Toki o kakeru shôjo (2006) Reviews

• A Nutshell Review: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

  DICK STEEL2007-06-16

  The poster of this animated movie looks a little suggestive, but nope, it's actually a wholesome time travel movie which explores a little on the vestment of such powers to a klutzy individual, as well as relationships, and the perennial question of what would anyone do if you have the ability to go back into time, and make changes presumably for the better. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time tells a wonderful story centered on 3 friends, the tomboyish and clumsy Makoto Konono (voiced by Riisa Naka), and two hunks Chiaki Mamiya (Takuya Ishida) and Kousuke Tsuda (Mitsutaka Itakura). Theirs is a friendship formed after school at the baseball court where they spend quality time talking about typical teenage stuff. Things start to change however, when Makoto by accident gets the power to time travel, and in her own ditzy way, uses her new found abilities for "good" - directly for herself, or in some Emma like moments, to influence the outcome of relationships for her friends and play matchmaker. And that's just scratching the tip of the iceberg. While it's animation style is kept simple and fairly straightforward, it doesn't compromise on the complexity of its storyline. Not that it serves to confuse, rather you'll be amazed by the amount of pathos the story contains, with its various subplots especially when the time travelling stuff kicks in. It has adult sensibilities in the treatment of the plot, and knows exactly when to hit the right emotional chords when warranted. Although based on a book, the story here serves as a quasi-sequel of sorts which takes place some 20 years later, what I can say is that the love stories intertwined has its major one being able to touch like that in Be With You. I loved that movie, and watching how this bore some similarities, you can't help but feel the same emotions coming across in the same way, nevermind that the characters here are animated, as you can feel the pain, the love, and their despair. And that is something that I should say is difficult for the genre - they're not real persons on screen - but yet being able to evoke emotions and for one to react and empathize, definitely makes it powerful, and a cut above others. Something that our local animated films had failed to do in giving us cold characters and bastardized stories from folklore. But it's not always all the time serious in tone or mood. The movie has light hearted moments, sometimes bordering on the slapstick, no thanks to the bumbling Makoto character. In a sequence, it was reminiscent of Chinese Odyssey starring Stephen Chow, where each time travel moment gets played ad nausem with different comedic effect. Undoing blunders as we see is not exactly Makoto's forte, and while she may be using her powers in a carefree way, with great powers come great responsibilities (sorry, can't resist that one!) As usual, anyone can find fault with the time travel paradox which rears its ugly head in any time travel movie, but I would suggest that you park those thoughts aside, and enjoy the story that the Girl Who Leapt Through Time is telling. There are slight attempts at addressing it with its creation of totally new and different realities with each jump, but even then a major paradoxical flaw still exists. At its lowest denominator, the film reminds to seize the day like it's your last, do what's right, and don't be shy in telling someone how you feel about them. The Best Animated Film of the recent Awards of the Japanese Academy, this film gets my vote of support too with its superbly emotional and touching tale, and with its similarities to that aspect of the film which I like to Be With You, it will be no surprise if this movie finds its way to my Top Ten of the year. Highly recommended!

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• I laughed, I cried, I sat on the edge of my seat

  dbborroughs2007-03-04

  I saw this film at the US premiere at the New York International Children's Film Festival and it really knocked my socks off. The plot of the film has a high school senior named Makoto Konno going through life blissfully hanging out with friends, and trying to cope with the pressures of being a high schooler. On a day when everything is going wrong Makoto suddenly discovers that she has somehow become able to leap through time. Suddenly able to relive great days or correct past mistakes she thinks she has somehow managed to to find a way to make her wishes (and those of her friends) come true. Unfortunately it soon becomes clear that some of the changes have consequences that she never intended.(I dare not say too much more since the revealing too much will clue you in too early as to whats going on in the film, perhaps taking a bit of the edge off the wonder. Trust me you'll thank me once you see the film yourself). More like a novel than a movie this film takes its time getting to where its going and its better for it. Here we have a bunch of likable kids who are simply trying to get out of school and go on to the next level, at the same time trying to deal with things like lost puddings and the members of the opposite sex. Since we get to know and to like the kids (and adults) we become invested in what happens to them. Will they make the right choice? Who can say when you have the ability to do it over again. One of the better animated features of the last year (from any country) this is a smart drama/comedy/romance/thriller. This is unlike any American animated film of recent vintage in that it talks to its audience with out dumbing everything down or needing to follow some corporate formula for success. Here is a film that is more than just dumb jokes, but is instead about people. This is a movie that should be seen by anyone who wants to see a great movie, and not just an animated one.

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• Highly recommended!

  wayne-feeney22006-07-31

  Having watched the trailers on the net for Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo (official English title: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time), I've been looking forward to it for a while. With character designs by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, the same guy who did those for Neon Genesis Evangelion, and animation by Madhouse, Tokikake (as it is nicknamed in Japan), is a great-looking movie. Lively and interesting backgrounds, lush colours and detailed animation, it's a joy to look at. Particular mention must be made of the time-leaping effect, which gives you a sense of breathlessness. The voice acting is extremely enjoyable, with the voice actors really managing to convey their characters' personalities, while endearing them to the viewer. The music is great, with a wonderfully wistful theme song "Garnet", provided by Hanako Oku. The direction is interesting, with some really nice shots effectively conveying the more important events and scenes. Overall, I really enjoyed Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, which is why it is such a mystery as to why it is only showing in one cinema house in all of Tokyo. With Gedo Senki generally failing to live up to people's expectations, were Tokikake shown in a few more cinemas, it could have the potential to be the surprise blockbuster of the summer. Definitely to be recommended over Gedo Senki as the anime movie of the summer.

