Anime 1689 Byousoku 5 Centimeter Reviews Filter Check 2

I happened upon this anime in several anime fan sites as it was considered one of the higher rated animes even until today. Reading how some people said it rivaled works that of Miyazaki, I had high expectations for it. But unfortunately it was a total letdown.

The only thing I really enjoyed about the movie was the animation quality and detail that was put into the movie. The animation was just simply beautiful from the vividness of the background to the fluid motion of characters but then, sadly, the praise ends here.

The story and the characters were very anti-climactic as no real progress is met ... by the characters with one another. This is however how the creator of the story wished for it to be i think as the title is named "5 centimeters per second". It was a collection of short stories about human distance. I'll say though that the concept and execution were nice but the story itself was lacks proper closure as it presents the audience with the concept but then leaves it at the presentation with no real conclusion. The story began as a cultured glass of wine then slowly transforming into wine in a box. The depth slowly filled in as the stories progressed. They were written just so that a concept could be brought to stage and left there to be a static attraction for the audience.

So if you're looking for a totally artistic and visually pleasing feature with no real concern for a happy ending with much depth in the end then give this one a looksy.

I am sure everyone is going to yell at me for what I am about to write, and put me on some hate list, so let me begin by apologizing to anyone I enfuriate with this review. Needless to say, this is one of my least favorite animes, and it just sort of rubbed me the wrong way. I believe it best to list the positives the anime has before I go into the negatives, it does an excellent job of setting up a sense of realism and a pretty good job of drawing you in. Additionally, it sets up a good ... sense of normalcy and its really easy to follow the logical progression of the story. The voice actors and the art are good, they're not exceptional by any stretch of the imagination, but they can help to immerse you in the story.

There are two problems I have with this story. The first is even though each episode is seperate, they should have some sense of overarching story, and unless it's force-fed to you that is almost non-existant in this anime. As a matter of fact, it wasn't until about half-way through the second story that I was given confirmation that I was even watching the same character as in the first episode. Now my largest problem is one which is probably exclusively my own is the fact that it's just a depressing anime. Yeah, I can already feel the hate posts, but I feel that the characters are flat and to be fair too real for me to enjoy. What I mean is that you never really witness the characters evolve throughout the story, they evolve in the space between each episode but you never really witness it. As to the realism part to avoid spoilers let's just say that they give up and I'm torn between whether your supposed to feel bad for the main character or just accept him.

So I apologize to whoever I just offended, please hit helpful or not helpful and drop me a comment to let me know what I'm doing right, and what I'm doing wrong. Thanks for reading.

I feel like I’m the odd one out of the crowd. Everybody kept telling me what a dime this movie was so I got pretty stoked to see it. So how did this movie end up boring me so much? I consider myself fairly generous when it comes to dishing out ratings, so how did this anime end up being the lowest rated anime I’ve given thus far?

Story: 5/10

Yes, I gave the story a 5/10. People are probably already crying out heresy by telling me, “Well, you didn’t like the story because you didn’t get the message!” No, I understood the overarching theme. In ... fact, I give mad props for such an ending. I honestly didn’t expect things to wrap up so maturely. Time will keep moving forward. People move on. Their outlooks changes. Childhood promises and dreams are often times left behind. We can’t always expect fairly tale endings, and I absolutely love the parallels to the harsh world of reality here. It was a nice slap in the face and a refreshing break from the lovey-dovey endings I’ve seen in other romance anime. Honestly, the moral of the story is what carries the story of this movie.

So why did I give the story such a low score? Since the moral was so good, I should have given this at least a 7, right? Well, here’s the thing. Yes, the theme is all well and dandy, and yes, things wrapped up fairly well, and yes, there are hidden specs of foreshadowing that reveals the theme bit by bit, but the execution of everything building up to that goal was just so stale that it almost negated the purpose of the movie. It is entirely possible to have a deep theme AND a solid execution. This anime just doesn’t do that.

The first chapter was okay-ish I guess, although I was already borderline bored at certain times. The second chapter was insanely weak. Introducing a boring new character with a so-so purpose only to have her serve as a mere plot device and then dropping her 20 minutes later is not going to impress me, sorry. Third chapter could have amounted to something if it wasn’t so quick. The third chapter was like 11 minutes total. The last 4 minutes of those 11 were a montage. So essentially, 7 minutes of actual content.

I just want to reiterate it one last time. The story wasn't mediocre because it wasn't "mature" enough. It wasn't boring because it wasn't filled to the brim with plot twists. The problem here was that the road building up to that mature ending was just so stale that I almost ceased to care.

