THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME

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MANGA ComedyThe Girl Who Leapt Through Time
MANGA RomanceThe Girl Who Leapt Through Time

REVIEWS

• 

  planetJane

  100/100
  A simply gorgeous romance film ultimately about the importance of responsibility and living in the present.

  The following assumes familiarity with the reviewed material. Spoilers below.

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  The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a film that explores the power of love, its limits, the inevitability of time, the importance of clear communication, and the futility of living in the past.

  Girl's premise is interesting though not wholly unique (and indeed, the movie is in fact a sequel to the 1966 novel of the same name). Highschooler Makoto gains time-travel powers (which she later finds out are limited) after a particularly terrible day that caps off with her dying by being hit by a train. Inexplicably, she wakes up earlier that "same" morning. From here, she uses these abilities to fix mistakes, spend time with her friends (the brash Chiaki and the studious Kousuke), and generally avoid any serious consequences for her actions. The core of her selfish behavior is her desire to remain friends with Chiaki and Kousuke for, well, forever. Her resistance to change is a recurring point, and near the film's halfway point she begins abusing her time travel powers to avoid answering a confession made to her by Chiaki, who asks her out. Here is where things begin to genuinely unravel.

  Eventually, in the film's final third, Chiaki is revealed to also be a time traveler albeit one from a distant future. It's a very odd turn for what is up until that point a fairly standard 'teen romance but with some supernatural element' plot, but it ultimately works in the film's favor. Chiaki manages to bail Makoto out of getting Kousuke (and his girlfriend Kaho) nearly killed by the same train that clobbered her earlier in the film. It's only here, at Girl's end, where she begins to really face any consequences for her actions beyond inconvenience and awkwardness.

  Makoto and Chiaki only even begin to resolve the tension in their relationship in the film's closing moments, and by then it is inarguably already far too late, but importantly the film still treats these final scenes as cathartic, and they are. Whether or not Chiaki and Makoto can ever actually see each other again is beside the point, the tension between them is resolved, and that chapter of their lives is closed. It's a fascinating alternative to the usual unambiguously happy ending these kinds of films tend to showcase, because the films point it seems, is that, while we can't change what happened in the past, we can control how we react to it, and can control our future going forward. Love is powerful, but even Makoto and Chiaki can't stop the march of the clock forever. After all, "time waits for no one" (delivered in charming Engrish) is one of the film's recurring key phrases. Is it a touch fatalistic? Yes, maybe. But it's also liberating, there's no point in trying to constantly repair past mistakes, because ultimately, we all live in the present.

  If this all sounds rather dry or even preachy, it must be emphasized that Girl backs its themes up with visuals that are rarely short of gorgeous. The backgrounds (cobbled together from a number of real life reference-locations throughout Tokyo) are intricate, incredibly well-drawn, and perhaps due to being drawn from actual sources, feel like real spaces. This, combined with solid performances from secondary characters such as Makoto's younger sister, her aunt (who is heavily implied though never outright stated to be the protagonist of the original 1966 Girl Who Leapt Through Time novel), a teacher with a peculiar fashion sense, an aggravated mother of a small child Makoto runs into multiple times and so on, makes the world of the film feel bigger than just the three characters who sit at the center of its plot.

  The audio warrants more than a passing nod too. The soundtrack is fantastic--subdued and lilting until it needs to be dramatic and bombastic--as is the voicework, almost every character mentioned thusfar has a specific, unique, voice that is undeniably their own, even minor background characters, and when soundtrack, acting, and visuals come together you get a scene like the one near the end of the film, where Makoto bawls her eyes out in one of the most beautifully-animated cries this viewer has ever seen, sobbing uncontrollably as heavy, luscious strings swell in the soundtrack.

  The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a film that does almost everything right. It has no major flaws and in the decade since its release has leant a touch of influence to everything from YuruYuri season finale episode "The Akari Who Leapt Through Time" to the similarly-structured and equally amazing Your Name. Truly, it is impossible to not recommend Girl. From someone who doesn't believe in must-sees, it comes damn close.

