(L) 5 Centimeters per Second

[ReneeBurossamu]

Does anyone have a link to a gallery that shows clear caps of the imagery of the movie? Especially in episode 3...

alkh;afjsad
After watching the parts about three times over, I'm still sad about it. I keep overthinking the simple plot.
At episode 3, I couldn't help but hope that Akari still thought about Takaki into adulthood. It seems like she's pretty much erased him from her mind.
That just makes it worse.

[alamarco]

I'm pretty sure the movie still showed Akari thinking about Takaki in her adulthood, but she had moved on and was engaged. I think it showed her remembering about the time they spent in front of the tree in the snow. When she seen him in adulthood passing the tracks, it seemed like she didn't want to make things hard, so continued on her path, moving on, instead of waiting like Takaki did for the train to pass.

To me, it showed that Akari had moved on and was enjoying her life. Takaki on the other hand was stuck in the past. He could barely work and live properly, and quit his job as things got bad. One has to wonder if the film had continued, after Takaki seeing Akari passing the tracks, if he would continue the downward spiral or move on as well.

[Telmah]

Originally Posted by alamarco

I'm pretty sure the movie still showed Akari thinking about Takaki in her adulthood, but she had moved on and was engaged. I think it showed her remembering about the time they spent in front of the tree in the snow. When she seen him in adulthood passing the tracks, it seemed like she didn't want to make things hard, so continued on her path, moving on, instead of waiting like Takaki did for the train to pass.

To me, it showed that Akari had moved on and was enjoying her life. Takaki on the other hand was stuck in the past. He could barely work and live properly, and quit his job as things got bad. One has to wonder if the film had continued, after Takaki seeing Akari passing the tracks, if he would continue the downward spiral or move on as well.

I don't think Takaki would recover. He's a foil for her. She deals with things in mature away, cherishing her memories but not being held back by him. He crashes and burns...let's them ruin his life. Takaki spurns happiness and dwells in his misery.

In a way, you can tell their future by how they react at the train tracks. She moves forward towards the future, while he remains waiting on the past...and is left with nothing.

Its a heartbreaking ending for him. That's clearly intentional. I have to think that its Shinkai sending a message to the viewer--don't let this happen to you. A simple but powerful message.

[germanturkey]

many people interpret the ending as Takaki finally moving forward. he takes one last glance after the train leaves, then realizing its not there anymore, turns and walks away with a smile. its a bitter sweet ending. he is able to move on, but he does it after much suffering and without Akari.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by germanturkey

i always believed that the sci-fi stuff was peripheral to the main plot of the angst produced by her falling into the coma and Hiroki's desire to wake up her. above all, its a love story. and in terms of that, it succeeded.

Exactly. If the intention is to tell a love story about a girl who falls into a coma and a boy who stays by her side till she wakes up, why then the need for all the baloney about parallel universes? Not that I find the concept uninteresting, but frankly, how did its inclusion help to develop the characters? In the end, the fake science comes across as a cheap device to make the story more "fantastic" than it needs to be.

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

I visited, but I saw no traffic.

Meanwhile, silly me. It seems I had to register first before I could see the rest of the site. No wonder it looked so quiet.

Originally Posted by alamarco

To me, it showed that Akari had moved on and was enjoying her life. Takaki on the other hand was stuck in the past. He could barely work and live properly, and quit his job as things got bad. One has to wonder if the film had continued, after Takaki seeing Akari passing the tracks, if he would continue the downward spiral or move on as well.

Originally Posted by Telmah

I don't think Takaki would recover. He's a foil for her. She deals with things in mature away, cherishing her memories but not being held back by him. He crashes and burns...let's them ruin his life. Takaki spurns happiness and dwells in his misery.

Akari returned to Tokyo just before New Year's Day. Takaki sank to the bottom of his depression sometime between January and March, shortly after receiving Mizuno's e-mail. He quit his job and started over as a freelancer, it appears. By the time he sees Akari again at the rail crossing, he was already on the road to recovery. So, no, it doesn't look like Takaki would continue to suffer from Akari's absence, although he still clearly misses her.

[Raiga]

Watched this movie for the third time today.

Still loved it. ^^ Such a beautiful story, and it really hits home.

Every time I watch it there seems to be more to notice... all the imagery and visual motifs and symbolism... it's really amazing how deliberate every frame of this movie was. True work of art.

Also watched Yakusoku no Basho today, for the first time... er, does it have its own topic? People seem to be discussing it here.

