(L) 5 Centimeters per Second

[monir]

Originally Posted by MrProphet

And once again Shinkai proves to the world that he is indeed a secret train fanatic. There was some awesome train otaku moments in "Kumo no Mukou", but "Sakura" really is a coming out time for Shinkai. His trains are beautiful, intensely realistic and true to life. Amazing.

There was this one scene where Takaki is sitting near a window in the train. The droplets of water in the window from the outside was slowly vibrating and rolling downward. I really wanted to cry at that moment. These are the everyday things I never appreciate in my everyday life and I suspect, it is the same with the most of us.

[orion]

That episode made my day. The story and animation were great.

I think that Kanon 2006 slightly edges out 5cm/s with snow effects. That was godly art for the train stations and trains. Kanon 2006 is still the king with water effects imo.

Spoiler:

So why don't they have cell phones? A lot of this could have been solved with those 2 exchanging cell phone numbers imo.

[Shiroth]

Oh Shinkai, you and your trains. Is this man ever going to create something that isn't a masterpiece? Anyway, many people have already mentioned what i planned to say, so i'll just talk about the music.

I'm sure anyone who knows about Shinkai movies, knows that he always goes with Tenmon for the music. The master of piano as i like to say, he's able to create such beautiful BGM's that fit perfectly with the scene at hand - and of course, that again has happened with Byousoku 5 Centimeter. Upto now my fav' work by him shall stay as the musical score from Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho, but there are two more stories to go. :3

[Lost]

Originally Posted by MrProphet

I think "Sakura" was mostly a work of contrast. I already described the contrast with "Hoshi no Koe", but there were many no less significant contrasts of imagery. Falling sakura and falling snow. Letters, connecting two people, and the trains that bring them together. Intense clarity and complexity of objects contrasted with very plain and schematic imagery of human faces. While inanimate objects were made very detailed and photorealistic, humans were drawn in a very sparce and minimalistic manner in order to contrast and compare them. Use of hard vs. soft lighting.

Hee hee; not sure if this could be considered a valid contrast, but in addition to what you said, I also liked when scene of the Moon in the night sky subsequently led into the dying evening Sun over the horizon (at least, I think it was evening); all with the flight of the bird - which in itself could be symbolic, since the bird immediately made me think of a message or letter being carried or sent.

About the train, 2 parts most impressed me. One was the way the red traffic light spilled into the cabin and onto Takaki; my jaw quite literally fell at that moment. Second was a scene near the end; showing the front of the train covered in snow and frost - Brrrr. It was so cold.

[Kaoru Chujo]

I don't know why, but for me this work was more real than any live-action film I can remember. It made me feel more present in the scene, more as if the scene were real. I felt as if I was there, looking at the truck going under the overpass, sitting on that train, looking across a field and seeing a train go by at night.

Perhaps it is because of a feature of anime that I have noticed before: it can concentrate your attention on some feature of a scene much better than live video, which is under so much less control -- although Shinkai seems to me to fill every part of a frame with reality, rather than simplifying bits of it to concentrate your attention elsewhere.

The background sound and sound effects were certainly an important part of that feeling of reality, too.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

I don't know why, but for me this work was more real than any live-action film I can remember.

Welcome to the wonderful world that is Shinkai Makoto's mind. I'm sure i'm not the only one when saying i feel like that with all of his work - even when just looking at a still image from the collection.

Shinkai Makoto desktop wallpapers > everything else in the universe.

[Arimfe]

Originally Posted by orion

Spoiler:

So why don't they have cell phones? A lot of this could have been solved with those 2 exchanging cell phone numbers imo.

Nooooooooooooo....

Spoiler:

lol are you crazy?
Something like that would ruin the whole uncertainty factor, practically ruin the whole thing.^^;;

I'm glad they weren't there

Anyway, anyone else beside me felt the train announcer guys were annoying?
I swear I started seeing blue conspiracy aliens laughing at him at some point...INBOU!!!!
They were so irritating, I sort of felt everything was their fault, even the bad weather

[Cal-Reflector]

OMG!!!!!

But let us not be fixated on the graphics alone; the Heavenly sound and animation, Heavenly as they are, are but a means to an end, which is the humane portrayal of the delicate emotions between Akari and Takaki. I squeed like a girl when he finally arrived and she woke up and saw him. TAKE THAT SHITTY WEATHER!! A standing ovation to the seiyuus for the two main characters, who in my opinion stole the show from Makoto Shinkai's animated magic with their touching portrayal. The BGM was also magical, particularly the crisp piano refrain that sounded the moment their lips met under that Sakura Tree. *Squee*

Is this ends up being a tragedy, heads will roll, I swear it. I never wished a happy ending more for anyone than these two. Ah, the purity of love which I haven't seen in anime since... forever.

In conclusion: I'm going to demand my friends go download and watch this, on pain of my friendship; I know my priorities.