Characters: 2/10

Probably the lowest score I have ever given in any category. Two main characters, Takaki and Akari - both as bland as a cardboard box. Easily the most uninteresting characters I’ve ever had the displeasure of witnessing. Forget about the supporting cast as they are even worse than the main characters. AnimeNew says this anime has 5 characters for its cast. So what we basically have is a total of 5 characters - 3 of which are bland and boring and 2 of which are nearly irrelevant. Are you really surprised by my score?

Do I sound unfair? I don’t think I do. I have defended my share of characters who are deemed somewhat bland. Nagisa from Clannad is sometimes depicted by people to be a generic, stereotypical cutsey girl, yet I’ve defended her. Ganta from Deadman Wonderland is depicted as a weak, uninteresting crybaby, yet I’ve defended him. Suzaku from Code Geass is constantly perceived as a hypocritical, preachy nut who kept getting in Lelouch's way, yet I've defended him. I've even defended Sakura Haruno from Naruto. Trust me, I would not bash on the MC of 5 Centimeters Per Second unless they deserved it, and it is my judgement that they do.

How did they bore me to the point of literal tears? I never thought anime characters could be so stale that I’d have to yawn in frustration every 5 consecutive minutes. I wish I was exaggerating, but unfortunately I’m not.

Art: 10/10

The best thing about this movie by far. I was flabbergasted to know that this was a 2007 movie since the artwork was simply jawdropping at times. I can’t even say that I’m exaggerating. Some scenes like the rocket launch were just so beautiful that it almost hurt to give this anime such a low score.

Sound: 7/10

Soundtrack was fitting for the type of mood this movie was trying to convey. Delicate, light music constantly blessed my ears. In conjunction with the superb art, the music can help create quite a spectacle.

So why did I score this a 7/10? Because the voice acting was so dull for me. As you’ve already seen above, the cast of characters are already insanely bland in terms of script and dialogue. The voice acting does nothing to help that fact.

Personal Enjoyment: 3/10

What did you expect from me here? Weak execution of the story (minus the moral and ending), absolute trash characters, and completely uninspired voice acting with only the amazing artwork and the above average soundtrack to hold it up. Did you expect any less from me?

TL;DR:

+ Jawdropping artwork. Absolutely gorgeous at times.
+ Music successfully conveyed the tone of the movie (wasn’t legendary though).
+ Mature resolution that I did not expect.
+ A deep, overarching theme that covers the entire movie that you’ll probably come to realize after you finish watching the movie.

- Poor execution of the story, despite its strong desire to convey a meaningful theme. My yawn count was astronomically high.
- Some of the most bland characters I’ve ever witnessed, and this is coming from somebody who would often times defend the so-called “weak” characters.
- Voice acting sounds unmotivated and only serves to detract from the already garbage characters.

Overall: 5/10

I really wanted to like this movie. Trust me, I really did. I saw the genius in its potential and reveled in the hype. It brings me no pleasure to say that what I got instead was one of the biggest letdowns I’ve ever had to suffer in all of my anime experience. I am honestly baffled that this anime has such a good reputation. I know, subjective opinions and all. To be honest, I’m even more surprised that all of my scores ended up averaging to a total of 5/10. I expected way less. Anyways, if you really want to try this movie, then go ahead. Chances are you'll like it since everybody but me seems to adore this movie. However, if you’re anything like me, you’ll most likely walk away really disappointed. If that’s the case, leave now and save your time for another anime.

Alright, where should I start? Apart from the obvious lack of S.I. units present in the title (who the hell uses cm/s anyway, right?), nothing really stands out aside from the neat art of the cover.

This anime is your typical lovey-dovey-emo-drama, except it's NOT. It's far much worse than that, it is an over-glorified pseudo-classic in the genre, which people claim to be better than what it really is.

They are pretending. I repeat, they are PRETENDING, in order to adhere to a status-quo of a an "anime appreciator" or a person with "good taste", and so they manage, somehow, to develop a sort of Stockholm-syndrome ... with said anime, which results in an over-glorified view of the whole thing.

Let's start with the plot:

First of all, the plot of this thing is not all that great, nothing beyond what you should expect from a regular drama-flick, a boy stuck in a limbo of gigantic nostalgia, presumably engulfed in loneliness and sadness. and in great desire for a girl he longs to see.

This is it. That's it. That and his constant misfortunes such as late trains due to weather and "time to cry" scenes (eg. his letter flying away accidently, just to add that "poor guy" effect).

