(L) Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time)

[wao]

If you like the witch aunt a lot then you might be interested in the original Toki wo Kakeru book or the live-action show because if I'm not wrong those were based on the aunt witch's story. You might say TokiKake is like a profesional fan-movie (since the original writer didn't write this or anything).

Also my copy of the DVD came in the mail today yay~
It's such a lovely white and blue... the insert has a short message from the director, and as expected an intro of the story and characters. Oh well, I might as well mention that both the guys' designs are so loveable. Not saying Makoto's not cute of course...

I really wonder what's Hosoda going to do now, I haven't really checked up much on him except hear a rumour that he's going to work with Gonzo next...

[7Th]

Originally Posted by wao

If you like the witch aunt a lot then you might be interested in the original Toki wo Kakeru book or the live-action show because if I'm not wrong those were based on the aunt witch's story. You might say TokiKake is like a profesional fan-movie (since the original writer didn't write this or anything).

Also my copy of the DVD came in the mail today yay~
It's such a lovely white and blue... the insert has a short message from the director, and as expected an intro of the story and characters. Oh well, I might as well mention that both the guys' designs are so loveable. Not saying Makoto's not cute of course...

I really wonder what's Hosoda going to do now, I haven't really checked up much on him except hear a rumour that he's going to work with Gonzo next...

He's doing Peggy Sue, the adaptation of a French children's fantasy book, with Gonzo. The project briefly went to Mahiro Maeda yet in the end came back to Hosoda. You can read more about it and look at a few design sketches at Manuloz's forum:

http://www.manganimation.net/bbs/viewtopic.php?id=15

[WanderingKnight]

Completely off topic:

He's doing Peggy Sue, an adaptation from a French children's fantasy book, with Gonzo.

What the hell's gotten into Gonzo and their book adaptations? First Gankutsuou, then Romeo x Juliet (well technically a theater piece but a book anyways), and now this...

[wao]

Thanks for the info. Ooh, designs by Okama too. I'm definitely looking forward to that, I wonder if we'll see the funkiness of Superflat Monogram back again. Gonzo would certainly be a great studio to work with something in that line (if it's a one-shot). Which reminds me, in this film there were those sequences of Makoto jumping through that white area which reprsented time or something, right? It reminded me sooo much of that girl from SF jumping through the space to get her mobile back.

I would be so happy if Hosoda did something dealing with that theme of young children and technology again (not necessarily in the Dennou Coil sense, but in the how-do-young-children-relate-to-a-hightech world sense). Not that I mind him working with older characters but that appears not to be the case for this.

[7Th]

Originally Posted by wao

Thanks for the info. Ooh, designs by Okama too. I'm definitely looking forward to that, I wonder if we'll see the funkiness of Superflat Monogram back again. Gonzo would certainly be a great studio to work with something in that line (if it's a one-shot). Which reminds me, in this film there were those sequences of Makoto jumping through that white area which reprsented time or something, right? It reminded me sooo much of that girl from SF jumping through the space to get her mobile back.

I would be so happy if Hosoda did something dealing with that theme of young children and technology again (not necessarily in the Dennou Coil sense, but in the how-do-young-children-relate-to-a-hightech world sense). Not that I mind him working with older characters but that appears not to be the case for this.

Yeah, the time traveling scenes were done in Hosoda’s most classical style: soft-line drawn characters in spherical surrealistic and sleek looking CG-spaces. He also used one similar to it for the climax in the Digimon: Our Wargame movie.

[waffo]

I watched Tokikake on Sunday with my mom and loved it. It was either Tokikake or Spiderman 3 and I'm glad I chose the first.

Spoiler for ending:

I interpreted Chiaki's line of seeing her in the future as that the future he's from, which seems pretty bleak, will come very soon. I hope not though. It's both wishful and not wishful thinking.

[Samatarou]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

I'm surprised no one mentioned the intrinsic comedic stance of the whole development, even with the bittersweet ending

I think it's like yFantGirl said: "But now my opinion totally biased cause i just closed the zoom player window and it seems that the sadness of the ending still didn't leave me."

I found that the last half hour of the film totally wiped out the preceding comedy for quite some time afterwards, it was so dramatic a twist. However on watching the film again I began to re-appreciate all the comic moments, especially the time leaping and how things fall on her head etc, one of the classics being the second time she tries to get the pudding, her landing is identical except for a box braining her, her pained expression with the glaring whites of her eyes was a classic.