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• 

  anjalit21

  90/100
  “TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE”

  This was one hell of an awesome movie seriously. I liked it more than I thought I would.

  Overall Score : 9/10
  Story : 8/10
  Art : 8/10
  Sound : 9/10
  Character : 8.5/10
  Enjoyment : 9/10

  I would highly recommend everyone to give this a watch it’s worthy spending your two hours on and now I’m gonna TRY explaining why it is so good emphasis on TRY btw!

  “Life for 17-year-old Konno Makoto is filled with fun days at school and hanging out with her two best friends, Chiaki and Kousuke. But then she finds herself with an ominous ability to leap back in time. A truly strange ability that at first saves her life, but then allows her to not be late at school, to know the answers on any surprise exams and to avoid any troublesome mishaps. It is only when Makoto chooses to use this ability to avoid some of the more personal issues that arise with her friends, that events become both complex and painfully difficult — the simple gift that she began to take for granted suddenly becomes a troublesome burden.”

  First, the message of the movie was that “Time waits for no one”. At first it might seem like such a simple quote which we hear a lot of time in our life but it’s meaning is very deep which you slowly realize throughout the movie.

  Also it showed that we should never indulge in our selfish actions because we might be enjoying ourselves but without us even realizing someone else might be getting hurt due to our actions. And that’s what happened with our MC after getting the power to leap through time she didn’t think about her actions at all and just went ahead to enjoy herself and without her knowing things around her started changing, hurting the people badly in the process and even herself as more time passed. She didn’t use her powers for anything evil but yet her selfish actions hurt others and their feelings.

  When Makoto learns that her actions have bad consequences and are hurting the people around her badly she tries to amend them but amending is not going to be an easy task and she learns it the hard way. This is where Makoto develops a lot trying to amend what her actions caused and learns the big life lesson.

  The visuals and the OST were really amazing just playing at the right moments and even though I didn’t know the song before it just gave me an urge to sing along which I did for a fact and this happens rarely so you know...

  The animation style kinda reminded me of Wolf Children but really I don’t know if there is any connection or if it was just me!

  The characters are all so good, pretty relatable and realistic even the MC and the other two mains. I liked Makoto the most then Kousuke and then Chiaki. They all developed nicely especially Makoto, her development was the best.

  I really enjoyed the whole movie. The plot was interesting from the very beginning; it kept that way till the end and never got boring. Not spoiling but the ending scene after the reveal was really good so beautiful I loved it!!

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• 

  TheAnimeBingeWatcher

  85/100
  Breezy teen romance flick perfection with a well-executed sci-fi twist.

  It has taken a shamefully long time for me to check out the filmography of Mamoru Hosoda. I watched and loved Wolf Children well before I even started this blog, and I only fell deeper in love with it upon a more recent re-watch, but I’ve been dragging my heels on checking out the rest of the director’s work. Well, starting today, it’s time to fix that. I’m going to tear through Hosoda’s critically acclaimed five films (including Wolf Children again, because I can never watch that movie enough times) and finally give this legendary anime director the attention he deserves. Time, after all, waits for no one, and I only do us all a disservice by putting it off any longer. And with that perfect segway, let’s jump right into talking about The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Hosoda’s first film that wasn’t a franchise spinoff. Because if this movie’s anything to go by, I was even dumber than I thought about putting this off for so long. Folks, this is gonna be great.

  Our story centers around Makoto Konno, a tomboyish high school girl living a relatively normal life. She’s spunky and energetic, she’s got two great friends in her dude pals Chiaki and Kousuke, and she generally goes through life without too many problems. That all changes when a chance encounter leaves her with a mysterious power: the ability to jump back in time. And when I say jump, I mean literally jump. If she wants to go back through time, she has to take a flying leap off whatever surface is nearest and crash ass-backwards into the past, almost certainly banging her head against the closest concrete wall in the process. It’s a hilarious running gag throughout the film, which keeps finding new and entertaining ways for her to crash-land back through the time stream. In fact, the entire film is infused with that exact kind of loosey-goosey slapstick energy. There is so much life in Hosoda’s direction; characters bounce off each other with glee, quips and snark fly fast and furious as they only can between close friends, and the timing of every last gag is pitch-perfect. I was laughing my ass off throughout the vast majority of this film, it’s so fucking entertaining. This is the kind of breezy, effortlessly delightful teen whimsy that’s right up my alley. Heck, with the time-jumping gimmick, it almost feels like a spiritual prequel to the likes of Your Name; I suspect Shinkai might be a pretty decent fan of this movie.