The ending, however was decent, for two reasons:

1. Thank God it's over;
2. [spoiler] He finally overcame his unnecessary edginess, and it was an all-together emotional well-made scene. [/spoiler]

The art, I must say, is glorious. The colors are perfect, the artwork is beautiful, like any of the movies by Makoto Shinkai.

The music is mmkay.

The animation is bretty gud, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Overall, I rate this anime a 5/10 for the reasons stated above.
I couldn't bond with the characters and to be honest I couldn't enjoy that much, but that's only my opinion.

This movie looked good and the synopsis sounded interesting, but by the end of it, I was very disappointed. This is a romantic drama with just the drama. The story is so disjointed and lacking in information that I was just aggravated when it just ended.
The dialogue was decent and somewhat realistic except for the monologues. Anyone that thinks like that in their head is not an "ordinary" person. Akari seemed nostalgic later on, but not as bad as Tohno. I'm just going to assume he is on the verge of suicide, but without telling me anything helpful, ... I can only guess.
The art was very impressive, with some scenes being near photo-realistic. The animation was adequate for a drama (no fight scenes here) and the sound was just as good. The music was supposed to be a notable part, but I found most of it rather forgetful.
Overall, not something I would recommend to anyone. Another anime that had great potential, but fell flat with bad storytelling and an ending that just made me mad.

"style over substance" is the best way to describe this anime

I wish the substance could match the visuals but it's not even close, I know style itself can become the substance but it's just not the case here. In Byousoku 5 Centimeter, you're constantly bombarded with beautiful landscapes and scenery but you get nothing when it comes to actual content or anything else.

The story is shallow, you'll get practically noting when it comes to that, it's so shallow that I wonder if this anime is even spoilable. Without getting into too much detail the story is all about the life of someone who hasn't gone ... over something that happened a long time ago and that's it you won't get much more than that.

Characters:
lul You thought this anime had enough substance to build even a single character's character?
Significant dialogues, time to build characters relationships or a character's personality is almost non existent. You won't know anything about the characters, you'll just get to learn how the main character feels about that one girl and you'll get to see them in their feelings, in somekind of heavenly looking scenery ofc.

This anime will just give you cool scenery, a slow paced representation of characters feelings as time passes and it'll be over, characters you might not even give a fk about because you won't get to learn much about them or see them involved in an evenful story, in interesting dialogues or anything

This might make it seem like the anime is bad but I'm just covering what I didn't like about it, to me it's a 6/10 for fair/above average, giving it more than that just doesn't feel right. Even though it is great, I can't give this a 7+/10 just based on the animes atmosphere and visuals,

TLDR: Overrated, Makoto Shinkai was again too busy working on random aesthetic camera angles to put much thought into story or character depth

I KNOW that I'm gonna get tons and tons of hate for this review, but remember, it is a matter if opinion. I've seen tons of extremely positive reviews about this particular series, and praising it to no end about how it rivals studio ghibli in the anime movie business.
Many viewers see this anime as a masterpiece.
But sadly, for me, that is just not true. This anime is far from a "masterpiece"
The anime is simply not enjoyable. Its depressing. It makes you feel hopelessness. Its just not an enjoyable viewing experience.
The story is OK, nothing special. The short movie is split into three episodes, each ... telling a different section of the character's lives, as there is a timeskip after each 20-minute episode. First episode tells you about 2 childhood friends/love interests, who grow further and further away from each other as time passes, due to their parent's jobs, but they always keep in touch using the post and text messages. Basically, one day the girl tells the boy to meet her at a train station but surprise, surprise the train that the boy takes gets delayed due to snow and the boy has to wait through hours to get to the girls station. He gets depressed that she may leave as it is already 11pm as he waits for the train. Then he gets to the station to find out that she had been waiting there the whole time. They are happy to see each other, and talk, and eventually share a kiss.
The second episode tells you the boys life at his new school but there's really nothing interesting here. The third one tells you about their life as adults and lemme tell you that it is extremely depressing.
The story is not for you if you want a face paved, happy romantic comedy or something like that as its really depressing and slow-paced and the time skip and overall story doesn't flow well because of the slow and tedious pace and commentary.
Story: 6/10

Art:
Really good. Colours and backgrounds are amazing to watch, with vivid colours and good character designs. Very smooth animation.
10/10

