The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
May 6th, 2007 by Shirukii
Alternate Titles: Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo (TokiKake)
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Based on the novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui
I’m surprised that TokiKake went under the radar for so long, released in 2006, it won several awards for best animated picture in Japan. I would never have come across it had it not been for screenies being spammed in 4chan’s /a/.
Although it didn’t have quite as much hype as a certain Makoto Shinkai movie, I have to say that (for the moment at least) I enjoyed it much more. It was simply amazing, great characters, a good script and a decent plot to carry it through.
TokiKake is a story centered around a trio of friends (from left to right) Makoto Konno, Chiaki Mamiya and Kousuke Tsuda. One day, while dropping off career surveys, Makoto falls on a strange object which imprints a number on her arm.
Later that day she is involved in an accident that should have killed her, however, something strange happened. Moments after the accident she was transported back in time to before it occurred, effectively saving her life.
Although initially skeptical about her newfound powers, some terribly unscientific testing eventually confirms it, she can leap through time, and when I say leap, I mean it in its most literal sense.
At first it’s all fun and games, she uses her power to improve her grades, read her friends’ baseball pitches and extend time at the karaoke box. However, it soon becomes apparent that changing the past has unpredictable and often catastrophic repercussions.
Thoughts
I’ll stop the summary there, as going any further would spoil the movie. Also, as with any movie that packs this much character development and plot into such a short time, it’s hard to compress into a decent summary without basically rewriting the script. Although I won’t be summarizing any further, I will be talking about plot and character elements, so a spoiler advisory is in effect from here on in, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED =)
I wouldn’t say the premise of TokiKake is anything new. It’s a plot that’s been played out hundreds of times before. An unfortunate and pitiable hero is graced with a peculiar power which makes their life a blast for a while, but they soon realize that one person’s happiness is another person’s sorrow.
In TokiKake, Makoto is given the power to travel through time, she uses the power to go back in time and change events that would have otherwise caused her inconvenience. But as she starts to play with time, she realizes that making things go your way isn’t always straightforward, and doing something that benefits one person will often cause direct harm to someone else.
One of the things that the movie did that many others do is make the character responsible for her actions, even at the end. Most movies of this kind will have a ‘reset’ type ending where the character realizes her wrongs and goes back to before it all happened, effectively setting everything right once again. Sure the character learns her lesson, but it isn’t reinforced by any sort of consequence. In TokiKake, Makoto isn’t fully relieved of her pain. Although things end up more or less the same, she still has to cope with the loss of a close friend, it’s a bittersweet ending that almost made me cry manly tears like a little girl.
Another brilliant path the movie took was in the way that Makoto used her power. A lot of movies take the high road and have the main character try and do something for the good of humanity, like going back to WWII and killing Hitler, or something. But no, Makoto uses time traveling in the way that most selfish, greedy, self-concerned human being would, for her own benefit.
My only real complaint with the whole movie is Chiaki’s handling of the ending scene. Srsly, what was that, “I’ll see you in the future”? No you won’t, she’ll be dead. Should have kissed her while you had the chance! Isn’t it sad Makoto ;_;
On the technical side of things, the animation was decent. Not exactly KyoAni or Shinkai level animation, but it was a style that suited the tone of the movie very well, and succeeded in putting more focus on the characters themselves, rather than the designs. There were a few breathtaking shots though, most notably the scene where Chiaki freezes time, that was brilliant.
The music was great! I usually pay little to no attention to background music and insert songs, but in this case they were very fitting and added an extra punch in key scenes. I’m not about to run out and buy the OST, but I will admit that they did a great job using it to maximize the effect.
So, to summarize: excellent plot and pacing, good character build up (minus Makoto being slightly annoying sometimes), fluid animation and a great soundtrack. What are you waiting for, go watch it, nao!
“The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you’re inside, you look around, what do you see…”
Oshi-…wrong movie.
~ Shirukii ~
22 Responses to “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”
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Indeed, a great movie, and has had /a/ demanding subs for the longest time.
Now where’s my 5cm, and where’s my subs? T_T
Is this movie (subbed version) out already? I’m also waiting for 5cm. Is the sub version coming out soon?
I loved this too. Think I need to watch the end one more time to fully understand it.
@Brian: Yes, it’s already subbed. You can grab it off boxtorrents if you have an account, or just search it up on TT for the Japanese name, Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo. As for 5cm, I don’t believe any dvd version has been released yet, so no raw, no subs. At least for the last 2 thirds.
Danny: Well while you’re at it, you should watch the whole thing, since it’s that awesome =p
@ Soda:
Amen brother! I have been waiting what seems like forever for the rest of 5cm to be released……Hopefully the DVDs/raws will be released over the summer……..
@ Shirukii:
Thanks for bringing this movie to my attention :)……You and I seem to have very similar taste in anime!
Soda pretty much summed up all my thoughts =D
@ Kanon_fan82:
>> You and I seem to have very similar taste in anime!
Seems that way, quite a rare occurrence too, seeing as it’s all over the place XD
With all the chatter about this, I decided to use one of my lemming-tokens. I don’t think it was wasted. And I’d also like to thank whoever encoded the mkv for not completely destroying my CPU like most other soft-subs do.
The first half is, as you say, slightly amusing but predictable and cliche. I was underimpressed until I realised, as it started to wind down, that the movie was only half over. The second half was fresh and exciting and largely unexpected. But I have so many questions about Chiaki now and hope that there is a sequel about him. Chiaki is much more interesting than Makoto. Cuter too, to be perfectly honest. (And yes, I’m a guy.)