(the subs Crunchyroll had for it weren't all that great... frequently mistimed and kind of ugly. :\ )

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Raiga

Also watched Yakusoku no Basho today, for the first time... er, does it have its own topic? People seem to be discussing it here.

It does have a thread of its own: The Place Promised in Our Early Days

I dumped my points here because I was putting that movie in contrast with 5 Centimetres Per Second.

[Xcomp]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

I visited, but I saw no traffic.

Anyway, in keeping with the spirit of the event, I did at least make the effort to rewatch 5 Centimetres per Second and The Place Promised in Our Early Days. I don't have anything more to add about 5CM. It's still as good as I remember, although the emotional impact is no longer as strong since I'm now so familiar with the movie.

There were a number of us on Ventrillo voice chat and the main forum. Someone was (unintentionally) doing a great job of a commentary track while we all watched the movies together. It was fun and would say it was pretty successful

Other than that, most people were just watching the movies and commenting on Crunchyroll.

I managed to watch the official new dub by Bang Zoom they had up and I thought it was good. Will be interesting when they license it for sale.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Indeed, the new dub wasn't bad, but it wasn't very good either. Many of the subtle nuances in the Japanese voice acting were lost in the English dub, though not for the lack of trying.

This is such a common problem that I wonder, once again, if there is anything particularly challenging about voice acting a Japanese programme that makes it difficult for English performers to get it right. I don't think it's impossible, given the superb results achieved in dubbed video games such as Final Fantasy XII and Persona 3. Is it then a simple matter of lack of budget and talent?

Not for the first time too, I winced at the adulation for Japanese voice actors. Yes, they are generally great, but only when it comes to native Japanese programmes. Having caught a few Japanese-dubbed Western programmes on TV while I was on holiday in Japan a couple of years ago, I can say that even the so-called "best" voice actors in the world stumble when it comes to dubbing foreign content.

Unless great care is taken, something usually gets lost in the translation, it seems. For that matter, it's not only Americans who murder anime in dubbing. The Taiwanese routinely botch anime too when they dub in Mandarin.

[darkchibi07]

How many of you people have heard ADV's original dub? I found that one having more emotional impact and truer towards what Makoto Shinkai's is aiming for. I'm still rather suspicious why CoMix Wave wanted a different dub.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Raiga

Watched this movie for the third time today.

Still loved it. ^^ Such a beautiful story, and it really hits home.

Every time I watch it there seems to be more to notice... all the imagery and visual motifs and symbolism... it's really amazing how deliberate every frame of this movie was. True work of art.

Also watched Yakusoku no Basho today, for the first time... er, does it have its own topic? People seem to be discussing it here.

(the subs Crunchyroll had for it weren't all that great... frequently mistimed and kind of ugly. :\ )

The entire rail journey section in part 1 may be my favorite sequence in all of anime. One staggeringly beautiful image after another, played out so realistically that it almost feels like real-time. Every new setback and delay is like a punch in the gut. Even if that were all there was to love about 5 CM it would still be enough to render it a classic to me - the fact is that it's only the best part among many memorable choices.

[Xcomp]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Indeed, the new dub wasn't bad, but it wasn't very good either. Many of the subtle nuances in the Japanese voice acting were lost in the English dub, though not for the lack of trying.

This is such a common problem that I wonder, once again, if there is anything particularly challenging about voice acting a Japanese programme that makes it difficult for English performers to get it right. I don't think it's impossible, given the superb results achieved in dubbed video games such as Final Fantasy XII and Persona 3. Is it then a simple matter of lack of budget and talent?

Not for the first time too, I winced at the adulation for Japanese voice actors. Yes, they are generally great, but only when it comes to native Japanese programmes. Having caught a few Japanese-dubbed Western programmes on TV while I was on holiday in Japan a couple of years ago, I can say that even the so-called "best" voice actors in the world stumble when it comes to dubbing foreign content.

Unless great care is taken, something usually gets lost in the translation, it seems. For that matter, it's not only Americans who murder anime in dubbing. The Taiwanese routinely botch anime too when they dub in Mandarin.

Originally Posted by darkchibi07

How many of you people have heard ADV's original dub? I found that one having more emotional impact and truer towards what Makoto Shinkai's is aiming for. I'm still rather suspicious why CoMix Wave wanted a different dub.

Well, all I can say is that it was very true to the original script when I compared them side by side and the voices were pretty good - Except for young Akari's voice sounding a little old for the role.