Sound:
It had a very calm and soothing soundtrack which makes you feel right at home but there is not a great variety of songs. The tone and style of music is for the type of story this anime has, so it'd have to be calm and soothing for a romance drama anime.
Voice acting was good, and I do prefer the sub over dub as akari's voice in dub sounds too high
7/10

Characters:
The main cast (which is like, three characters ) have very bland personalities.
The male protagonist, takaki has a rather boring personality and doesn't really talk much, and kind of a socially awkward person. He only talks about his feelings and dreams about akari, the female lead.
Akari is OK, but she is rather bland too. She doesn't think of much except for takaki.
Kanae , the other female lead, is bland too. All she does is have a crush on takaki.
6/10

Enjoyment:
Weakest aspect of the anime. The tone is depressing and boring, and that is just not good for a romantic anime. As I said before, if you want something uplifting, this is simply not for you.
3/10

Overall:
The cons kinda outweigh the pros in this anime to be honest. The art and soundtrack are good, but they can't hide the fact that this anime is very boring, and that the story isn't great and that it doesn't flow well, and with no real conclusion.
This is a romance anime with no heart, and it leaves the viewer wanting to see more, but already knowing it is hopeless.

I think this movie is a bit overrated. It is very simple and the plot is a bit confusing when you didn't pay any attention to the movie or whatsoever because it was absolutely boring. These are the reasons why:

STORY(7) - It is tragic and it resembles every typical love story which conveys emotional points and childhood lovers. Specifically, it expresses a sweet and cute romantic story of two young people who came in a school which share the same problems and interests. Soon, they become friends and eventually blooms into love. Until one day both cease to grow into different places ... and acquire a long distance relationship.Certain characters rose here and there to be a member of the story and to complicate the minds of the watchers. I, for one thing didn't understand some of the scenarios because I mostly fast-forward these scenes, maybe I missed some or maybe I didn't understand. I had to consult wikipedia to fully understand but eventually, I found out that I didn't fully understand. I think this anime movie contains a realistic value that not all people can be together to the very end. People can fall in love but that doesn't mean they are meant to be together.

ART(10) - The art reminded me of Hourou Musuko at first because of the characters but then the background and scenery was a two thumbs up! I loved the modern effect of the graphics which is only two dimensional but made it seem so authentic and beautiful. It was just magnificent. I definitely liked the simplicity and the complexity of the characters and the themes.

SOUND(4) - It doesn't show a really interesting tune despite the fact that no one can and could hooked up on the internet and start downloading it. The last song before the credits didn't give me that solemn and sweet effect. It needed more sadness and subtlety I guess.

CHARACTER(4) - Nobody stands out in this movie. None of the characters look great and have a lovable personality. They were just everyday people living in everyday life. IT. WAS. JUST. TOO. SIMPLE. But hey, they were touching.

ENJOYMENT(5) - Okay, Let's face it, judging on the score I was actually pretty bummed about this anime movie. 5 cm per sec really ruined everything despite the fact that it did leave me lingering on the reality side of life. I'll be honest with you, I didn't w=quite like the whole thing. I am kind of wondering why the top reviews scored 10 and 9 (which were one of the reasons why I decided to witness this movie) when this movie is plain boring. Call me crazy, stupid, egghead, butthead and any other kind of head but I'm just saying the truth. I didn't quite understand some parts of it because mainly, I kind of fast forward the other scenes because nothing seems to be happening it was the most horrible thing I have witnessed. I was pretty excited to watch it and it didn't appeal to me that much. I may forget about this movie someday and I don't think I'll ever recommend this to my friends (except if they asked me all the anime movies I have watched) and plausibly I may delete it from my memory. In every part of the movie, I eventually had this same pose : -.- which isn't a sign of having "fun". It didn't made me cry, it didn't give me a laugh or a small mysterious thought and did I mention that I was SUPER BORED? Perhaps other people would appreciate this movie. People who love drama and cinematography. This is anime not a sad oscar winning reality movie-ish type of thing. There are numerous animes that may be tragic but has fun-filled moments like Clannad, The girl who leapt through time, and etc. Nevertheless, if there is one part that I appreciated, it is the last part.. (SPOILER DO NOT READ) SKIP THIS! TURN TO OVERALL IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCH THIS YET!! Okay... moving on I loved the part where Tohno saw the Akira in the train railway or something and they passed each other and when Tohno tried to turn around to face Akira the train got in the way of their final meeting; however, once the train got away, AKira was gone. Oh POOR TOHNO! I just liked that part. It was pretty and tragic at the same time notable. I loved it, it is Emotional! It was probably the saddest part of the movie.