[Impz]

Originally Posted by Cal-Reflector

OMG!!!!!

But let us not be fixated on the graphics alone; the Heavenly sound and animation, Heavenly as they are, are but a means to an end, which is the humane portrayal of the delicate emotions between Akari and Takaki. I squeed like a girl when he finally arrived and she woke up and saw him. TAKE THAT SHITTY WEATHER!! A standing ovation to the seiyuus for the two main characters, who in my opinion stole the show from Makoto Shinkai's animated magic with their touching portrayal.

Is this ends up being a tragedy, heads will roll, I swear it. I never wished a happy ending more for anyone than these two. Ah, the purity of love which I haven't seen in anime since... forever.

Well, Shinkai has made this purity of love one of his main themes in his story but it is not of his nature to have a completely happy ending. It's always bittersweet, if you watch his previous two works and I find it highly unlikely that he will be shifting his style.

I do believe that this 5 cm work is one of the few works that has explored the love story, even though we do have quite a few series in 2006 that has surpassed the theme of love, but they are long series with enough time to play with character development. It's definitely excellent.

Just curious, does anyone find his indulgence in still shots of scenery a little intrusive?

[mintyfresh]

Originally Posted by orion

Spoiler:

So why don't they have cell phones? A lot of this could have been solved with those 2 exchanging cell phone numbers imo.

Oh God, I was thinking the same thing the whole time.

I just got through watching this. Strangely enough, at first I thought it was overly sappy, but by the end I was nearly crying. Good Show, Shinkai.


Also, THANK GOD he's gone back to making shorts. And may it stay that way.

[monir]

Originally Posted by Impz

Just curious, does anyone find his indulgence in still shots of scenery a little intrusive?

How so? Explain.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Shiroth

...Shinkai Makoto desktop wallpapers > everything else in the universe.

Thank you for mentioning it. I just found a large number on the 5cm website here.

Impz's question is a good one: "...does anyone find his indulgence in still shots of scenery a little intrusive?" I can see how someone could feel that way, as if it were taking attention away from the movement of the story. But for me, the answer is "no." For one thing, there is often just enough motion to give a scene more life: sakura, clouds, camera pan, lights coming on, etc. For another, what he's showing us is our world, the one we and the characters are surrounded by and grow out of, and he also manages to somehow infuse it with feeling. But then again, I love landscape photography, so maybe I'm biased.

And mintyfresh's comment was great: "...at first I thought it was overly sappy, but by the end I was nearly crying." Me, too. But my tolerance for sappy is extremely high. I find it easy to suspend disbelief if the payoff is such sweet emotion.

I had the opposite feeling about the train announcements, Arimfe.

Spoiler for train announcements:

They were so typically polite and apologetic that I felt as if the company/announcer really did feel badly about the delay. Near the end, when the stationmaster said he had to close and that they should be careful out in the weather, it gave me the feeling that they were surrounded by a friendly, caring world.

And cal-reflector, thanks for pointing out the seiyuus. At first, I thought I liked his voice more than hers, but by the end, her hoarse, slightly flat voice really reached me.

According to the cast page of the official site, he (Mizuhashi Kenji) is a movie actor and she (Kondou Yoshimi) is a model and entertainer. I love a lot of professional seiyuus, but the more "professional" they are, the more they can work just by verbal tricks and standard voices. Sometimes untrained voices or stage and movie actors make me feel more emotion (e.g., Aishiteruze Baby, Simoun, Bokura ga Ita).

By the way, on her blog, Kondou Yoshimi mentions that the show opened, and says, among other things: "The images, the sound, the music. Beautiful! Painful! Wonderful!"

[Sailor Enlil]

Originally Posted by orion

That episode made my day. The story and animation were great.

I think that Kanon 2006 slightly edges out 5cm/s with snow effects. That was godly art for the train stations and trains. Kanon 2006 is still the king with water effects imo.

Spoiler:

So why don't they have cell phones? A lot of this could have been solved with those 2 exchanging cell phone numbers imo.

Spoiler:

Because this takes place in the early 90's, when cellphone technology was still in its infancy and cellphones were pretty much a mad scientist's toy, as well as a luxury item for the extremely wealthy, at the time.

Besides, won't the characters look silly carrying these around:
http://www.retrobrick.com/motoultraandclassic.html
http://www.retrobrick.com/4500x.html
http://www.retrobrick.com/1000.html

[Lost]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

I had the opposite feeling about the train announcements, Arimfe.

Spoiler for train announcements:

They were so typically polite and apologetic that I felt as if the company/announcer really did feel badly about the delay. Near the end, when the stationmaster said he had to close and that they should be careful out in the weather, it gave me the feeling that they were surrounded by a friendly, caring world.

I agree very much with what you said. Same for me, especially with the stationmaster. Most of all, it all sounded so real that it just fitted in with the surroundings; it managed to make me take note of it, yet didnt make me feel like it was out of place at all.

