Miscellaneous / Random Musings / Shinkai Makoto

Have you ever seen something so pretty and so touching that it made you want to cry? I don’t usually label myself as the sentimental type, but the trailer for Byousoku 5 Centimeter (5 Centimeters Per Second) (mirror) evoked those emotions so easily. I think it’s a combination of the amazing art and a fantastic piano piece. A very similar piece (if not a different part of the same song) is also played in the teaser trailer, which is equally beautiful. I’ve got it playing in the background right now because it’s such a serene, almost sad song. If you haven’t yet seen these trailers, you must go download them right now.

For those of you unfamiliar with this film, it is acclaimed director Shinkai Makoto‘s latest work that features three short stories titled Oukashou, Cosmonaut, and Byousoku 5 Centimeter. They all revolve around a boy named Toono Takaki (voiced by Mizuhashi Kenji) and take place from the early 1990s to the present day. The first and third stories, Oukashou and Byousoku 5 Centimeter, will have two different voice actresses (Kondou Yoshimi and Onoue Ayaka) playing the part of a girl named Shinohara Akari. It seems that Takaki and Akari got separated at the same time they graduated from elementary school, and the Oukashou part is about his reunion with her. The second story Cosmonaut is about Takaki after that reunion told from the point of view of a classmate named Sumita Kanae (voiced by Hanamura Satomi) who has feelings for him. The third and final Byousoku 5 Centimeter is the title work that depicts the wandering of their souls once they’ve grown up. The movie’s theme song is going to be Yamazaki Masayoshi‘s One more time, One more chance from his 1997 single by the same name (Watch a live version on Youtube).

Byousoku 5 Centimeter, which has a running time of approximately an hour, will premiere in early spring of next year at the Shibuya Cinema Rise.

60 Comments

  3. I been waiting for this film. The animation is incredible. The story seems okay. Shinkai’s
    work has mostly been science fiction, but I’ve never really enjoyed it. But I really love the overall look of this non-sci fi film.

    Avisch
    Reply

  5. I’ve watched Shinkai’s previous movie “The Place Promised in our Early Days” and i’ve got to say the animation team CoMix Wave keep getting better! Can’t wait to watch this when it premiers :3

    WaHa
    Reply

  6. man…Shinkai hasn’t disappointed me yet in his movies..and to have this kind of animation compared to Voices of a Distant Star i was like O_O…this is like…what ghilbi+Bones Kyoto would be

    dac
    Reply

  10. I’ve seen one of his past work, titled ‘Voices of a Distant Star’. It was a beautiful movie, a rare feat I’ve seen from a sci-fi/mecha movie, and I’m a bit dissapointed that I only got to see it with a Korean dub while I was still away.

    I can still remember that movie and crying at some parts. I’ll definately watch this one, just for the music and the animation at least.

    Knightmare213
    Reply

  11. In case you didn’t notice, I added two extra OVA entry into this week’s schedule, which took up all the free time I had up until today. Yes, I would have like to have written about this earlier, but that wasn’t physically possible.
    And just because other people have mentioned it before, doesn’t mean it’s not worth talking about here, especially since the trailer gave me such strong feelings. Based on what you two imply, I should only blog about things that no one else has already covered. What’s more – and this isn’t to insult Jeff’s, John Wong’s, or Imps’ entries – the only other blog that provided information about what the actual movie was about was Alafista.
    On top of that, not everyone reads every blog, and I know there are still people who haven’t been informed about this film. Heck, that’s why I said “For those of you unfamiliar with this film” to start the second paragraph.
    I’m sorry if this sounds rude, but what you two said was a slap in the face to what I do here.

    Omni
    Reply

  16. nice
    and yeah Exile and Danny, if you’re gonna be comparing Omni to other bloggers, then shut up, even when he’s now dividing his time between college, life and blog, and even when he had to drop the page a while, he’s still ongoing with his page
    and thanks Omni for the info

    pach
    Reply

  18. Aww come on guys, you don’t have to bag him for posting it later than other anime bloggers. What’s with the elitism. He hasn’t blogged about it so let him. Its his blog.

    Anyway…i love shinkai’s work. Everytime i listen to Kumo No Mukou, Yakusoku No Basho’s OST, it makes my skin tingle. 😉

    wolfx
    Reply

  19. The animation simply looks breathtaking. The colours…lighting..and the smoothness, amazing combination.

    This is the first time I’ve heard of this, so I thank you for the entry…and now I have to wait patiently for this.