OVERALL(6) - I didn't hate the whole movie, I just wish that it wasn't this plain. It was too simple for me it was too mediocre and not enjoyable. It was hardcore drama to the extent that only some may appreciate it. On the other hand, feel free to reject me but this is my opinion and my opinion stays.

When I decided to watch 5 Centimeters per Second, I did so after seeing, hearing and reading a significant deal about it, almost all of it positive. So, after steeling myself to not be biased one way or another, I proceeded to watch the film. And, unfortunately, on the whole I was disappointed. Now, in this review, I feel that I should analyze each part of the film independently first, and then all together as a cohesive whole. Normally I would try to avoid this, but for 5 Centimeters per Second, I think it works best this way, due to the explicitly separated presentation of ... the film.

The first part, in which the protagonist seeks to reunite with his old friend and childhood sweetheart, was absolutely beautiful, visually as well as emotionally. The backgrounds and set pieces were stunningly gorgeous, and the fact that the majority of the action occurred at night gave the animators a chance to use lighting effects, from street lights, trains, neon signs, etc., to the utmost effect. There was a palpable sense of cold in this part, with the snow and fogging breath, combined with the sense of emptiness and solitude that was achieved due to the quietness and relative stillness of the scenes. It seemed to epitomize the concept of "winter".

This emptiness and loneliness emphasized the main character's longing to meet his friend again, and helped endear me to the character somewhat. This was complemented by the flashbacks to his childhood, with the vibrant springtime colors, as well as the fact that the flashbacks take place during the daytime rather than at night, effectively differentiating the past from the present, and further making the main character relatable.

You may be wondering why I have given such a glowing review so far of the film and yet my score is a 6 out of 10. Well, read on....

The second part of the film was quite good as well, though not breathtaking like the first part. Again, the visuals were stunning, with the focus this time on the wide open spaces of the countryside and the sky in particular. This emphasis was again utilized to the greatest possible extent by setting most of the scenes during twilight, giving the animators a chance to explore the rich oranges, reds and golds of the sky at dusk. This focus on huge, sweeping landscape shots and the vast, open sky contributed to once again producing a feeling of emptiness and longing, which again characterized the main character, who in this part, was not the male lead, but a girl he knows who has a crush on him. This brings me to my main problem with the second part.

I believe that the reason for shifting the focus from the male lead to this girl was to characterize the male lead indirectly, showing his obsession and longing through the eyes of another, and in doing so emphasize his loneliness and detachment even more. However, the actual result of this for me was that he seemed cold, aloof and even alien. Almost all of the characterization that had been built up in the first part was thrown to the curb in the second, which did not bode well for the last part, and alas, my worries were well-founded. I hasten to point out, however, that I actually liked the female lead in this part; my problem stems from the fact that the male lead is the focus of both the the first and last parts, and as such this nigh-ruination of his character has dire consequences.

The third and final part of this movie was absolute drivel. Due to the problems with characterization detailed in my previous point, I was unable to sympathize with the main character in this part. The first two parts had cohesive plots and identifiable primary agons ("meet up with my childhood sweetheart" and "work up the courage to confess to my crush", respectively), but in the third part, there did not seem to be any cohesive plot structure; rather, the film seemed content to simply show us images and scenes with little context or actual meaning. Had I been invested in the character and his situation as I was in the first part, this would have likely stirred various emotions within me regardless, but as I was not, it didn't.

Lastly, even visually the third part was lacking compared to the other two. Previously, there had been a uniting visual theme: for the first part, the fact that it primarily took place at night and the brilliant lighting that was used well because of it; for the second part, the vast open spaces and the sky at dusk. In this third part, however there was no such special focus, and in comparison to the other two parts it felt underwhelming and somewhat boring. That said, it did maintain the high quality of art and animation present in the rest of the film, so there is that.

In the end, I am reminded of the idiom "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." In the case of 5 Centimeters per Second, I have to reverse this statement, and make it "the whole is less than the sum of its parts." Individually, the three segments are not bad or even average, with the possible exception of the final part. In fact, if the first part was released on its own as an independent short film, it would be my favorite animated short film of all time. It's that good. Unencumbered by the first and third parts, the second part would be phenomenal as well. However, upon putting the three pieces of the puzzle together, the whole thing begins to fall apart. 5 Centimeters per Second is not bad, per se; as far as most anime go, it's slightly better than average as a whole. But it could have been so much more, which I believe for me is the crux of the issue.