I found I needed to watch the film through twice to fully appreciate the precise details of what was happening and exactly when she was jumping to, on first viewing it became something of a blur and I failed to spot how in fact everything meshes together absolutely perfectly. There are some plot weaknesses but they are forgivable as artistic licence so that the narrative works better. However some events that seemed like plot holes on first viewing turned out not to be when I thought about them more carefully.

Eg. After my first viewing, one of the thoughts I had was, why wasn't her time leaping noticed earlier, but on rewatching I realised that in fact it is noticed "earlier" because although an hour into the film, she has just leapt right back to the very first day (July 13th), so all her other (rather obvious) leaps have now never happened, so really it's actually fairly surprising that her leaping has been noticed, even by a fellow time traveller.

As to the "classic" status or otherwise of the film, after watching the whole thing for a third time I find the glossiness has faded quite a lot, and I'm no longer inclined to say that it was "better than Spirited Away", though I think it's in the same league. It's hard to compare them though, almost every classic anime film seems to occupy a slot of its own which makes comparative judgements a somewhat futile exercise. Eg. how to rank Nausicaa, Spirited Away, Metropolis, Akira, Tokikake ... personally I don't think I can, and given that anyone if free to watch them all I don't know if there's even a point to it.

[Maceart]

If marketed well, Tokikake can sweep the 2007 Oscars for animation award.

Not like that means a lot, but it'll give a lot more exposure to something way under popularized anime movie of 2006.

[Samatarou]

Originally Posted by Maceart

If marketed well, Tokikake can sweep the 2007 Oscars for animation award.

It would be a shoo in, but given how little exposure it got even in Japan (acc. to Wikipedia) with poor distribution and promotion, I wonder if it will even get nominated for an Oscar.

The subject of Oscar eligibility was discussed at some length in the 5cm/second thread a couple of months ago. Bearing in mind that it was released in Japan in 2006, Tokikake must have a theatrical release of at least 7 days in LA County sometime during 2007 or it will not be eligible for an Oscar. Moreover it must not get a non-theatrical showing in the US prior to the LA County showing, i.e no R1 DVD release or TV screening until after the cinema run. (The Japanese DVDs are not an issue.)

In principle the film could also have been submitted in the "best foreign language film" category, but it was released in Japan too long ago for the 2007 awards (July 2006) -- it would only have been eligible for the 2006 Oscars. (This is a peculiarity of the foreign language category rules.)

[TypoGuy]

I see someone's now fansubbed the live action movie from the 80s. It's fun to check out. Not a classic like the anime, more akin to a good Doctor Who episode!

[BBOvenGuy]

Originally Posted by TypoGuy

I see someone's now fansubbed the live action movie from the 80s. It's fun to check out.

I was wondering what that was. What's the story behind it? Is it another adaptation of the same novel or what?

[7Th]

Originally Posted by BBOvenGuy

I was wondering what that was. What's the story behind it? Is it another adaptation of the same novel or what?

TokiKake animation isn't an adaptation of the novel and rather a sequel/spin-off, the live-action movie is straight from the original book.

[manuloz]

About Hosoda next movie... We are now not so sure about what he will come next.
There was someone else who informed Tsuka that Gonzo stopped producing feature films for the time being... but take this has a rumor. He added that he might work again with Madhouse...

But then ANS came in and here what they wrote :

4-18-07 (3:57PM EDT)---- Mamoru Hosoda Directorial Future

At The Tokyo Anime Fair 2007 a Madhouse representative gave us a rather wry smile when we asked if Toki Wo Kakeru Shoujo "Anime Director Of The Year" Mamoru Hosoda would be directing with the studio again in the future (Tokikake 2?). They wouldn't deny the possibility. Likewise, through some back channels we learned other anime studios have projects in the works with Hosoda, including TMS (their project has been ongoing for more than 6 months).

We just have to wait and see...

[DragoonKain3]

Originally Posted by KholdStare

How far in the future is Chiaki? What makes you think in Makoto's lifetime this technology won't exist?

Now that I saw the live-action prequel,

Spoiler for for obviously the 1983 movie/original novel:

it seems that even in 2660 AD, Time travel still isn't perfected in this universe. Which in turn means there's no chance at all Makoto 'would run to the future' towards Chiaki using time travel. So there goes that theory.

And most important and most obvious of all, there's nothing wrong with making us think. Elfen Lied is one of my favorite anime and the ending can be interpreted however we want.