Originally Posted by Impz

Just curious, does anyone find his indulgence in still shots of scenery a little intrusive?

I think I felt that. At times during the episode I felt that the eye-candy was a little too much as it were; as in... how do I say this... not really contributing to the main story in anyway. It's something like those scenes were featured just to showcase the l33tness of his animation; and by thus doing so, detracted a bit from the overall point of getting the story across. Ya, like a personal indulgence. Is that the same as what you allude to?

[Nightengale]

Well...how should I say this... it's kinda missing something about the characters. Make no mistake, this first part is a beautifully crafted 20 minutes story of 2 characters, but it really feels less about "them" but more of the "distance" between them. The "distance" and the mood of realistic gap between the 2 characters were well-potrayed indeed, comparable to imo the Chinese dramas of the mid-80s, where due to the low quality shots, a lot of emphasis of the background was utilized to deliver a sombre, war-filled mood representing post-WW2. They just don't make live-action dramas like they used to and 5cm helps reinforce the beauty of visual story-telling.

And yes, for all it's high-quality still shots, there are moments where it felt...a little bit off. I think the issue pertains to how some shots are better off if they were showcased on the characters or at least a "rethoric imagery" of the characters, rather than some background image like the McDonald's Value Meal. It wouldn't be so bad if it was something like a continual series, but as a one-shot short that works as a standalone well, there could've been less background eyecandy and more "character emotion" eyecandy. Simple scenes like "characters walking in the background" or even " the kiss at the end" really helps the reinforce both the mood and the characters more. One can argue it helps bring out the "realistic feel" that Shinkai wants to deliver as opposed to his previous sci-fish Hoshi no Koe, but there were imo, some "wasted" space. It's not really a big issue since it doesn't occupy a huge portion of the scenes, as opposed to something like...."The Walking Man" manga, (( If Shinkai works on that, it'll be like the most awesome story of one man walking around town. EVER. )) and most people are probably hypnotised by the beauty of the stills to complain really. Well, I myself could care less about animated/still eyecandy so whatever.

I've got a question. The upcoming 2 parts for Byosoku...is it connected to this 2 characters, or will it be different stories?

[Cal-Reflector]

Originally Posted by Nightengale

I've got a question. The upcoming 2 parts for Byosoku...is it connected to this 2 characters, or will it be different stories?

Connected, told from different perspectives. Definitely a chronological continuation.

Oh guys, this is what I put on my blog:

"To my dear friends, from the internet or from real life: Please download this anime (219MB) and watch it (Byousoku 5cm, by Makoto Shinkai). Trust me, it'll speak for itself, and you will be... blown away. I swear on it; if at the end of it you say you don't like it I'll write you fic, with art... though I am confident that won't be neccessary.

Watch it guys, its a reminder of why we watch anime."

Too vague? Not enough Umph? More adjectives?

Yes, Makoto Shinkai is definitely a Densha Otaku; it felt like more than half of the episode was focused on the train, which displaced Takaki as the main character (snorfle).

Rewatching the episode, I realize what I most enjoyed from this episode were the conversations--not the monologues--that Takaki and Akari have, in flashbacks and in present. I can understand Japanese, and their lines and the poignant way in which they were delivered was SPOT ON. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the conversations between the two consist the emotional core of the story, around which the scenery shots and BGM converge. Thus, the only comlaint (more of a whine really) is that I wish there could have been less train and more conversation between the two. Damn you, Shinkai! Keep your personal fetishes out of your products! If I wanted trains, I would've gone and ridden one!

On the lauding of this show: Far be it from us to call this episode perfect, I think it would be fair to say that Makoto Shinkai is an artist who consistently reaches for perfection, and with Byosoku 5cm, he's gotten even closer.

[Sakuya]

I skimmed over it since this kind of story relies on heavy dialogue that my Japanese skills can't handle yet. But I agree that it looks amazing. Although I think he's overdoing it with still shots at times. I am wondering how this "movie" will be shown in theaters with the different segments. All in one go maybe? Right now, they made it as if it's an OVA with the previews and ending credits. They might release the other episodes online in the future.

I think I know what Shinkai Makoto likes now: clouds, snow, classrooms, scenery particularly of mountains, pastures, towns, and electric poles, clouds, clouds, clouds! I really love his clouds and skies. Why is it that you can never see something this beautiful in real life just by walking down the street?

[orion]

Originally Posted by Sakuya

Why is it that you can never see something this beautiful in real life just by walking down the street?

Because it probably requires you to be in a very rural area.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Sakuya

...Why is it that you can never see something this beautiful in real life just by walking down the street?

Actually, I think it's right there in front of us all the time no matter where we are. We just have to have Shinkai's eyes. Most of his eye candy was inside the city or around the trains.

[physics223]

I liked his Other Worlds. That short made me gape in awe for his ability to tell a story within such a short time. This is just stepping closer towards perfection ...