Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The Speed of Falling Cherry Blossoms and Moving On (5 Centimeters per Second)
I happened to chance upon 5 centimeters per second while I was browsing for some new animated movies to watch. The wonderful artwork, CG rendering and the Studio Ghibli-esque (I am a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki's work) rendition of its characters instantly captivated my lenses and made me decide to pick this one up. I admit though, being somewhat uninterested in the romance genre of movies, not to mention the drama that goes along with it, but being one critically-acclaimed anime and receiving lots of positive reactions and high ratings in anime sites, I really ought to give this one a try.
5 Centimeters per Second's DVD cover
5 centimeters per second is a collection of 3 short yet touching episodes that chronicles three chapters in the life of a young boy, Tohno Takaki and his continuing love for a girl, Akari Shinohara. Tohno and Akari have been very close friends since childhood and eventually their friendship had blossomed into something greater at a very early age. Unfortunate for the two, fate seemed cruel that both their families had to move slowly drifting the two apart. As time went by the two lost communication between each other yet Tohno still held on the hopes of seeing Akari again.
Episode I: Cherry Blossom. The last life-changing meeting between Tohno and Akari. Tohno took a supposedly 5-hour train ride (which became 7 due to extreme weather that day) to meet Akari before he and his family moved further away, thus the slow yet inevitable parting of the two.
Episode II: Cosmonaut. Tohno, now in high school walks home with Kanae, a classmate who has fallen in love with him since middle school. She gives up on letting Tohno know how she feels, knowing, and seeing from Tohno's actions that she is incapable of giving him what he is searching for. Tohno, after years, still longs for Akari.
Episode III: 5 Centimeters per Second. Akari is about to get married and Tohno is now working as a computer programmer. Despite more than 10 years and past relationships, he still longs for Akari. Later, on the verge of a breakdown, he quits his job and sooner, after an incident where presumably he saw Akari once more, he realizes its about time he moved on.
This movie, in my opinion definitely catches the sad reality of the slow pace in which some people who have started together but due to the inevitable, drift apart from each other. The slow yet painful realization and process of moving on in life and leaving the past behind, hence the title 5 centimeters per second.
The speed of falling cherry blossoms in spring which is 5 centimeters per second is used as a good metaphorical contrast to the slow process of separation and moving on between Akari and especially, Tohno.
Tohno, presumptively, recognizes Akari as she passed by him on a train crossing. Both of them looked back to see each other when a train passed by and cut off their views. Tohno waited for the train to pass and after seeing Akari didn't wait, finally realizes its about time.
Hats off to its director and writer Makoto Shinkai for such a wonderful yet somewhat a tearjerker of a movie. Though I don't usually go and pick up titles of this sort, I'm definitely adding this to my favorite movies of all time. Great storyline and majestic artwork and animation, not to mention the great ending song which landed the final blow and made my eyes go watery, it really kept me glued to the screen 'till the end and made me realize again that I had a soft spot too for some drama since Grave of the Fireflies.
Yesterday I had a dream.A dream of long ago.Within the dream, the two of us were still thirteen.Standing upon the vast fields blanketed in snow as far as the eye could see.In the distance, the lights shimmering in houses were set sparsely, far and wide.All that was left upon the newly fallen snow were our footprints.Just like that, we wished without hesitation that one day the two of us would be able to see the cherry blossoms once again.
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