I never said anything about making us think is wrong. In fact, I had to do a lot of that thinking to come to the conclusion that MakotoXChiaki is very bleak considering the circumstances.

The only way Makoto and Chiaki would be together is if Makoto (or someone else) develops technology that allows a state of suspended animation for a very long time (cryostasis, etc.). And even if they did, what are the odds its already been perfected in her lifetime? Makoto, after all, probably wants to go to the future without having deal with the risk of say, a lost limb or (God forbid!) an accidental memory wipe because the process is still imperfect.

Ending the movie without Chiaki's line would make the movie bitter, not bittersweet. There has to be something; and even though I do agree that it wasn't the best line, I think that it's better than saying nothing.

I still stand by the fact that it would've been better to say nothing. Chiaki is very harsh (or maybe naive?) giving hope to Makoto when the odds is very low of that hope of being fulfilled. Sure saying nothing makes the movie bitter in terms of MakotoXChiaki, but at least Makoto's future would still be brighter because otherwise she'll probably end up just like her aunt.

In my opinion the line is there give us a happy feeling about the ending and not extreme analysis about how it is possible.

Just a few lines before you said that there's nothing wrong with the movie making us think, but extreme analysis is forbidden? Double standards, much?

I think the opening of the live action movie said it best. I forgot exactly how it goes, but it said something along the lines of, 'When one finds an idealistic love rather than a realistic love, it only brings one sadness.'

[Samatarou]

I think the ending is actually very similar to the Spirited Away one. In both cases the boy promises that they will meet again, but in both cases we know that the promise is impossible to fulfil. I think it's just a way of expressing their love; also making such a promise is an act of defiance against reality, an insistence that love is more important than the laws of physics, that love can conquer fate.

We hear a similar sentiment in 5 centimetres per second where Takaki says he knows that their lives are being overwhelmed by the huge vastness of time which stretches hopelessly before them, and yet despite this they promise each other their love instead of ending their relationshop as logic dictates they should.

[TypoGuy]

Perhaps he will come back to her. He doesn't seem all that happy with the future. He's already broken the rules. But they are awfully young for a lasting relationship. They both have things to do before they're ready for that.

At least, that was how I interpreted the last line.

[roxfan]

Director's comment on Chiaki's last words (thanks to EclipseZeta for correcting my translation):

Spoiler for The last challenge from the scenario writer:

Chiaki's words, "I'll be waiting in the future". In Ms. Okudera's script this line is supposed to be inaudible. Originally, I wrote the storyboard just like that, without any words. However, when I went back through the script, I realized that this wouldn't be good. I thought that this must be a challenge for me from Ms. Okudera. The story itself had been wrapped up in the previous scene. But I thought that after it all ended, what's said during the final farewell will actually set the tone & conclusion for the entire movie. Man... it really was tough.
I once asked Okudera-san, "I wonder what is he saying?". "I wonder too.", she responded.

[charizardpal]

I used to drill lots of holes into anime-(inconsitiancies and improbabillties..) but then I learned not to hold this sub-genre of fiction up to the same accuracy as other stories I read. Since the anime I tend to watch is fantastical, I can't hold it to be any more likely than the possibillity that most nearly every villian in the Marvel Comics world of Superman happens to possess the one (supposedly rare) element that can kill him.

[wao]

Thanks for the clarification, roxfan (and of course for subbing it as well, major props to you). It's interesting to see how they pondered oer the decision. But I think it would have been so much more poignant and powerful if the last line was left inaudible... then again I guess Hosoda wanted to leave something definite (despite the prospects of it actually happening being uncertain) and something to put your heart to rest at. In some way it very vaguely reminds me of the ending of Mimi wo Sumaseba...

In other news, I found out from someone that something that I had been wishing for all this while FINALLY CAME TRUE OMGZ@)$!@($!)$!)!!1!!asfsaksr;!12t (etc.)

TOKIKAKE IS SCREENING IN SINGAPORE. HALLELUJAH, PRAISE THE CINEMA $DEITY.

14th June, guys. If you live in Singapore PLEASE GO AND WATCH THIS. Even if you've already watched it. Crap, I have the R2 DVD but I don't care, I have to watch this on the big screen.

*goes off to squee excitedly for a while*

[waffo]

Is it possible for someone to find the lyrics of Kawara nai Mono? I love it more than the actual theme song of the movie...