CFC #1: 5 Centimeters per Second

[mickilennial]

Yeah, I’m going to do this to you. You’re going to watch anime.

5 Centimeters per Second (2007)
Makoto Shinkai, Atsushi Shirakawa, Studio CWF

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Makoto Shinkai is one of Japan’s masters of animation, right up there with the likes of Miyazaki, Oshii, and Kon—for those interested in the project this might be one of their first major introductions to the medium and I hope it will be a good experience. Ultimately 5 Centimeters per Second is a tale about coming-of-age and romantic anxieties; it’s heartfelt, dynamic, and utterly beautiful. 5 Centimeters Per Second is one of the films that put Shinkai on the map (others being Voice of a Distant Star and The Place Promised in Our Early Days) and for many it’s not hard to see why.

Where can you watch it?

Currently the only place you can stream it (and for free, to boot) is on Crunchyroll. Which is good since it gives you the option of watching the weakly dubbed version or the original Japanese cut with subtitles.

[Mercury]

Started it. It's absolutely stunning. The establishing shots, and the uses of shadows to show motion and all that was absolutely gorgeous! And obviously the romantic and nice telling of the relationship is really hitting a sweet spot. I'm about 20 minutes in and then, of course, computer ran out of power. Probably for the best cuz I have to sleep and go to work early tomorrow. Will DEFINITELY be finishing it up tomorrow.

I can say wholeheartedly to anyone reading this, it's worth your 62 minutes of time. At least I am pretty sure it is based off the first third.
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-Ryan

ONLY 4% of people can understand this chart! Come try!

My Fave Metal - you won't believe #5!!!

[mickilennial]

Glad that you have liked what you've seen so far! I think you're going to be very surprised when you finish it.

[craola]

beautiful animation. just beautiful. nice story too.
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[Mercury]

Okay, sorry for the long delay in getting back into this topic's fray. I just watched "5 Centimeters Per Second" a second time. The first time was magical; the second viewing was just as much so but highlighted many more artistic choices which honestly took my breath away. I even took little notes! I'm a dork. But i felt i had to to take better note of so many of the most profound parts that come and go so quick.

It's hard to communicate how truly gorgeous this film is. It's, like Gowi mentioned, Dynamic, also mesmerizing, somber and yet hopeful, its realistic one moment then over the top in its wondrous beauty the next. The scenarios, all so relatable to me and i'm sure most of you, of young deep love. of longing to see that someone you know in your heart is THE ONE, the overwhelming anxiety that overtakes one when they are faced with the need to try to express how one feels about someone, the oppressive anger and fear of feeling you're going to miss seeing someone who you love more than anything in the world, the intense numbness that can overtake your life when all the time you're feeling all real hope of happiness is anchored to some missed opportunity somewhere in the fleeting yet glorious past. All of this is expressed with the most masterfully magnificent touches.

Episode 1 - Tale of Cherry Blossoms - is honestly perfection. The way the first 25 minutes is edited to show how this relationship built, how it morphed. Also the visuals, the use of shadows, the perfectly poetic ways it shows bitter cold and the silence attendant with snow, is all so romantic. The feelings the main character Takaki is feeling when he's being delayed over and over in his trek on the train with the never ending voices over the speakers apologizing for the delay and thanking him for his patience, his pain when he loses a certain something that was supposed to lead to the most romantic thing in his life up that point, all these feelings are shared by you as you view this film - and especially episode 1. The end of that episode had me teary eyed, the meeting was so damn understated and emotional. Sad then Happy then sad again.

Also the first episode features trains. Aren't trains the fucking best? a lot of my favorite romances involve trains and train stations. There's something moving and stirring about the symbol of a train coming or going or being ridden or waited on.

Overall the first episode (and really the whole movie, but especially part 1) is perfection. It deserves to be mentioned in the same breathe as Before Sunrise, Brief Encounter, Umbrellas of Cherbourg, etc, as a representative expression of the anxieties of young love, the sadness of going your own separate ways, and the longing and loneliness of all that ...stuff.

I don't want to take anything away from episodes 2, and 3 ("Cosmonaut" and "5 Centimeters Per Second" respectively.). They build on the first episode. There's references and rhymes all throughout them. They also reveal deep truths about the transience of love and things that we hold to be eternal at various times in our lives. The ending is gorgeous. and sad. deeply sad. But there's no false note in the melancholy. I'm living it, and i can relate to every aspect of it. (sorry to get personal there...i'll stop.)

The montage at the end is godly and perfect. I don't like the over the top sweeping pop song that attended it though. That's literally my only gripe. Working at a movie theatre whenever i'd clean a theater at the end of the show and the post credits would be going for japenese animated films, WITHOUT FAIL there would be a cringey japanese pop song with the vocals way up front and center blasting. Is that a tradition with anime? I don't like it. But it's a tiny fault in the end.

Best scenes: The rocket taking off scene and the silence and sky changing that comes just before it, the subtle apathetic pause takaki has when he drops his keys in the elevator and sort of coldly looks at them before picking them up with a sigh, the entire train station series of scenes with the flashbacks, the flashbacks are immensely well done, and especially the moment when he passes who he thinks is akari just as he's crossing a train track, the pause, the gasp, the turn around and then the trains. So moving.

Best line and deepest line ever (maybe not, but in the conversation for me) takes place right before he turns around at the train tracks - "I couldn't shake the feeling that if I turned around, she'd do the same". - cue tears. So much meaning on a micro and macro level there. If he could just find her, maybe she's come toward him just as he wished and longed to go to her. If he could only find and reconnect with her. (that perfection is explored in even greater detail in "Your Name." That's another movie, very different than this in most ways, that truly blew my mind recently).

Last note, i have to mention one thing the filmmaker does a lot here which always impressed me. He would take the "camera" away from the people in the scene and show a series of nearby objects that expressed and showed the surroundings. The window sill, or the the keys on a table, the tire of a car, etc. Then as a character is speaking some silent, beautiful words, he's switch between the objects in rhythm somewhat with the rhythm of the sentences. It was a small trick, but he does it perfectly every time, and without fail when he'd go back to it I'd always think "God damn! that is just so beautifully, cleverly, and poetically done.

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Anyway, safe to say with this master work along with "Your Name." which i saw in theatres today, I have a new favorite animator and general filmmaker in Mr. Makoto Shinkai. I look forward to watching much more of his work soon. All of his past work if I can get my hands on it as well as any new movies he puts out i will be anticipating.

Also, i have come around fully on anime. At its best (of the very little i've seen) it's some of the most stunning stuff around.

Thanks Gowi for this thread/rec and the Your Name rec. They've been a truly enriching experience to watch!
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-Ryan

ONLY 4% of people can understand this chart! Come try!

My Fave Metal - you won't believe #5!!!