I've wanted to watch this one for a while, I think, since I hit up some good reviews about it and the art looked pretty. I was talking to crap a couple days back, who was waxing lyrical about the awesomeness that is Makoto Shinkai's 5cm/second... so I downloaded 5cm (*loves*) and then on a kick, downloaded Toki Wo Kakeru Shoujo too. (And I also started downloading Dennou Coil... MWA HA HA). It's kind of dangerous since I still have about half of Mushishi and the first 7 episodes of Aria 2 sitting on my HD from months ago -_-;;

Anyhow, I definitely really enjoyed this movie, even though I think it's slightly tough luck that I followed Makoto Shinkai up with this film. As lovely as the artwork is, again it's just really hard after 5cm... especially some of the time-rewinding-leaping scenes, the effects can seem a little tacky. Also the story is a lot more lighthearted, in comparison to 5cm which is very atmospheric and rather depressing, so maybe I wasn't coming at it from the right mood to begin with. Nonetheless it was pretty good, it definitely reminded me a bit of Studio Ghibli's works. And while I can't say the story struck me as completely original (girl leaps back through time and finds that her actions negatively affects people around her... etc.) but it was still done really well. Funny, but with serious bits integrated well into the overall flow... really captured the summery feel that you can almost grab with your hands, and I definitely didn't see the semi-twist ending coming so that was really nice x]

Definitely worth a watch if you haven't seen yet :] I also loved the soundtrack...! XD Am downloading it now, haven't really downloaded any new OSTs in a while x)

Yay! I saw this recently as well. I liked the (somewhat shaky) progression of the story as well as the time-line effects they used. Some of the animation was really smooth and life-like (ie: swinging of the bat, etc.), and I'm always a sucker for stuff like that. My major gripe with it is the voice-acting when Makoto starts crying later on in the movie. It was just extremely unconvincing, and kind-of annoying. I know it's not that big-of-a-deal but little things like that bother me. Other than that, it was a great movie.

Haha you're totally right about Makoto's crying. I'm not sure if it's the voice that bothered me, maybe it was more some of the circumstances and that she did it more than once towards the end. In fact that's one of the main reasons why I decided not to keep the movie, but luckily it wasn't THAT long. Actually this sort of reminds me of Saikano. I always feel slightly heartless saying this but Chise just kept crying, and crying, and crying, especially towards the end. Not to say that it wasn't understandable, but almost every episode she was crying - I couldn't really empathize with her much at all since I lost patience with it pretty quickly and just remember thinking constantly "oh, there she goes again."

I watched this on the big screen at the cinema and it totally rocked my socks off.

Yeah the crying was quite unconvincing but I think all in all the humor saved the day and I was very impressed with how they could deal with the rather serious themes in such a light hearted fashion. (KARAOKE!!!! =ÞÞÞÞ)

flyin, you're absolutely right about the soundtrack - I was addicted to it for weeks. I think the use of parts of Bach's Goldberg variations (aria & variation#1) as BGM was very apt for those scenes where they played. Plus, I still have the OP/ED/insert tracks on my cell phone - Oku Hanako has got such a pure voice.

For what its worth, crying is extremely hard to pull in voice acting. Especially when you have to match it up to pre-animated scenes. But yea, defiinetly agree it was a little worse in this case then normal. I actually thought the animation was really good. Sure it wasnt 5cm, but for a smaller budget animation, I think they definitely met/exceeded my expectations.

on a random note, did anyone find it somewhat cheap in the way they connected this movie to the original? the exact same thing happening to Makoto in this movie, that happen to her "aunt" Kazuko. You would honestly think they would just call this a remake and modify Kazuko to not be the protagonist from the first film, instead of marking this as a sequel.

Oh, I didn't know there was an original.

originally a book actually, then they made a lice action movie of it in the 80s. The anime is somewhat of a remake for a more modern context but done in a way where it can be considered a sequel. Chronologically, it follows the events of the first movie but ....contains the same story essentially.

Yeah I liked the animation too. It was definitely GOOD, but it would've been hard for any anime to follow a 5cm viewing I think. I did enjoy Tokikake a lot :]

Glad to hear that the OST is as good as I remember :D You know how some OSTs sound better in context of the anime but don't work as well standalone? This one definitely felt like a winner though.

My friend was telling us about the original live action - black and white oldie goodness LOL. But since I haven't seen it and don't plan to, I don't mind however they positioned the film... I can see how that could annoy you crap XD

But for the aunt, she talked briefly about how they had dated for a little while before separating... but she made it sound like she wasn't erm... "active" enough to chase after the guy so that's why they separated in the end - with the "I regret how this happened so you should try something else" talk to Makoto. It doesn't sound like a complete ripoff...?

i wasnt annoyed i just think its somewhat funny that they would try to call this a sequel when in fact it really is a remake. not really a ripoff either, as both are based on the book, and give it credit. Definitely like the movie just thought it was somewhat funny how they decided to include the protagonist of the original story in here.

Ah yes, that movie was really great :)
And while the story isn't that original, the charming main character and atmosphere made it one of my favourite movies (just like The Cat Returns).

This movie kicked Gedo Senki's butt last summer at cinemas, in Japan, so no wonder that it's pretty good. But I have to disagree with flyin' on something: in terms of animation, this one is much much better than any of Shinkai's works, 5cm included. Shinkai's definetely the best background artist so when it comes to still visual eye-candy he surely stands out among the others, but as for animation he still has a long long way to go. If you want to watch a real masterpiece of animation, I'd suggest you Dennou Coil (which is directed, composed and so on by Mitsuo Iso, the young talent who has been labeled by japanese sakuga fans as the real successor to Miyazaki) but it seems like you're already going to watch that. :)

For those that wanted to get this on DVD with subs, theres a nice Korean 3 disc edition coming out in late september. And knowing Korean releasers, its going to be chockful of extras with a definite good transfer.

http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/code-k/version-all/section-anime/did-7711/pid-1005027540/

Haha just browsed upon this, crap I figured you might appreciate it if you haven't read it already :D

< short but sweet interview with Mamoru Hosoda

Too bad I don't understand Korean, haha. I guess I would buy the Japanese R2 version since I can play it without any problems (God Bless R2 compatibility between europe and japan), but I don't know if the Japanese version is THAT crowded with extra contents.

Shinn, most korean dvds have english subs and this included like i mentioned above so that shouldnt be a problem. Regions shouldnt be a problem either since many dvd players out there are easily crackable, not to mention you can also easily watch it off of your comp with say...vlc or anydvd.