I have a story behind how I first saw the anime film "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time," and I enjoy retelling it. In the early 2010's, I had only recently discovered that the Canadian dollar had an unusually good conversion rate with the USD (the USD suffered greatly during the recession a few years prior, but about a decade later the currencies would flip-flop again at a worse than usual rate towards Canada). Along with the CDN's value, I had recently gotten my first credit card, and was discovering the wide variety of online stores dedicated to anime on DVD, all at significantly lower prices than what Canadian stores (like Amazon.ca) would offer. After a couple years of taking advantage of the situation to begin growing my home video collection, I started seeking out "5 centimeters per second," a film by Makoto Shinkai praised for its beauty, and for Shinkai's independent freedom as a director with a minimal staff. But the film was temporarily out of stock at nearly all online stores. This in itself turned out to be temporary, but its American distributor, Bandai Entertainment, had announced it was going out of business, such that their releases would begin going out of print. I had to act fast.After much searching, I found that Bandai Entertainment had their own online store, and they happened to show that the film "5 centimeters per second" was still in stock. The site's design was old and I suspected that it's stock status wasn't always up to date, but it was worth trying to order it. The store would shut down at the end of 2011, giving me a couple months left to order the DVD. Without a "free shipping" option to Canada, I decided to order the film alongside a few others: I recall adding the DVD's of films "Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers," "Hack//G.U. Trilogy," and finally, "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time." Of all of them, "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" was the one I had the least knowledge or interest about, only adding it because of usually high reviews from other fans online. Ultimately, all of these would go out of print the following year (until Funimation ultimately saved them all about five years later), so I thought better safe than sorry to get them while I could.About a month after I placed the order, I still hadn't received any confirmation that the order shipped, an unusually long time. Concerned that the out-of-date online site might have lost my order, I cancelled it and made a new order on the final night before the Bandai store shut down. I sent a message to the contact page asking to confirm that the products I ordered were indeed in stock, and if not, then to proceed canceling items that couldn't be fullfilled. The next day, the site was gone, and I was left without any indication that I would ever receive the DVD's. Finally, in late January a month later, I received a message confirming the items were shipping, and would ultimately receive a box in February. All the movies were there. I had to double-check one of them, however: I had paid for the standard DVD version of "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" for $14.99, but they sent me the "limited edition" version, housed in a chipboard box with a lid, with a bonus DVD and the film's soundtrack in a commercial jewel case. Was it an accident? Was it the only type left in stock? Was the staff giving it as an apology for the long wait time? Whatever the case, it was a pleasent surprise, one I hadn't received from an online store before or since. And ultimately, what did I think of the movies? Of the four, two of them were mediocre. "5 centimeters per second," the reason I had made the order at all, was a fine work of art, but its unusual pacing and structure made it an accquired taste I appreciated rather than loved. The standout was "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time," for going it blind, the film itself was as much a pleasent surprise as the special edition I received. It even contains one of my favourite soundtracks, one that to this day is difficult to find anywhere. And little did I know that the film's director, Mamoru Hosoda, would go on to direct many other excellent family films, becoming one of Japan's most respected animation directors in the post-Ghibli era. Of all of them, "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" is still a personal favourite, largely because of the story I laid out here.
The story of "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" is a straight-forward one. Makoto is a typicall girl in high-school: not particularly smart or pretty, a bit of a tom-boy, and occasionally clusmy. By chance she one day stumbles upon a small stone the size of an acorn, an accidently activates it. Through a series of events, she discovers it gave her the ability to travel backwards in time, by leaping forward forceably into the air. Naturally, she is giddy with her new power, using it to undo embarassing accidents at school, cheat on tests, give her more time to relax or play, and enjoy special days over and over. As you would expect, there are concequences to Makoto taking advantage of this only for herself, and she ultimately matures to consider others before her opportunity to use the power runs out.Even though the story is simple on the surface, it is executed remarkably well. The director paints school life with a sense of realism to its students. The English dub takes more liberties with it, sometimes with varying degrees of success: an early conversation between two boys has one joking about whether he masturbated that morning. Only one or two instances of this prevent the film from being entirely child-friendly, but to be honest, that type of conversation isn't all that unusual for teenagers. Makoto's family is similarly well realized, with a annoying but loving little sister, loving parents and a thoughtful aunt, having arguements and apologies and having dinner together. These little details make the world feel more than just a setting for the plot, and these relationships between friends and family would be a returning theme in Hosoda's later work. Aside from Makoto just learning to mature and be responsible, greater themes about the inevitability of change are a big focus. Makoto typically hangs out with Chiaki and Kousuke, both boys, playing baseball with them or riding bicycles through the town. But the time will come when they each graduate from school and separate to different paths in life. As teenagers, they all start to feel the beginnings of love for others in their school. Does Makoto have a crush on anyone? Maybe one of her two friends has a crush on her? Makoto begins to realize the atmoshpere and desparately wants to keep things from changing, avoiding the subject as much as possible. Ultimately, after a twist in the second half, the film becomes a touching youthful love story that further grows Makoto as a person. It's a beautiful climax. The production values are generally good, but Mamoru Hosoda's preferred style is to draw characters flat with no shadows, often with animated facial expressions and reaction poses that still maintain consistency with the designs and body proportions. It's fun, but different from more polished films, and as his first major stand-alone directorial film, it does look a bit more muted than others he would be responsible for year later. I mentioned the music is great: it's simple and tends to rely on the same piano theme too often, but it contributes to the film's personality and is instantly recongizable when heard out of context. Both the English and Japanese dubs, while different, are quite good. Taken as a whole package, the film feels timeless enough that I woudln't actively want to change anything.And that describes "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" pretty well: there isn't any individual aspect that is exceptional, but all the elements are strong enough that as an entire package, it becomes a remarkable film. When the future seems scary or uncertain, it's a lovely story to turn to, reminding us that some things might be out of our control, but with hope and resiliance, we can perservere. Up along the best films of Disney, Pixar and Studio Ghibli, "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" is a smart and emotional family movie that belongs in everyone's collection.