Carter Sigl's Guide to AnimeLand- 5 Centimeters Per Second

“Hey, they say its five centimeters per second.”
“Huh? What is?”
“The speed at which cherry blossoms fall. It’s five centimeters per second.”

Film at-a-glance:
Genre: Romance
Creator: Makoto Shinkai
Studio: CoMix Wave
Length: 63 minutes
Year: 2007
Highlights: One of the most heartbreakingly beautiful films ever made.

The past two films we have examined as part of this series (My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away) have both been Studio Ghibli films, specifically Hayao Miyazaki films. While Miyazaki is undoubtedly one of the greats of contemporary anime, and one of my all-time favorite directors, there is one director I possibly like even more: Makoto Shinkai. Shinkai rose to fame after he created a 25-minute short film completely on his own, called Voices of A Distant Star. He wrote, animated, produced, directed, and voiced it himself; the only thing he couldn’t do were the female voices and the music. Since then, he has achieved popularity and critical acclaim, and has even been called the “new Miyazaki”. Since his early success, he has made four full-length films. Out of these, my favorite is his second film, 5 Centimeters Per Second, because it makes me cry. Every single time.

5 Centimeters Per Second is the story of a boy named Takaki Tōno and the people whom he loves and who love him, and is divided into three separate acts, each showing a different section of his life. The first act, Cherry Blossoms, takes place when Takaki is 13, and details his friendship with a girl named Akari, who bonded because both of them move and change schools frequently. After Akari moves away, they continue to exchange letters, and Takaki eventually comes to the realization that he is in love with her. He decides to visit her, and to give her a letter expressing his feelings. However, his train is delayed because of a late winter blizzard, and as time stretches on it seems like he may never see her again.

The second act is called Cosmonaut, and picks up several years later when Takaki has moved to one of Japan’s small southern islands. This story is told mostly by a girl named Sumida Kanae, a native of the island and an avid surfer, who has fallen in love with Takaki. However, she is very shy, and can’t bring herself to tell Takaki how she feels about him. And more than that, Takaki is always texting on his phone, but he’s never texting her…

The final and shortest act shares it name with the film as a whole, and shows Takaki’s life a number of years later as an adult. It is partly narrated by Takaki, where he talks about his life and feelings. The rest of it is a montage showing the lives of Takaki, Sumida, and Akari, and how each of them has been able to move on from their past and embrace a new life, or how they have not. The montage is set to the popular Japanese pop song “One More Time, One More Chance”, which talks about wishing to see a loved one again. Together, the three acts show the progression of life and specifically of the love that makes up a vital part of life.

The film is interesting in that it is a love story where none of the characters are ever able to find their love. All of the love they carry is unrequited, either because of circumstances outside their control or because of their inability to let themselves find happiness. The film is so touching because it is so accurately able to sum up and express an experience that every person has gone through, showing the sort of beauty and self-awareness in the everyday that most of us only see a rare few times in our lives. In addition, the film is a complex philosophical piece on people and the nature of love, talking about how life isn’t a fairy tale and that we don’t always find love or happiness, but how we have to move on and live our lives regardless. The title of the film comes from the speed at which cherry blossoms fall from the tree to the ground, and is used as a metaphor for falling in love. Another motif is using a rocket and images of the stars as a way of illustrating how far away someone is whom we love but who doesn’t love us. 

In addition to that, the film’s beauty is enhanced by both the animation and the soundtrack. Makoto Shinkai has become well known for his gorgeous animation, but this film is the crown jewel of all of them, possessing a sort of paint-like stylization, giving the film an almost dream-like quality at times. The animation of the people is often somewhat sparse and subdued, which draws attention to the extremely lush yet lonely backgrounds, many of which are based on real places, and which are so colorful that they almost make reality seem dull by comparison. Things as simple and ordinary as fields of snow, the stars in the night sky, and falling cherry blossoms seem magical and otherworldly and become laden with symbolism. The music, primarily simple yet extremely touching piano compositions, kicks in at just the right time to make many scenes almost unbelievably poignant. 

A friend of mine recently asked me what my favorite film was. This is probably the worst question you could ask a film writer, but when I narrowed it down to my favorite anime film, what I told her wasn’t what I thought it would be. It was 5 Centimeters Per Second, and afterwards I thought about why I gave her that answer. I realized it was because it is not only one of, if not the most, poignant and beautiful films I have ever seen, but because it is a piece of art that so perfectly expresses the most beautiful and arguably most sad thing a person can go through.

I guess I’m letting my hopeless romantic side shine through a bit here. Like I said, this movie makes me cry, every single time. I don’t think there’s any other movie I have ever seen that I can say that about, and for that reason I cannot recommend 5 Centimeters Per Second highly enough. Please, just go watch this film. My words cannot give it the justice it deserves.

Grade: A+++

This article is part of the Guide to AnimeLand series. Recent entries have included Eden of the East, Hetalia, and My Neighbor Totoro.