    Basilimux
    Reply

  21. Yes… 5cm/s is going to be goood… extremely good.I unashamedly shed a tear watching that tralier.

    And for god’s sake people… why are you bashing Omni for being late on the post. Since when did he had deadlines on his blogging to follow?

    Kurogane
    Reply

  23. omg, this is another one of those MUST-SEE anime, but will definitely leave a weird, empty feeling in me for a while after watching…
    I remember Voices of A Distant Star… that was pure sadness… omg… how could something like that ever happen… it is so cruel…

    geez, Shinkai Makoto is a master…

    psychohare
    Reply

  24. Omni u’re right, not everyone reads every blog, i certainly dont. I’m grateful that u blogged this, coz i saw a couple of this downloads floating around at chinese bt trackers, and i had absolutely no idea what it was… but now i know, and im grateful for that concise insight. Thanks!

    psychohare
    Reply

  26. Whoa thanks for the info. I had no idea that Shinkai Makoto has other works besides Hoshi no Koe (Voices of a Distant Star). Now I’m interested in this new release or rather releases. Animation looks out of this world as usual, heck, dare I say it looks even better than Hoshi no Koe. BTW, thanks for the link to the trailer.

    Angel
    Reply

  27. Like everyone else said, the art is simply amazing. Quality and design just blows me away completely, never saw anything like it. The piece is really beautiful as well, I’m really looking forward to this.

    Naakay
    Reply

  28. This has a very creative title. The lines in the first trailer were just beautiful. I will be using it as a signature for forums…

    Beautiful. I just wish I could actually see it in the cinema.

    Rasmiel
    Reply

  31. @Omni: Yeah, it’s true. I just noticed the new trailer right now when I read your blog, otherwise, I wouldn’t even’ve noticed it. So thanks for the write-up.

    As for the trailer, as a fan os Shinkai works, I’m just really excited. The animation looks gorgeous, and some scenes featured in this trailer just left me speechless. It’s just *that* beautiful.

    Oh, and anyone checked ef’s op already? It’s also by Shinkai, and it’s pretty neat as well!

    Blue-Kun
    Reply

  32. I’ve been a huge fan of Shinkai Makoto’s works.
    I surely do hope the movie will be out in spring and the release won’t drag on like Kumo no Mukou’s did. (@_@)

    I didn’t know about the second trailer’s release, so thanks for posting the info!

    Arisu
    Reply

  33. “Have you ever seen something so pretty and so touching that it made you want to cry”

    Yes!!

    Studio Ghibli´s Grave of the Fireflies(火垂るの墓) Made me cry!!

    watashi wa totemo Hazukashi!!with this confession but if someone here already saw this anime too you trully would know what I mean!!
    but hey THX I´ll try this one “Oukashou and Byousoku 5 Centimeter” too!! 😉

    tensai_otaku
    Reply

  34. i get goosebumps watching the trailers… it’s so beautiful.
    And the music was provoking, the animation was mind-blowing, and seiyuu’s voices created the exact mood… i’m sooo looking forward to this one!!

    miharuyuki
    Reply

  37. @Dani
    The song’s by Yamazaki Masayoshi, “One more time, One more chance”. I’m pretty sure Omni said it in the last line of the 2nd paragraph =w=; including a link to his live performance of the song @ the Kouhaku in 2005 :3

    WaHa
    Reply

  40. Didn’t really care much for The Place Promised in Our Early Days, it was good, but no amount of amazing visuals can save that story when you start to compare it to Voices of a Distant Star which had a much shorter in length and equally as good visuals.

    Galaxiaceles
    Reply

  45. How do 66% of you not know who Hayao Miyazaki is (from today’s poll)?

    PATHETIC. Stop burying your faces in Makona plushes and learn a thing or two about your hobby already. Ignorant fans aren’t fans at all.

    Tofu
    Reply

  46. O.o Yeah holy crap, how can ppl not know who Miyazaki is?! He is the only japanese animator who got an oscar award for his anime.

    Personally though, I voted for Shinkai but that’s just personal preferences. I only like Miyazaki’s more recent work. I find his old stuff too slow. In any case Shinkai is absolutely amazing for doing Hoshi no Koe… I was so impressed by that one man anime that I thought it painful when waiting for Promised Place — which turned out to be beautifully animated but a bit slow plot wise.

    But this looks absolutely amazing. I totally can’t wait to see it.

    Ori
    Reply

  47. I’m actually quite surprised myself that so many people don’t know who either director is. Shinkai Makoto I might be able to understand people not knowing because he’s a relatively new, up and coming director. But to not know the famed Miyazaki…

    Omni
    Reply

  51. I wouldn’t jump to conclusions about the shows and movies just because they look nice.

    Shinkai Makoto does a lot of visually impressive stuff, but I thought some of his works could’ve used a better narrative and writing. And even though everyone hails Miyazaki as an anime god, I have the same criticism of him. They’re both great, but I wouldn’t say that they reach any type of apex with their movies.

