely an instant masterpiece by Makoto Shinkai. I enjoyed Voices of A Distant Star and The Place Promised in Our Early Days, But I never thought that he could pull off another great film.

Plot-wise, it has similarities with his previous works(Voices of A Distant Star), but it manages to create a different atmosphere here. Watching all 3 short stories consecutively, I'll have to say the final chapter was the best among 3. The pinnacle, however, is the first one. Second chapter is a little slow-paced, but it matches the movie theme nicely.

Can't have much complain towards the music. As usual, Tenmon proves he's got the talent with emotional piano pieces. The theme song is nice as well.

Animation & visual effects is stunning. Makoto Shinkai definitely gets a solid certificate to be one of the best visual directors out there at the moment.

Overall, a 9/10 for me. It's almost flawless, but nothing can be perfect, right? ;)