Bet you didn't know that I was an anime lover eh?! Well yes, I adore it. Just to be clear there are no episodes since it's a movie. If you're interested in watching it after reading the review just tweet me. Anime reviews are something that I'm thinking of bringing permanently on the blog, what are your thoughts on that? Oh and of course; AR = Anime Review. And yes you deserve a cookie if you read all of the review :P Also, I contemplated including the trailer but I don't think that it does the movie justice, so I chose not to.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (19 September 2008 UK )
Rated; 12 A - 98 Mins - Animation|Comedy| Drama
Director:
Mamoru Hosoda
Writers:
Yasutaka Tsutsui (novel), Satoko Okudera (screenplay)
Stars:
Riisa Naka, Takuya Ishida and Mitsutaka Itakura
Rating; A
My Thoughts - Mokoto and her best friends Chiaki and Kousuke have an inseparable and touching bond that has always kept them together, but what Mokoto fails to notice is the things they have sacrificed to ensure that they always stay together and that she never feels alone. Both are great looking guys and receive a fair amount of attention from girls but for some reason - perhaps due to her nativity she never seems to realise why both turn each girl away. She fails to notice that things surely can't be this way forever. People change, move on and grow.
I saw that the three of them, when together were in a world of their own. They had this little routine of theirs that it seemed over the years had become the norm for them. Their friendship was touching but what they had isolated any other guy or girl coming into the mix. I can now see why girls were jealous of Mokoto. What they had shut out any other girl having a chance with both boys, and it was from this aspect that Mokoto was naive. I have a feeling that the boys knew exactly what they had affected others, how it affected them, but they cared too much for her to even attempt to change anything. Like I said this whole dynamic had become the norm.
Mokoto's time arrives the day she steps into school and sees the words "time waits for no one" on the blackboard. Shortly after she comes across a strange object that will not only save her life but allow her to time travel. This object is both a curse and a gift. It will be the reason behind undeniable pain and regret but also the reason behind love and hope. When Mokoto gets carried away with this new power she soon starts to learn that you can't be selfish and try to mend your own past without hurting another, and she learns this the hard way.
You then have a triangle of some sorts although I'm not sure if you can call it that because one never really opens up about his feelings which I found sad. They both care for her so much but either she is clueless, or discovers how they feel and makes sure that it never happened. She makes countless mistakes that frustrated me greatly, but I like how this anime shows that there are consequences for certain actions. I think, personally, that it was important for her to deal with those consequences because ultimately had she not she would have not become the person who she became, and would have not learned from her mistakes.
What really surprised me though was how touching this movie became. It took a sudden turn and became very serious and heartbreaking. Mokoto goes through an array of emotions. One minute life is going good and she is in bliss from this new discovery, but then things start to go wrong. As she goes through these ordeals she has no other choice but to face them head on. It makes her instantly mature. She becomes much more aware of the affect her two best friends have on other girls, she starts to see how selfish she has been and how kind and selfless they have been in always putting her first. It's when she really opens her eyes for the first time that she sets to put things right in the best way she can, but is it too late?
I think I've been harsh though. The thing is that Mokoto is naive and reckless but she is also confident and in some areas mature. She's not one of those girls who worries, or for that matter cares what others think. She isn't the kind of girl who feels the need to surround herself with many people or be in a certain clique, but is perfectly happy to be around the two boys that make her happy and comfortable. Furthermore what she goes through perhaps made me forget that she is merely a 17 year old girl who is allowed to make mistakes. I think I forgot her age in the midst of becoming engrossed in the anime. But it's hard too. When you watch this anime everything builds up gradually: her mistakes, the suffering of others, regret, guilt - that at the time you don't think that she's a young girl who is going through a hard time. I wasn't really able acknowledge this until I had finished watching it. So don't be too hard on yourself if you end up doing the same. It just means that you were really sucked in. With that I need to let you guys know that it gets a little more serious towards the last 30 minutes. Before that and throughout there is also a lot of great humour which had me laughing countless times that you will really enjoy!
I think I've been harsh though. The thing is that Mokoto is naive and reckless but she is also confident and in some areas mature. She's not one of those girls who worries, or for that matter cares what others think. She isn't the kind of girl who feels the need to surround herself with many people or be in a certain clique, but is perfectly happy to be around the two boys that make her happy and comfortable. Furthermore what she goes through perhaps made me forget that she is merely a 17 year old girl who is allowed to make mistakes. I think I forgot her age in the midst of becoming engrossed in the anime. But it's hard too. When you watch this anime everything builds up gradually: her mistakes, the suffering of others, regret, guilt - that at the time you don't think that she's a young girl who is going through a hard time. I wasn't really able acknowledge this until I had finished watching it. So don't be too hard on yourself if you end up doing the same. It just means that you were really sucked in. With that I need to let you guys know that it gets a little more serious towards the last 30 minutes. Before that and throughout there is also a lot of great humour which had me laughing countless times that you will really enjoy!
Although I felt for Kousuke I was always with Chiake. There's this charm and a certain charisma about him that just draws you to him and makes him so endearing and smexy. Or maybe it's because it seems that Kousuke is neglected a bit in the anime. The writer, obviously, for some reason didn't really go into any real depth like they did with Chiaki, but I'm guessing there's a reason behind that :)
THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME started off a little slow for the first few minutes but soon enough it really picked up and I was completely engrossed. I cannot stop gushing enough about this anime. Not only does it teach you a thing or two but it's romantic in this hopeless kind of way that is just so sad. A memorable moment for me is when she is tears, and not only in tears but actually sobbing and running up the stairs to a roof I think it is? *If you see that scene let me know how it made you feel*. That moment had me emotional because you can really feel her pain and all the regret that she feels. If you're an Anime lover, and heck even if you're not, WATCH THIS because it was freaking brilliant!! The last 10 minutes that lead up to the ending were awesome in particular. So much built up to that moment and then suddenly there's this new revelation, a decision to be made, a possible mistake made, yet again, only for something else to occur. YOU WILL be all over the place whilst watching this. Laughing, smirking, close to tears and anxious as hell! I think when something has the power to evoke such a strong reaction it's always an indication that it's worthwhile watching. I honestly walked away from this anime feeling a little heavy hearted because of the ending but quite awed by how beautiful it really was. Can you tell that I really liked it? xD
Of course it would be ridiculous for me to say that every one of you will love it. Like I mentioned. I can imagine even non - anime lovers enjoying this but I can't guarantee that even anime lovers will love it. You're going to have to go on a whim like I did when I spotted it on Jenn's blog and hope for the best. For the most part though if you give it a go do be patient with it for at least 5 - 10 minutes because it's worth it. I know you may be thinking; well Aly you gave it an A and you obviously love it right? Well yes, true, but what if I connected with it in a completely different way you know? I just don't want you to put your hopes up, but the minimum that you can get from it, is a sweet touching story with endearing characters. Also I wasn't the biggest fan of the artwork at first but actually grew to like it. If you do watch it let me know what you think. Hopefully you'll fall in love with it like I did =)
Heads up to Jenn from Books At Midnight who did a post on Anime in which this was featured and caught my eye. =)
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