Byousoku 5 cm

Information of Anime

Tono Takaki & Shinohara Akari are close friends since elementary school.  One day, they became to move far apart because of their parent's jobs.  However, they stay connected by sending letters to each other.  However, the distance would grow larger when Takaki moves further away.  On the last day before he moves, Akari decides to meet him one more time at a train station before he moves away.

Byousoku 5 cm is divided into three parts: Oukashou, Cosmonaut, & Byousoku 5 Centimeter.

Storyline (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Below is a summary of the storyline I've seen.  If you haven't seen the series yet & don't want to be spoiled, skip this section.  If you want to know the story & want to see how I viewed it, read on.

The first episode focuses on the relationship between Takaki & Akari as they start to drift away from each other.  Letters are exchanged & the feelings to one another are kept inside to themselves.  The point of view is from Takaki as he travels to the train station to meet Akari in a snowy night that causes a lot of delays.  The episode ends with Takaki gone to his final destination in the snowy night.

The second episode focuses on Kanae Sumita, a high school friend of Takaki in the town he's now residing.  She has feelings for him, but is afraid to tell him.  They hang out with each other a lot as friends.  However, she sees Takaki typing text messages on his cell phone to someone who Kanae thinks is his girlfriend from another town.  However, it turns out that he's not sending it to anyone.  Kanae confesses her feelings to Takaki when she finally gets the courage to do so when he's about to move again.  But he rejects her as he still has Akari in his heart.  Kanae doesn't mind the rejection as she will still continue to love him in her heart.

The final episode shows a adult Takaki working at a company as a computer programmer.  He meets Akari in the town he's now residing, but they don't seem to recognize one another.  Akari is now engaged to someone & about to be married soon.  From this time, they had already lost contact with one another even though they still remember each other.

My Personal Review

Byousoku 5 cm has a somewhat confusing type.  It's one of the metaphorical things that I'm weak at.  The movie got attention when I was bored & felt like watching it for some reason.  The thing about this movie is that it's a bit complicated for a young audience to understand a bit.

Animation

The character designs are simple, but nicely drawn.  It's got that manga feel to it & the artist went pretty deep in designing them right down to the toenails.  However, the lines around the characters are pretty thick or broken at times.  This is a common problem with CG drawings that are zoomed up a bit.

The backgrounds are okay.  Has some very nice details.  A lot of attention is put into this & the quality is great.  Really make it look like a high budget movie, which I don't think it is.

The colours are mainly on the dull side with some bold colours.  The shading is dull as well as it gives the animation some realistic life.  They really make the anime look great.

In terms of the animation movement, it's pretty flow.  No breaks or weird jerks in the animation.  Smooth & clean.

Sound

The sound effects are mainly on the realistic side.  This gives the movie its realistic theme & not some cartoon.

The seiyuus here are ok.  They perform their characters ok & are pretty much amateurs.  They haven't been in the industry long.  Plus, the cast is pretty small as well.  They kind of lack some life a bit.

The music is on the soft side.  Blends in the movie well, but there's very little music in this movie in terms of the number of tracks.

Story

The movie's breakdown is well done as the transaction between episodes flows very smoothly.  Also, I like the theme as it's something I can relate to in my life somewhat.  The friends you met in the past & the distance you create with them to the point that you lose contact with them.  I can safely say that this applies to everyone regardless if it's love or not.  The character development is ok as the story doesn't stay on one person's point of view.  It's kind of hard to stay focus on one character when the timeline change is pretty big.  However, the downside about the movie is the amount of talking it has.  It can be very dry as the pace is like a "my pace" kind of style, which can be slow.

As for the ending, very well done.  I loved it as life doesn't always go your way as you want it & this movie shows it well.

Overall Conclusion

Byousoku 5 cm is an excellent movie that I strongly recommend watching.  It's realistic & can be related to our everyday lives.  I strongly recommend the mature readers here to watch it.

Byousoku 5 cm gets a 8.5/10.  The storyline is well written & developed with a touch of reality.  The problem with the movie though is the slow pace & dryness that can turn viewers away.

Last updated on December 19, 2007