    Shippoyasha
    Reply

  55. i absolutely love the music and the beautiful picture of the teaser, its about the best teaser i had ever seen. may i ask what is the name and the person who composed that piano song in the teaser?

    Mokay
    Reply

  56. I have watched this movie and it was heartfelt and melancholic. It leaves the audience with a realization of one’s own life. The story can be stronger as the movie focuses mainly of the male protagonist. I felt the story would’ve have been stronger if they emphasized the story a little more on the female protagonist, Akari. However, all in all, it’s a beautifully made movie, and the art is exquisite beyond words. There isn’t much of an music scenario, except the ending, but there are piano solos in the movie which I must say, match the atmosphere of the scene perfectly, providing an melancholic mood. With all that said, this movie deserves to be watch by everyone, but in order to truly appreciate the movie, one has to look deeper than presented movie itself and discover how Makoto Shinkai’s words impact us as an individual. The monologues of the characters, mainly the male protagonist, are truly emotionally impacting. Each phrase used is chosen with great care and the voice actors project the loneliness and the emotions of the characters well. I loved it, exquisite beyond words.

    WoooW
    Reply

  57. I watched the movie and i was absorbed in. I’ve watched the other movie of Makoto Shinkai but this one was just the Best one. The landscape was so beautiful they really did a great awesome job! the song by Tenmon like almost every makino movie was awesome as well. The ending song let me felt some dramatic, sadness and beautiful feeling. My gosh i have some tears in my eyes. I think the story in general is great, good “way” of thinking about life an all those events who happen randomly in everyone’s life. I think… Akari and Takaki were two great character even if we didn’t saw akari that much after the first chapter of the story…(that was a little things i didn’t like ). Konoe was also an important character in this story, she was one who think another point of view of the little world of Akari and Takaki lived in. Finally, in the end i was a little bit frustred that these two weren’t together… but it seem that is the way of thinking that mr Shinkai want to show to us.” Life isn’t perfect and time and space change our dream…we can live in the past… life “got to” goes on.”(life must goes on).

    I absolutly love this movie ^^

    silverwolf1492
    Reply

  58. I watched the trailer one day, and I’m also not the sentimental type when it comes to animes/movies, I don’t really remember anything I’ve watched that made me cry. But the trailer already moved me enourmously, so I bought and watched the movie, and I had this tight feeling in my throat on multiple occasions (so, not the tears stage yet). I’ll NEVER deny it, this was a beautiful anime, and I’m very glad I watched it, but…

    (Spoilers down from here)

    The end, I sort of expected it to end it like this, because I noticed the sort of “tragic/dramatic” mood for the main couple, but I kept denying it, I wanted to see a good ending. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. The last few minutes “killed” me (not saying the rest of the movie didn’t, I was completly absorbed by the movie, and felt really sad on many ocasions compared to my standards) I wasn’t this sad even by watching Air TV, and other sad animes. The lyrics of the background song (sang by the a man) fit so perfectly what was shown, and I almost broke when you saw Kanae at the airport, watching Takaki leave. The second episode “Cosmonaut” really moved me (as did the other two, but I think I can relate the most to this one because they’re in the same age-span as I am right now), and I felt horrible for her.

    I could go on for hours about this. I think the fact that I watched it from 5am to 6am, then going to bed was a “bad” idea. Today (yup, I watched it yesterday), whenever I was bored and empty-minded, I would think about the movie right away. Whenever I listened to the trailer piano song, I could feel the tight feeling I had in my throat. I had to find what to do and also be really into it, to not be bothered by the nostalgia of this anime that continues to stalk me. (On a side and off-topic note, I just loved how Shinkai Makoto kept this at a non-fiction level, so that anyone could and can relate to it.)

    Funny thing is, I tried watching it two hours ago (around midnight), and just after 1 minute I had to stop. I didn’t want to be sad I guess. The first thing that came in mind was the Cosmonaut episode and the ending with Kanae seeing Takaki departing, and I started to feel… sad? Just typing this was sort of nostalgic, because I remembered the “painful” memories about it (painful as in, this moved me tremendously.) Oh well, I’ll get myself to watch it again tommorow (I just feel I have to, I loved it), and this time I won’t stop after 1 minute… yea, I won’t stop (:

    Ah, but typing this also felt wonderful.

    Balamb
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *