The Girl Who Leapt Through Time [DVD] [2006]

Makoto (Emily Hirst) is an average teenager who enjoys spending her free time with her two best friends, Chiaki (Andrew Francis) and Kousuke (Alex Zahara). However, she has a particularly unlucky day that includes failing a math test and setting a fire in a home economics class. Things go from bad to worse for her when the brakes on her bicycle fail and ends up nearly losing her life colliding with a train. But she is saved when she suddenly discovers that she has the power to perform "time leaps" or the ability to essentially "rewind" time. Confused at first by this newfound power, she starts to use it to solve minor things in her own life including acing her math test and extending her leisure time. But it is not long before she realizes that this power can be used to manipulate the lives of those around her.As a person whose knowledge of anime films is pretty much non-existent outside of the works of Studio Ghibli, this film caught my eye with an interesting sounding premise which reminded me of one of my favorite movies: 1993's Groundhog Day. I was not disappointed. To start off with, the characters in this film are simply great. There are no tired tropes in play here but the characters come off as realistic and likable. It is easy to like a character like Makoto as you watch her go through her life and attempt to use time leaps to improve it and sympathize with her when things do not always go according to plan. Likewise, the other characters come off as well written and enjoyable to watch. The writing in this film is quite excellent as it explores the possibilities and consequences of Makoto's time leaps. The film manages to use its premise to find humor that results in some very funny scenes. But at the same time, there are serious moments that come off as very touching. The animation itself, while not the best I have seen in the anime style, does work well. Characters are animated fluidly enough that do seem to be alive, but also cartoony at times to emphasize the emotions at hand.If there is one criticism I have of this movie is that it comes off as somewhat unevenly paced. There are some spots where the movie just seems to slow down at awkward points and it becomes a little frustrating. However, this is only a minor point.This set includes three discs. There is a standard DVD of the feature film, a DVD with some bonus features, and a Blu-ray with the feature film, which looks excellent, two audio commentaries, and storyboards.This is a thoroughly enjoyable film that is sure to be enjoyed by fans of anime or just people that like a funny and touching animated film.

Last year I checked this film out, hoping to make me feel a little happy after going through the never-ending sadness and melodrama that is A Silent Voice (a good film on its own, but not for me). To my surprise, I loved it so much. Later I checked out Hosoda’s other films and they don’t live up to how much I love Hosoda’s debut in the creative world 100% to me (Boy and the Beast and Mirai weren’t for me at all, Summer Wars I called the weakest of the films I like this guy but still good on it’s own, and Wolf Children while I like it I don’t 100% get the hype around that’s just my opinion on all his work post 2006, Belle will be in just a moment). With that said, this is one of my Top 5 Favorite Anime Films

This movie is so mid, guys. I'm kind of picky with my anime, and I felt that the animation style used definitely hit uncanny valley at times. I wasn't a fan, but I can respect that the animation used is a definite product of its time. The English Dub is super hit or miss, and I might change my score once I find a Japanese dub of this with English subtitles. The script is very sophomoric, the execution of its ideas is sloppy, and its kind of a movie about nothing.The Girl Who Leapt Through Time follows Makoto, a high school girl who hangs out with her two guy friends and plays baseball. She has no direction in life, and one day, she hits her elbow on a magic walnut that gives her the power to leap through time. Makoto uses this power to get out of embarrassing situations at school, change her grades, and try to save her friends lives. She goes through this whole ordeal where she discovers both of her friends have crushes on her, and one of them is from the future. Makoto is running out of charges to leap through time, and her crush and her exchange the last charge until the timeline is set right.This might sound interesting, but the love story is completely tacked-on. The stakes feel very low except for one brilliantly directed reveal near the end of the second act, and overall the lesson learned is just to be open with your feelings? This movie plays everything way too safe. There are TRUE flashes of brilliance every once in a while, and its clear Mamoru Hosoda isn't afraid to reach for those big dramatic moments, but he never quite gets there consistently like he would later do in Wolf Children or even later do inconsistently beautifully like he would in Belle.I'm glad I crossed this off my watchlist, but it wasn't for me. If you like Mamoru Hosoda, or are looking for an easily digestible summertime Donnie Darko, you might find things to enjoy here. If you're a Mamoru Hosoda completionist like I aspire to be, you'll notice some familiar story beats he'd later use to greater effect in his more recent films.