  Speaking off that gimmick, as you might expect, Makoto’s time-leaping powers form the center of the plot and her character arc. At first, she revels in her new powers with reckless abandon, jumping back in time over and over again just to keep hanging out at a karaoke bar or ace a test she previously failed. She’s living on high, and her enthusiasm is utterly infectious. When I talk about how much fun this film is, Makoto’s most of the reason why; the energy, sass and exuberance she carries herself with feels so true to life, as does her friendship with the equally well-realized Chikai and Kousuke, each of whom are their own flavor of dreamily-perfect-yet-still-grounded-in-reality cool dude. We could’ve spent the entire film just basking in their group dynamic and this movie still would’ve been great. But of course, things eventually start getting more complicated, as the consequences of Makoto changing the past start to pile up, people start to get hurt in her wake, and the difficult situations she’s faced with quickly become too emotionally fraught for her to time-leap away from. Suddenly, these powers that gave her so much freedom start feeling like a trap, an escape hatch from facing life’s sometimes-harsh realities that only ensnare her further in a prison of her own making. With everything starting to crash down around her and her happy life threatening to drift away, it’s up to her to take responsibility for her mistakes and accept that she can’t keep running from the future bearing down on her.

  Of course, this being a teen coming-of-age flick, all this emotional development is couched in the most suitably melodramatic ways possible. There are romantic entanglements and big emotional outbursts aplenty, and a third-act twist flips the script on just how high the stakes are going to get. The film’s not quite as strong in those moments, mostly because you can see the angst coming from a mile away. But even then, it’s all very well-executed, playing honestly to the characters’ emotions and the stress of the increasingly complicated situations they find themselves in. For all its high-concept ideas and exaggerated hijinks, there’s a real sense of reality to Makoto’s struggle, her shame at her mistakes and her desire to do better. There’s a humanity to The Girl Who Leapt Through time that shines through even in its weaker moments and keeps your heart pounding in your chest as you beg for everything to turn out okay. And it all comes together for a powerful emotional climax that sends you home feeling suitably emotional. I didn’t cry, but I cared about what was going to happen all the way through, and the ending was about as pitch-perfect as I could’ve hoped. That’s more than enough for me to forgive a couple minor flubs here and there.

  It also helps that Hosoda is just, like, fucking amazing at character acting. Between this movie and Wolf Children, it’s clear his specialty is animating characters who move with a near-flawless fluidity. Makoto and her friends burst with life and motion, with hyper-detailed gestures and constantly shifting expressions, always changing and adapting to their environments as they traverse the story’s world and undergo its trials. Hosoda effortlessly pulls these characters from laughing to crying and right back to laughing again, animating their subtle shifts and over-the-top expressions with equally impressive verve. Honestly, I don’t know if any other anime director is this good at character animation. The speed at which Hosoda’s characters move through their lives, and the personality he imbues their every last movement with, is second to none. The background art isn’t nearly as impressive, but it doesn’t have to be; not every anime director needs to be a Miyazaki or Shinkai who slaves over every last background brush stroke. Hosoda’s strengths are firmly rooted in depicting the nuances of human motion and emotion, and in that field, he is second to none.

  The Girl Who Leapt Through Time isn’t the best movie ever, but it’s far and away the most entertaining anime film I’ve watched in quite a while. It’s charming, it’s whimsical, it’s bursting with life and personality, and it’s the perfect popcorn flick to put on when you’re in the need for a shot of positive vibes. If this is what I have to look forward to with Hosoda, I think I’m going to be in very good hands.

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