Whether you agree with my assessment of this particular film or not, I thank you for taking the time to read my review. The movie didn't do a whole lot for me, but who knows, maybe it will for you.

I'm starting to think this director doesn't know the difference between bittersweet, and unfinished.

Byousoku 5 Centimeter is a work with immense potential, and a work that doesn't come close it fulfilling it. With a lackluster "story" and two dimensional characters, it's a miracle this managed to get a 6 from me.

The art is beautiful, don't get me wrong, all of this man's work is truly awe inspiring but sadly the a film can't get by on just that.

The characters made absolutely no impact and although the interactions were well written and fairly realistic, it was just an all round forgettable movie.

I'm desperately ... trying to think of something positive besides the art and honestly, nothing comes to mind. I just feel as though the director was trying too hard to make the story as artistic as the art.

5 Centimeters Per Second Review 4/10

Note: review is not spoiler free. This is for those who has already watched the anime.

What really gives the anime a high rating is how the animation and the setting itself suits each other. But what brings it down is the lack of development and.....the ending. Although the movie does show that the Tohno and Akari are deeply close friends, it is the most generic way of giving two people a relationship. "Close friends".
We never saw what deepened their friendship the most except the fact that they always hanged out together and Tohno stood up for her. So now we ... have Kanae. Some random surfer girl who falls inlove with Tohno in his new school and also doen's know what she should do for college. That's it. She felt like just an extra character who has no purpose at all as she didn't affect the main character at all. Kanae was just someone that would teach people they might not be the right one for the person they deeply loved. The rocketship scene also felt like it served no purpose except for the beautiful art, but it's not enough to make up for the episode. Overall the second episode felt like it was just there and pointless. It could've definitely used to show more between Tohno and Akari instead of a new girl that would end up being forgotten.

And now we have the ending. To be honest I entered the anime thinking it would end up happy. To my dismay, it wasn't, atleast for Tohno. The number one thing that I hated about the ending is not because they didn't end up together but because of how Tohno ended up as. My impressions on Tohno in the end is a washed up guy who lost hope in his life and would end up alone. His newest girlfriend just broke up with him and because Tohno was still stuck in the past, he couldn't move on and would quit his job wtih the thought that he was at his limit. It was certainly depressing. As for Akari, she was able to move on and marry, but had hints of regret inside her. Overall, the anime is as realistic as real life. It is not a light novel romance anime as it shows what would really happen if it would occur in real life. It showed how long distance relationships are hard to maintain and would be a miracle if kept.

Originally published on Anime Viking: http://animeviking.wordpress.com/
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As with Shinkai’s other creations, 5 Centimeters Per Second deals with human relationships, in this case two lovers being separated by distance much like his previous Voices of a Distant Star. This time, however, the story is a realistic and down-to-earth. Life happens, it cannot be helped.

While this should be a splendid and tightly written story about love and growing up, it fails in the same regard Voices of a Distant Star did. Namely: the lack of connection to any of the characters.

Despite telling its story through three different parts of Takaki Tohno’s life, we never venture into his head. ... We do not understand his thoughts, his motivations of anything. Instead, the viewer is but an observer of what he goes through. This is where 5 Centimeters Per Second fails. I should not feel detached and apathetic. I should be one with Takaki.

Not even the most beautiful visuals and music can make up for a shallow core. It does also does not help that each of the parts feel detached, as if they were three different stories clumsily put together. Had the emotional investment been greater, or if at least some reason to care existed, this may have worked better.

When I do not even understand the characters, even though I am painfully aware of the message 5 Centimeters Per Second is trying to convey, everything goes to waste. It is a real shame.

Over the time in which I first started watching anime when I was really young I’ve always been captivated by the things that well-constructed anime can actually teach you. After all you can’t have a story without a purpose and expect everyone to appreciate the work as much. In the case of 5 centimeters per second, the way I view the entire story was that it was entirely lacking in the way I had expected it to be despite the captivating art that it had to offer to the anime community.

Now ever since I've been viewing forum boards a few months ago on the best ... anime movies to watch, aside from everything associated with Hayao Miyazaki, 5 centimeters per seconds has constantly come up as very high on everyone's list labeled most often by pretty much everyone as something you should like if you want something beautiful and emotional. So that's why at first I had such high hopes for the story this anime had to offer, more so after watching the trailer. Also without having to say the art was also the biggest element of interest. However, do to being more interested in my ongoing series I pushed this aside for when I just really wanted to watch something sweet and emotional.