BTW, does anyone else wonder if her aunt really knows about leaping?
As to your nitpick about the ending: I interpreted it as Makoto, knowing that she had one leap left (I almost said “jump”, but she’s not Scott Bakula), intends to take the painting before it’s burned and travel to the future with it. Although this introduces a plot-hole since she wasn’t allowed to take possessions with her before, some kind of exception could be made for the significance of the painting — perhaps it was originally created in the future and sent back for some reason.
Or maybe she’ll just use her last leap to get more pudding.
@ Telliamed:
>> BTW, does anyone else wonder if her aunt really knows about leaping?
Her aunt had the exact same experience when she was in high school.
And I’m pretty sure that Makoto doesn’t have any more time leaps left. When Chiaki leaps back to stop Kousuke’s accident he uses up his last charge, but at the same time restores Makoto’s last charge. Makoto then uses her last charge on the same premise, to restore Chiaki’s last charge, but hers is gone. She’ll probably just ensure the survival of the painting through other means.
[shirukii] Thanks for the information! (^__^) Gonna try this anime movie & see if it’s worth watching.
well can’t Chiaki just go to his time and recharge and come back
@ Brian Woon: Psst, that was Soda =P
@ sleepyriku: I’d like to think not, because it really cheapens the effect of the movie. Although, if you think about it logically, that’s most likely the case =(
i really love this movie, the plot and characters. The graphics may not be like superb.. it’s simple but suited the plot very well. Brings you that kind of nostalgic feeling that is very pleasant to watch.
I heard there’s an anime of it? not sure if they are referring this movie to be an anime.. ah well.. it will be great if there’s an anime! i hope there’s a sequel. XD but guess not..
[may contain spoilers]
For characters, I especially like Chiaki. My heart kinda soften for him midway in the show, around the part where he rode the bike with Makoto. Well, not quite there, but he became a real key in the movie after that scene. Hehe. My complaint too was that Chiaki didn’t kiss her in the end… lol… in fact he should stay with them.. x_x Chiakiii~!
Where can you download this movie with english subs too?
@ Fiona: You can find the movie on Tokyo Toshokan by searching its Japanese name “Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo”
I agree with Shirukii about Makoto using up her last charge. As to if the aunt knows about time leaping, this movie was based on the book, and the book is actually based on the aunt and her two guy friends, not Makoto. At least, that is what wikipedia had to say about the story (however, possibly unreliable). Aunt witch states that she is waiting for someone, a man, which is the same exact case for Makoto waiting for Chiaki.
Oh, and if anyone wants to watch the movie, try stormberry.tv, excellent for anime.
i just watched this movie on a whim, not knowing what it’s all about. actually i was surprised that it’s anime and not live action as i earlier thought.
anyway… i love this movie… the story, the music, and even the background. it seems as if the places are real, and only the characters are cartoons. :)
I love this movie. I can’t wait until I can find it some where so I can have it on DVD.
I read about this movie in a Japanese imported anime magazine in Summer 2006 (i’m not an otaku..yeah right..) I was impressed but not enough to give it much thought. So i didn’t even bother to search on the net. I thought it was one of the Ghibli production as i’ve always fancy Ghibli’s products.
Today i just watched it. It was fantastic. It beats Shinkai’s 5cm (well at least in terms of plots i suppose). Yeah the animation is fair enough and i’m still in love with Shinkai’s so yeah Shinkai tops it all when it comes to super amazing BG scenes.
I was gobsmacked when Chiaki suddenly asked her about the time leap. I was like “whoa i didn’t see that coming..” So i really like that surprise element install in this anime. Unlike Shinkai’s 5cm where everything is predictable. Nevermind that i still adore Shinkai’s talent in creating fascinating background.
I really did enjoy watching this. The fact that Makoto acted like a typical kid was refreshing. I’m getting bored with all the “oh so mature and heroic” kids I keep seeing on screen. That being said, I was also confused by Chiaki’s parting words. Makoto should be ancient by the time she hooks back up with him if she’s even still alive. I don’t remember them mentioning when he came from, but it sounded pretty far off by his description. I mean, they don’t have baseball anymore? Come on, Makoto might see some really adorable toddler when she’s 98 and think, “Well finally.” Hardly the great consolation prize.
i really don’t understand what Chiaki meant by seeing Makoto in the future. But Makoto seems to undertstand fully as she seemed to be really happy and looking forward to it.
I do hope there is a sequel to it!
I’m definitely going to read the novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui, which is actually a prequel to this movie. I found out that the Aunt was actually the protagonist in that novel. Her Aunt indeed leapt through time and had a boyfriend during High School…
a little late… but I think what Chiaki said to Makoto at the end is a promise that he will come back and see her again sometime in the future.
Any chance here that Chaiki just meant that he will be waiting for her in the future because even while he was there in their time he was still in the future. He would still be growing up and waiting to find out about the picture. Saddly I think Chaiki did infact fade away as he said he would else he could have stayed around because the summer vaccation was just about to begin. I think the reason Mokoto was just a bit happier at the end was because Chaiki returned her love in as much as telling her he would be waiting for her… At the same time though maybe his returning while Mokoto was crying may have been the way Hosoda san let us know that Chaiki would still be ok, that Mokoto going back into the past to send him back early undone all of his damage… LOL… None the less I love the film. It is a Fav.
Johauna.