Byosoku 5 Centimeters Per Second
Tono Takaki and Shinohara Akari went to the same elementry school, after graduation her parents forced her to go to a different school. Despite the love they had for each other, they lost contact and years pass. One day, Takaki goes to visit Akari in the heavy snow.
This movie is a collection of three stories: Episode 1, “Okasho”, shows the day of their reunion. Episode 2, “Cosmonaut”, is the story after Takaki reunites with Akari from a third person point of view. The last episode, “Byosoku 5 centimeter”, shows the situation from both of their point of views.
Synopsis courtesy of Animenfo
From the director and creator of "Voices Of A Distant Star", Shinkai Makoto, this little 3 episode OVA focuses on the bittersweet love between two young people and the melancholy that circumstances and distance bring to their feelings for each other.
As stories go it's a fairly simple one, and one visited often in anime of this ilk. The difference here is in the presentation. Shinkai Makoto is not only a master creator and director, but a master of storytelling.
Artistically it's one of the most compelling anime I've ever seen, and falls very much in line with the bright and crisp style of "Voices Of A Distant Star." Copious amounts of CG are used, but none of it is distracting as is often the case in CG, and it frames the environment of the story to brilliant effect.
Thematically, though based on a relatively simple premise (that being young unrequited love), hardly a moment is wasted in conveying the emotions riding ever so stealthily beneath the surface of this very basic theme. It is reminiscent of Voices Of A Distant Star in this regard, but also somewhat of Pale Cocoon. Not in the actual story per-se, but in the subtly distracted way the theme is presented.
To me it's a pivotal piece of anime, representative of the best the medium can bring to the art of storytelling. Even if mecha, swordplay, or magical girls are more your cup of tea, this is a piece everyone needs to see if for no other reason than to wallow in your own appreciation of the medium and the depths to which it can take you.
ADV has the license, so let's hope for good things from the dub...
A preview is available on this website, courtesy of Yahoo Japan.
Tono Takaki and Shinohara Akari went to the same elementry school, after graduation her parents forced her to go to a different school. Despite the love they had for each other, they lost contact and years pass. One day, Takaki goes to visit Akari in the heavy snow.
This movie is a collection of three stories: Episode 1, “Okasho”, shows the day of their reunion. Episode 2, “Cosmonaut”, is the story after Takaki reunites with Akari from a third person point of view. The last episode, “Byosoku 5 centimeter”, shows the situation from both of their point of views.
Synopsis courtesy of Animenfo
From the director and creator of "Voices Of A Distant Star", Shinkai Makoto, this little 3 episode OVA focuses on the bittersweet love between two young people and the melancholy that circumstances and distance bring to their feelings for each other.
As stories go it's a fairly simple one, and one visited often in anime of this ilk. The difference here is in the presentation. Shinkai Makoto is not only a master creator and director, but a master of storytelling.
Artistically it's one of the most compelling anime I've ever seen, and falls very much in line with the bright and crisp style of "Voices Of A Distant Star." Copious amounts of CG are used, but none of it is distracting as is often the case in CG, and it frames the environment of the story to brilliant effect.
Thematically, though based on a relatively simple premise (that being young unrequited love), hardly a moment is wasted in conveying the emotions riding ever so stealthily beneath the surface of this very basic theme. It is reminiscent of Voices Of A Distant Star in this regard, but also somewhat of Pale Cocoon. Not in the actual story per-se, but in the subtly distracted way the theme is presented.
To me it's a pivotal piece of anime, representative of the best the medium can bring to the art of storytelling. Even if mecha, swordplay, or magical girls are more your cup of tea, this is a piece everyone needs to see if for no other reason than to wallow in your own appreciation of the medium and the depths to which it can take you.
ADV has the license, so let's hope for good things from the dub...
A preview is available on this website, courtesy of Yahoo Japan.