Now I want to put a tiny disclaimer that I do have a very high tuned appreciation to art and this anime is close to top as one of the most beautiful works of anime I have ever seen. Especially for this being 9 years old it ages remarkably well. Without a doubt this anime has the most to offer an audience as far as the animation and the sound. That alone is why despite the critiquing I’m about to do if you haven’t watched it just go ahead, of course romance and slice of life isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and in that fact it’s okay to skip over.

Now, as far as the story this is a movie divided into 3 episode parts each a short story following a young boy’s life and his relationship with another young girl he bonded with before she moves away. Immediately into the story I felt very attached to the emotional storytelling that went behind the development of young love pushed away by distance. The boy is very close to the girl and despite being sort of standalone by himself most of the time you can tell that the sort of platonic relationship they have is mutual. However, as the story progress with his life I feel like the sort of tie I had for this anime cut off around the middle to end of episode 2. For me no matter how much I analyze every little emotion or detail this anime had very little to offer me in terms of story line. It all seemed like one big exposition and that it was leading up to something that I’d just really and myself understanding. Yet, being only an hour long the timing really pushes its story into this box of uncertainty and lacking detail. So the last episode was incredibly short and disappointing for me.

It wasn't just a lacking story though besides the lack of detail the characters stuck out so much as well. In the entire anime, the total collection of supporting and main characters is only 5 and that’s something that is spread out over 3 episodes with the main character boy reoccurring in every episode. Now maybe you can disagree with me about the story line and maybe you saw a deeper meaning that I still can't wrap my mind to understand, but I just really want someone to tell me how the story didn’t have time to develop the main character over 3 episodes. Especially since the episodes periods of his life I expected more depth to the boy than just dialogue and this actually went more down hill after the first episode.

Out of all the characters I can honestly state that the most developed character in my eyes was a girl named Kanae who isn’t even introduced until the 2nd episode. Sure you hear and see Takaki distantly depressed over time because he feels like the love of his childhood is keeping his heart locked away, but that’s all almost interpreted. Kanae is the only character that actually expresses her emotions and out of the episodes that's why out of each part episode 2 all in all made the most sense to me.

Now if I have to really pin point my issues, I guess the biggest flaw I just really had was with the end when honestly I can’t even spoil anything because nothing happens. It’s like 10 minutes of music and filler that really just expresses how sucky life is and all. The amount of how lacking the ending was almost made me mad too. Like I thought even if the ending was something so cliché it wouldn’t make sense I still would have felt more closure. Then again maybe this was like some sort of ultimate lesson I’m just not getting. That some things hold you back in life and there really is no closure that it’s not always what you want that you get.

In final words I would like to point out that I actually tried to scope out this anime’s reviews immediately after my let down to see why people found this as “sad” as it was. Honestly, the most I could get out of what I read was that the amount of realism was upsetting how nothing works out in the end. I hope anyone that has watched or is planning to watch this considers what I wrote because honestly the biggest let down was probably just my expectations. Keep an open logical mind and don't have the sort of hyped up expectations like I did going in.

"What the fuck"

That is what my friend Allen and I said after completing this anime. We were left with more questions then answers. Was this anime just meant to leave us to think we are going to die alone?

We feel cucked. This is more then slightly confusing and maybe I personally am dumb and don't understand.. but... I mean.. good luck if you decide to watch it. I felt it was unfulfilling and left me wanting more. It left me with more questions then answers. I waited like 10 years to finally watch this.

I get around to it and it was not what I ... expected. Everyone said it was a great anime and that it was worthy of making you cry. I did not cry once. I was misled, and lied to. And I'm bitter.

But man was the art really pretty. The sky was great. The birds were beautiful. I related to their screeching. That was me at the end of this anime. I just screeched. Fuck this anime, long story short. It wasted an hour and a half of mine and my friends life. I want it back in money.. please. Fuck the creators as well. I just..

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

>:c

5cm per Second in a word: Meh.

The coolest thing about this anime is that literally every frame shot could be a wallpaper. The Art work is 10/10 outstandingly gorgeous. If I were to watch this again is would solely be out of the desire to view the animation.

What I didn't like: The Story and the Characters. I didn't like the way the story was told. Yes, it's unique, but I wasn't a fan of it. Also because of the way they chose to portray the story, I didn't come to care about the characters, which is sad because it's popular for being a tear-jerker, but ... I honestly didn't feel anything for anybody. I feel like they tried so hard to make the characters deep, that their personalities just became a void.