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• Though not flawless, very well thought out.

  honorhorror2009-06-25

  The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a very original, well thought-out fantasy about traveling through time. It's categorized as Sci-Fi on IMDb and has quite a decent ranking in the genre. However, Sci-fi is only a secondary tool used in the story. The whole movie has a strong undertone of philosophy. I am glad that I could watch it in HD. Makoto is a jumpy, goofy and lovely highshoolgirl in her senior year. She has 2 buddies in the class, but doesn't know one of them is having a crush on her. Later, she obtained a special ability of leaping through times, and escaped a train accident using this ability. Inspired suddenly, she dumped herself into a time-traveling life that seemed perfect, until...... Don't get it wrong. This is definitely not Back To the Future or Terminator. It's never heavy enough to depress you, yet it got messages delivered. The movie blends ordinary life into the fantasy, which gave you another way to look at our ordinary lives. Makoto was cumulating her ego and gradually becoming ignorant after the magic worked time to time . This is a reflex to anyone that became arrogant after some achievements. Chasing after her personal desire for too long, Makoto finally realized the worst consequences always come from the smallest mistakes. Therefore a great portion of this film is about her trying to fix everything back and forth. Different from Butterfly Effects, this movie dealt with such topics in a comedian way. Makoto's goofy personality never gets old, yet it's very involving to see the whole story from her perspective. The romance, although cartooned, had a very realistic touch concerning the youngsters. In Eastern culture, teenagers aren't really supposed to date each other, since their lives only cross each other's at this very innocent, immature and short time. this film rendered the whole feeling to a new level, that at least ties with If You Listen Closely (Whisper of the Heart). It's more surreal and fascinating at times, and finally come to a conclusion that's as beautiful as it's poetic. Although Hayao Miyazaki had raised the bar of animation features (in Japan and worldwide) for more than 2 decades, The Girl Who leapt Through Time still stood out on its own. After I watched this, I could only say, "Rest in peace, Mr. Miyazaki, for somebody is coming to take your legacy." Visually, it's not entirely detailed as some of Miyazaki's recent works. In one viewing you can fetch all the themes and little Eastern eggs the director intended. But this one viewing may touch you deeply. Have you ever ignored another girl/boy, who tried to give you her/his puppy love and first kiss? Or have you ever ignored another human being who got into a lot of troubles without your help? Makoto's tears were shed several times during 1 hour 38 minutes, giving me a lot of chances to reflect on my own ego and personality.What if? What if I could give more attention to him/her...? We ask such stupid questions in real life? The movie's not silly. It's a good movie for kids, teenagers, young adults, middle-ages and elders. No wonder it's so worldly welcomed. 9/10 superb direction and art design, with a heartful story to reflect on.

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• Timeless Masterpiece

  ethSin2010-06-21

  There are about 10 Japanese films that I re-watch almost every year since their releases. "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" is one of only three such animated films for me. "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" is based on a 1967 hit novel of the same title. The original work has been used in numerous film and dorama adaptations, most famous ones being the 1983 film directed by Oobayashi Nobuhiko. Instead of making just another anime adaptation and possibly becoming just another adaptation shadowed by the 1983 film, the producers took a risk by creating a spin-off movie with the setting of about 20 years after the original story. The gamble paid off big time, as the animated film went on to win at least 23 awards worldwide. The underlying theme in this movie was "the importance of living the moment". Our protagonist was given the power to leap back into time to correct her mistakes, only to realize later that the short-term gains only lead to greater losses that followed. The story was extremely well-constructed to teach the lesson of embracing things the way they are, and never run from confrontations, because once that moment gone, you'll never get it back. The director for this film did a phenomenal job of pacing and creating many memorable moments, but it was the live-action film screenwriter Okudera Satoko, who really made a difference for this movie by composing a story out of number of time leaps that slowly developed the main characters and made so many epic scenes possible. Many anime screenwriters fail in movies because they incorporate too many characters, as it is common practice in series, into the limited 100 minute time-frame. What's remarkable about this piece of work is that it focuses on only three main characters. Even counting the secondary cast, there are only 8 characters in total who we are given the names of. The limited number of characters not only improved character development, it also allowed the story to focus on the underlying theme. I was actually very uncertain about the viewing this year because I started watching a lot of TV anime again since the last viewing. However, the only new flaws I've noticed was the excessive still motion in some scenes and most backgrounds, and that the protagonist was being a bit overly insensitive in few instances, which made her character a bit unrealistic. Animation is years ahead of its time, and it still is an excellent example of what happens when music is in harmony with the story/animation. The insert song by Oku Hanako, IMO, is still the best selection ever made among hundreds of Japanese films, anime, and live-action doramas I've encountered. Ending theme is a truly poignant one that really captured the mood and made the story sink in, and the music score throughout the movie has been used perfectly to enhance the drama. "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" is a timeless masterpiece that made me want to cherish every moment, and it's a movie I expect myself to be re-watching for many more years to come.

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