5 Centimeters per Second

Makoto Shinkai's 5 Centimeters per Second (2007) is the culmination of the director's career. His lyrical storytelling and mouth-watering visuals come together seamlessly in this sad and melancholic love story.

The fragile main characters reach for love, but they face difficulties as alienation, melancholy, distance and longing come in their way. The bittersweet ending montage summarizes the film's idea in a stunning way. The film consists of three short stories that focus around one main character during his youth. Each segment calmly gathers tension that is often subverted to make the melancholic tone more tangible.

Shinkai's breathtaking background art, fascinating compositions and lyrical editing give the film a poignancy that is hard to achieve in cinema - especially with the running time of only a single hour. The voice acting should also be praised because it carries the film so well. The childlike innocence of the first segment is especially tangible through the soft and charming performances.

5 Centimeters per Second is an incredibly touching and gorgeous film that I like to return to once in a while - even if only to watch a few clips from here and there.

Score: 10 out of 10

Makoto Shinkai's Short Films

I consider Makoto Shinkai one of the most interesting new anime directors. I've reviewed two of his full feature films, 5 Centimeters per Second (2007) and The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004), on this blog already. Finally I had the chance to watch his earlier work which consists of a bunch of short films he made mostly alone.

The first I saw (and clearly the best one) is called She and Her Cat, a story about a woman and her cat which unfolds in Shinkai's traditional fragmented way. The monochrome animation reaches the levels of beauty of Shinkai's later films even though he animated them all by himself. He manages to bring so much emotion into only 5 minutes and the film's form is almost impeccable in its wild editing (which reminded me of Hideaki Anno). Even though the short film relies on narration, it never feels artificial or off-putting - which happens usually when the narrator dominates the film. In short, it's probably the best animated short film I have ever seen.

The second one was called Other Worlds, a brief (a minute and a half) look at the lives of a couple. There is no sound apart from the use of Erik Satie's Gymnopedie, a composition that has become so clicheic recently, but Shinkai manages to make it really fitting. The sketchy, monochrome animation fits the mood of the short film although it's hardly as great as it is in She and Her Cat.

The third one is actually a music video (for a song called Egao (The Smile), but it is worth noting when you want to watch Shinkai's work. Shinkai's trademarks are hardly visible in this music video, but that might only be so because of the format. Some of the background animation certainly reminds me of his full feature films, but the mood and pacing of the music video are just weird for him - and you can notice that because the effort isn't as good as his other short films.

Scores:

She and Her Cat - 9 out of 10

Other Worlds - 8 out of 10

Egao - 7 out of 10

YouTube uploads of the short films:

She and Her Cat

Other Worlds

Egao

The Place Promised In Our Early Days

Makoto Shinkai's The Place Promised In Our Early Days (2004) is the second film I've seen from the director (5 Centimeters per Second being the first; I loved it). The same melancholic tone and gorgeous imagery are featured this time as well, but the story is something different. The fragmented storytelling doesn't focus on a single theme - instead it goes a bit "all over the place". The film opens with a portrayal of three school kids' friendship as they prepare their own airplane to fly to the "Tower" - a mysterious building on the other side of the nation's border, something unreachable.

While the writing still packs a punch on an emotional level, Shinkai can't hold the film together at a few moments. The ramblings on multiple universes (on top of other confusing plot elements) and somewhat aimless (and weird) plot development hinder the film a bit too much. Visually the film is stunning in all aspects: editing, compositions, background art and character design are impeccable. Shinkai's editing is very similar to that of Hideaki Anno's - almost to the point of being an imitation. Luckily, it's a good imitation.

The Place Promised In Our Early Days is a solid and beautiful film and manages to deliver a great viewing experience despite its flaws.

Score: 8 out of 10