I would recommend this anime if you were sick in bed and just wanted something pretty to look at.

Some Spoilers Ensue:

Hmmm...I'm not too sure about this one. I didn't hate it, but I wanted more for sure. It could have been brilliant had Shinkai Makoto given the characters some depth. There was hardly any character development and sadly, that made it hard for me to care what happened to anyone. it seems like the three stories were derived from love poems. It was an interesting and subtle take on heartbreak which initially made me want to watch this. Out of the three parts, I found the first one to be the best. Though, again, had I had some background, I would have ... been much more invested in the characters. The second part had almost nothing to do with the storyline other than to show you another girl was in love with our protagonist...though i loved the tie in to space and the bits of scifi trickling through. The third part was just frustrating. She was just marrying someone else? Why? What happened over the course of those emails? I just wanted so much more background. Grrrrr.

Technically I found it to be lovely, though some parts were sub par. The scenery and animation were insanely beautiful which made it a delight to see in HD, however the characters were stock looking and void of personality other than Sumida...but still, even she wasn't great. The voice acting was okay, but most of the story was read to you not so much acted out. I did however love the soundtrack. Gorgeous melancholic music.

Overall, I watched this so I could have a nice cry, but sadly, it didn't come. Lack of character development and rushed delivery resulted in no feeling. Hopefully this can be remade and fledged out into an anime series because the story isn't terrible. I have yet to read the manga so hopefully its better, Till then, I'd pass on this one.

5/10.

Watched subbed.

I picked up this movie because it was so highly recommended by so many people on reddit, mal and on many "top 10" lists. My expectations were high and I cannot tell you how disappointed I was when i finished watching it. The story felt very fragmented, with the plot jumping from one place to another. The sound was so quiet that even at max volume, I could barely hear the dialogue over my PC fans (with noise cancelling headphones in). The whole vibe of the movie was melancholic and frankly, boring. I tolerated the first arc of the story. After that, everything was just ... in-cohesive and drab. Yet somehow, I feel like I am the only one who did not like this anime. All I'm saying is, if you are going to watch this anime, don't go in with high expectations or you will be disappointed.

The movie was hyped quite a lot by the anime community. I re watched the movie again just for kick and felt the same i did when i first watched it. The movie doesn't really have much substance. You could go your life with out watching the movie and be fine. The Backgrounds were beautiful and the best thing about the movie. The movie's story was basically Boy meets girl....nothing happens. There are lessons in the movie like you don't always get the one you love but you can still move on, you'll figure out your life eventually or find a way to keep going ... and not everything is going to end the way you want it to be in life.It had pretty nice lessons but the delivery didn't really hit and heart strings. The movie was very lack luster in story. The character were very bland and lacked character or development. There is not much to say about them because there wasn't much to them. The soundtrack must have been ok but i don't recall much of it so it must not have been anything great if i didn't really pay attention to it. My enjoyment for the movie was a bit poor... After i finished it I was like " Well...it was a movie... not much i can say really." The movie wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. It wasn't sweet nor bitter sweet. It was like water going down your throat.... It had little of anything to it.

I was really looking forward to watching this anime. The setting and plot was brilliant the first time I read it and I really had high hopes. It started off pretty decent but then went into a downward spiral. The ending was the part that drove this anime to the ground. It was depressing, unrealistic, and too simple. Although there were many bad things about this anime, there were some good things too. For example, the characters had detailed personalities. They gave off a feeling that made me wonder if these characters were actually based off of real people. That, in my opinion, was the ... best feature of this anime.

If you're looking for an answer to whether you should watch it or not, all I can say is you won't regret watching it. Although it isn't a very good anime (again, in my opinion), it will give you a little taste of what a slice-of-life anime is all about.

This movie could use some naturalism. I appreciate Shinkai's sensibility where it's due, but the narration sucks. It takes away a lot of the credibility, especially considering how easy to grasp the movie still is without such unwelcome poetry. There is a better way to handle things called visual storytelling. The final scene is a prime example of that, though I still think it was too short for its own good. Looking at the other side in total silence while the audience contemplates the last threads of relationship fading away, that is what a mastermind such as Takahata would be able to pull off effortlessly. ... Shinkai always tries to make something that feels transcendental and evocative, but there is always an underlying juvenility going against his intentions. Still, it had the heart in the right place for once, and it's definitely the most thoroughly well executed of his works, perhaps alongside Someone's Gaze. Counting on the fact he just won't let go of romance and separation as core themes, hopefully we will get a maturely handled masterpiece in years to come.