5 Centimeters Per Second (2007) Byôsoku 5 senchimêtoru (original title)

Director:

Makoto Shinkai

Writers:

Makoto Shinkai (screenplay) and
Steven Foster (adaptation) ...
(more)

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:

School | Love | Job | Petal | Marriage

Awards:

1 win

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)
Rika Nakamura	...	(voice)
Miki Suga	...	(voice)
Mika Sakenobe	...	(voice)
Yumiko Atashika	...	(voice)
Yukako Saito	...	(voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jennifer Alyx	...	Kanae's Friend (2009 re-dub) (voice)
Anne Armogida	...	(voice: English version)
Chris Ayers	...	(voice: English version)
Eden J. Barrera	...	(voice: English version) (as Eden Barrera)
Johnny Yong Bosch	...	Takaki Toono (voice: English version)
Kira Buckland	...	Kanae Sumita (2009 re-dub) (voice: English version)
Shelley Calene-Black	...	(voice: English version)
Hilary Haag	...	Akari Shinohara (voice: English version)
Erika Lenhart	...	Akari Shinohara (2009 re-dub) (voice: English version) (as Erika Weinstein)
David Matranga	...	Takaki Toono (voice: English version)
Serena Varghese	...	Kanae Sumita (voice: English version)

Directed by
Makoto Shinkai

Writing credits
Makoto Shinkai		(screenplay)
Steven Foster		(adaptation)
Alex Von David		(adaptation)

Produced by
Jin Ho Chung	....	producer (original project)
Joey Goubeaud	....	executive producer (original project)
Noritaka Kawaguchi	....	line producer
John Ledford	....	executive producer (original project)
Rob Pereyda	....	executive producer
Makoto Shinkai	....	producer
Naomi Toda	....	promotional producer

Original Music by
Tenmon		(score music)

Cinematography by
Makoto Shinkai

Film Editing by
Makoto Shinkai

Casting by
Makoto Matsuda
Kaeko Sakamoto		(re-release)
Sawako Todoroki

Art Direction by
Makoto Shinkai

Production Management
Atsushi Obinata	....	production staff
Shelley Thomas	....	production manager (original version)
Yusuke Yoshida	....	production staff

Art Department
Yasushi Ebihara	....	coloring
Koichi Furukawa	....	coloring
Rie Furushiro	....	coloring
Airi Ichikawa	....	coloring
Toshihiro Irie	....	coloring
Hiroaki Ishi	....	coloring
Miyuki Ito	....	coloring
Masami Kakiuchi	....	coloring
Akinori Kawakami	....	coloring
Kiyoko Kikuchi	....	coloring
Akane Kumakura	....	coloring
Tomoaki Mata	....	coloring
Saito Mikami	....	color proofing
Saito Mikami	....	color setting
Naomi Mori	....	coloring
Satomi Nishinaga	....	coloring
Asami Ono	....	coloring
Jyunya Saito	....	coloring
Makoto Shinkai	....	color designer
Makoto Shinkai	....	storyboard artist
Hiromi Takahashi	....	coloring
Yukie Tamura	....	coloring
Yuki Teramoto	....	coloring
Takuya Tsurumak	....	coloring
Yukie Wakao	....	coloring
Kazuko Yamada	....	coloring
Yukiko Yokota	....	coloring

Sound Department
Tatsuhiro Amano	....	recording coordinator
Steven Foster	....	adr director
Erika Fukushima	....	recording assistant
Jacob A. Gragard	....	sound re-recording mixer
Takeshi Imaizumi	....	recording assistant
Kazuhito Nakanishi	....	recording assistant
Makoto Shinkai	....	sound director
Tsutomu Sukigara	....	sound effects
Hiroyasu Yamashita	....	recording coordinator

Special Effects by
Masahiro Sato	....	3DCG modeling
Makoto Shinkai	....	CG work
Yoshitaka Takeuch	....	CG work
Yoshikazu Takeuchi	....	3DCG modeling

Visual Effects by
Makoto Shinkai	....	3D CGI work

Camera and Electrical Department
Akinori Kawakami	....	assistant camera
Saiko Mikami	....	assistant camera
Makoto Shinkai	....	camera operator

Animation Department
Kanako Araki	....	animator
Yukie Kaneko	....	animator
Ryoko Majima	....	background artist
Reiko Mano	....	animator
Koji Matsuda	....	animator
Maya	....	animator
Hyunhee Moon	....	animation proofing
Rie Nakagoma	....	animator
Naoto Nakamura	....	animator
Masami Nakanishi	....	animator
Mai Nakazato	....	animator (as Mai Nakazoto)
Miyuki Nishimura	....	animator
Mayumi Ohmura	....	animator
Kazuharu Saito	....	animator
Takahito Sugawara	....	animator
Etsuko Tamakoshi	....	animator
Kumiko Tanihira	....	animator
Takumi Tanji	....	background artist
Akiko Tejima	....	animator
Alexandra Weihrauch	....	animator
Ayano Yagi	....	animator
Yukari Yamaura	....	animator
Kazumi Yokoyama	....	animator
Mariko Yoshida	....	animator