I think they re-dubbed it because they still want it distributed in the West but, even though ADVs stopped distributing it, it doesn't mean Comix Wave can use their dub so they had to have a new dub done.

[tresor]

First, listen to this song as you read this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&h...el_page&fmt=18
IT will give you a good heads-up of what you are in for.

hahaha, it never ends. This version is called "SomeOne to Watch Over Me."
Fortunately, the author of this version is more straight Forward.
This time it is much easier to make the comparison because the photographs are almost about 1 to 1, including the actual haircut bangs!


GOOGLE chicago tribune someone to watch over me
To get the full lowDown.
Compare this with 5cm/sec @58:52 Akari Shinohara at what is now, after watching
"SomeOne to Watch Over Me," I definitely believe is a virtual fantasy on Shinkai's, grrr, I meant Tohno's Balcony if he had Akari as a fiance.
WOW.

Moving on to other important hardcore matters, the next photo from "SomeOne to Watch Over Me" takes the concept/pining one step further, what iff that coupling resulted in a child (this is called pro-creation):

Wow, the child here is about 7 years old, reading at a similar age and type of book that Shink#@#RW I mean Tohno was reading with Akari, wow what a coincidental sort of thing.
It happens once more in this episode one another character, describes a song as running towards a car because you have something important to say to this person, who happens to be your father.

Well, what will we learn from watching this episode, all the great things that could have happened to Tohno but not Shinkai, if he aggressively pursued this Akari person. The LikeLiHood that Tohno did not actually contact Akari after he saw her at the train tracks is probably close to 0% (read one of the co-writers, and probably the writer closest in shared values/personality with Shinkai, but not Tohno), and sharing great values accross the world is at least interesting, better than Death Note.*

Oh, There is one more kicker, actually two or three, depending upon how you do the math.
The two pictures are taken from deleted scenes from the episode, which are impossible to see if you actually watch the episode. Straight Forward is relative, I guess, and another episode in the series named Maelstrom and written by the same writer reminds me a lot of Hoshi No Koe.

If you like try to google this:
battlestar podcast 419
It will give you that nice warm wrap-up feeling

*Inside Joke, a key character from BSG does the English Voice Dub of L... awLiet.

[Raine721]

Please, please, please, please make an english edition for the novel, i read the english translation parts that wasn't in the movie already but i still want to have the novel >.<

[germanturkey]

@tresor, i'm confused at what your post is about. lol. i blame this poetry paper i'm writing..

[Raiga]

Originally Posted by germanturkey

@tresor, i'm confused at what your post is about. lol. i blame this poetry paper i'm writing..

Yah I'm not sure either... care to elaborate on it? What're the pictures from?

[grylsyjaeger]

This is one of the most moving OVAs I have ever seen.

Its very thought provoking and I really felt bad for Takaki as I know all too well the pain of living in the past.

I too left a girl I really loved behind when I moved home and I always long that we'd see each other again but after six years I finally let it go and learned to love again.

Just watching this inspired me to pick up a story I've been working on. The ending song described the nature of the protagonist perfectly after he lost the woman he loved.

[Telmah]

Originally Posted by darkchibi07

How many of you people have heard ADV's original dub? I found that one having more emotional impact and truer towards what Makoto Shinkai's is aiming for. I'm still rather suspicious why CoMix Wave wanted a different dub.

I haven't yet, but I just picked it up last night. Best Buy is apparently liquidating their anime stock in a huge portion of their stores and I snagged it for half price--literally a steal.

If you think it was better, I am really happy then with the purchase--I've only watched it with subtitles so far, but some of my friends are more easily swayed with dubs, so it might be a really good starter anime...

[plau]

The ending is very bittersweet, I would like to think that Takaki was finally able to move on after ending. But the story is very sad indeed. Episode 1 clearly foreshadows the end of the film, but even Takaki states it, "I also came to the clear realization that we would not be able to remain together." After realizing that, why can't he manage to move on? I actually feel sorry for him.

Also I would really like to know what happened to Kanae? And who was that girl that kept text messaging Takaki? I'm assuming it was his ex. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Overall, I think it's a really good film, but 63 minutes is way too short. I'm not a fan of unhappy endings, but this film did it very well. It would be nice if it was developed into a 13-episode series that would allow for even more character development.

[Raine721]

Well...most of my questions that are being asked over and over here in this thread is to be found on the extended novel of the movie. It has many parts in it that doesn't show in the movie. I have a better understanding for each characters too and also the ending isn't at all confusing as many people think. As long as you grasp the theme of the movie, then the ending should become clear to you.