Es una gran película de anime, la recomiendo mucho y es una edición con book con el arte y vale mucho la pena para los coleccionistas.

Una película que contiene muchos tintes de comedia durante la primera parte, una pizca de drama casi hasta el final y un desenlace romántico con despedida nostálgica con trocitos de amargura. el paquete contiene tres discos con muchos extras y un libro que contiene una recopilación y diseños de personajes

I haven't watched many manga films but wanted to catch up on a few prior to commencing a short Japanese Subcultures course. This one came highly recommended, so I thought I would give it a go. My initial reaction during the earlier part of the movie was that it was possibly just a little too simplistic a story for my tastes. However, I stuck with it and slowly got sucked into the world of 17 year old Makoto and her forays into time travel, together with the consequences of her new-found powers when used to shape the future for herself and her friends.It's a beautifully rendered animated movie, with stunning visuals throughout. If you are looking for an entertaining, engaging well-made, film that is family-friendly then I can easily recommend this one to you

As a newcomer to anime I snapped this up largely due to the fact that it was cheap (!!) and that the story looked quite interesting. My only previously experience of anime was "Totoro" and I must admit that the whole business of animation appeals hugely. This film is not quite up to the standards of the Ghibli studio although still impressive.All in all, this films seemed like a film very much aimed at teenagers and the American accents in the dubbing seemed to accentuate this impression for me. Had the film finished about 3/4 of the way through, I think this would have been a fair assessment but the last quarter took a slightly darker note and various elements within the storyline took a far greater significance than I had anticipated. The narrative took a really interesting twist at this point which is definately worthy of another star even if the film also benefitted from keeping the impact of the time -leaping to a modest scale which , I felt, definately enhanced the story line. I am beginning to learnt that the beauty of the backdrops is very much a feature of anime and the impression is extremely easy on the eye even if the characters' eyes all disappear when drawn at a distance and there is something very odd about the way the people all walk away from the camera. It was also really amusing to note that despite the unfeasibly short skirt worn by the principle character, her modesty was always preserved whenever she was thrown back into the present after a spot of time travel!Whilst probably aimed at a teenage market, I think that the story was good enough to be appreciated by an older audience although not as hard -hitting as somelike like Chomet's "The Illusionist." Enjoyable, never the less.

This is time travel done in a way which recalls Donnie Darko, but isn't as dark, it is a cerebral film which uses the idea of time travel to achieve a feeling and to make a point. Rather than a film about time travel this film is about living life with your eyes open, not just sleepwalking to the end but it also doesn't just mean having fun, it means being responsible as well. Just like Donnie Darko it is a film that shows that there are consequences to life and the choices we make always and without fail; these realisations are given incredible weight by a perfect mix of humour and seriousness.The detail on characters can often feel minimal and it is, there is often little definition in faces and the characters have a way of moving which looks like frames are missing and detail left out. Rather than detract from the film though this style seems to come together very well to add a complimentary dream like feel to everything which really adds to the whole atmosphere in a way which brings the world to life more than many super detailed facial animation could. The backgrounds in contrast are well detailed and beautifully bright. As well as being impressive the contrast between characters and backgrounds also speak of how important and fixed our surroundings can be, but that despite this within the surroundings there is so much space for so many stories and so many different ways to tell them. All we have to do is pick our path and thoughtfully follow it.The interplay between characters is charmingly endearing; through jokes and japes the interactions are realistically captivating from the point of view of the minimalist animation and the dialogue, it feels right and it flows naturally almost as if there were real psychology at work in ever relation of pencil mark and every dash of colour because of this the film manages to be laugh out loud funny at times and heartbreaking at others. It is something that can take you by surprise by especially if you are not used to watching animeKonno's jumps back in time slowly become increasingly more chaotic as she attempts to change time for the benefit of others rather than purely for her own benefit which is often the case to begin with, sufficed to say that it is never as easy as she expects it to be and the outcome is almost always mental or physical pain for somebody.If you like a bit of thought and a nice gentle pace to your films this is for you, it is absorbing, emotional and funny. What more could you ask for?