Editorial Department
Daisuke Atsumi	....	HD real-time editor
Yûji Mitsuya	....	post-production director
Yuko Shimura	....	film lab coordinator
Nozomi Takeuchi	....	HD real-time editor
Yoshinari Yamzaki	....	editor: HD

Music Department
Maiko Chizuwa	....	musician: 2nd violin
Yuki Eguchi	....	musician: 1st violin
Ariko Hanwa	....	musician: viola
Kubota Kenji	....	music production manager
Kensuke Minakawa	....	music production manager
Toshio Okazawa	....	assistant music arranger
Toshio Okazawa	....	musician: acoustic guitar
Miho Sakai	....	musician: cello
Taiki	....	musician: piano

Other crew
Victor Cormier	....	dvd menu design
Brendan Frayne	....	translation proofing
Hiroaki Hirabayashi	....	subtitle timing
Takumi Kakeyami	....	promotional support
Yumiko Kikuchi	....	production accountant
Sarah Alys Lindholm	....	media coordinator
Yûji Mitsuya	....	voice director
Chiharu Ochiai	....	promotional design
Hitomi Okajima	....	promotional support
Masayuki Takada	....	promotional support
Tetsuji Yamashita	....	technical coordinator

Thanks
Yuji Aikawa	....	special thanks
Yumi Amano	....	special thanks
Ryoji Chimura	....	special thanks
Ichiro Fukushima	....	special thanks
Taro Hokari	....	special thanks
Setsuko Ino	....	special thanks
Himuro Isamu	....	special thanks
Tsutomu Kawahigasi	....	special thanks
Toshiaki Konuma	....	special thanks
Raita Kosone	....	special thanks
Chieko Misako	....	special thanks
Miko Mori	....	special thanks
Masatoshi Nakao	....	special thanks
Toshiya Sano	....	special thanks
Hiroaki Shimogai	....	special thanks
Haruhisa Shinkai	....	special thanks
Masaaki Tatewaka	....	special thanks
Jyun Uemura	....	special thanks
Shinita Yoshida	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• CoMix Wave
• ADV Films (2008)

Distributors

• CoMix Wave (2007) (Japan) (theatrical) (Japan)
• ADV Films (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Asia Video Publishing Co. Ltd. (2008) (Hong Kong) (all media)
• Bandai Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (re-release)
• Crunchyroll (2009) (worldwide) (all media) (re-release)
• Madman Entertainment (2009) (Australia) (all media)

Other Companies

• Anime Torotoro  
• Bang Zoom! Entertainment  English voice recording (re-recording)
• Bunkyo Gakuin University  coverage co-operation
• Center for Intellectual Property and Multilingual Digital Media Content  interview co-operation
• Continental Far East  Dolby consultant
• E Smart  
• Edoya  
• Free Style  coverage co-operation
• Hiro Sound Technic  
• Honda  coverage co-operation
• I Shop Ishido-ten  coverage co-operation
• I@Studio  recording studio
• Imagica  digital & film lab
• Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency  coverage co-operation (as JAXA)
• Jinnan Studio  
• Jungle-Gym  
• Minami Nihon Rakuno Kyodo  coverage co-operation
• Mizuho Bank  funding
• Nakatane High School  coverage co-operation
• Nelke Planning Company  
• Office Augusta Co. Ltd.  
• Rolling Sound Mastering Studio  music mastering studio (as Rolling Sound Mastering)
• Rolling Sound  
• Sanko-Sha  
• Seika Foods  interview co-operation
• Studio Cockpit  
• Tanegashima Space Center  coverage co-operation
• Tokyo TV Center  dubbing studio
• Universal Music  theme song
• Yahoo Japan  advertising cooperation
• aLIVE Recording Studio  music recording studio

Also Known As:

"Byôsoku 5 senchimêtoru" - Japan (original title)
"5 Centimeters Per Second: A Chain of Short Stories About Their Distance" - International (English title) (complete title)
"5cm Per Second" - International (English title) (short title)

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 | Canada:G (Quebec) | New Zealand:G | Germany:o.Al. | UK:U

Company:

CoMix Wave

Trivia:

The title 5 Centimeters Per Second comes from the speed at which cherry blossoms 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

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When the train departs from Nogi, the sound comes from a train traveling much faster.

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 Their Standing Points (1999) (V)

If you can find it, it's well worth a watch.

"5 cm per second. The speed at which cherry blossom petals fall." It looks like Makoto Shinkai has directed another little minimalist masterpiece. Bearing a distant resemblance to underground coming-of-age classics such as My Life as a Dog, 5 cm interweaves three short stories seen from the viewpoints of different characters. Each story revolves around a specific time period in the protagonist's life: his last days at primary school, graduating from high school, his early life as an adult.

Through the prism of an early sakura-blossom romance, the film primarily explores the themes of distance and loneliness, though it does so in a gentle way that is akin to recollecting your most beautiful sunrise memory rather than resorting to being dark and gloomy.

The music blends in very well with the movie, enhancing the emotional experiences conveyed, while passing almost unnoticed - as should happen in the best soundtracks. The animation is top notch and the quality of the drawings is just mesmerizing. You may often get the urge to pause the movie just to explore the richness of the tapestry.

If you can find it, it's well worth a watch.

9/10