5 Centimeters Per Second - named for the speed at which cherry blossoms fall to the ground - is made up of three stories surrounding Takaki, a Japanese boy, at three different stages of his life. We meet him when he is young, just in junior high and coping with the departure of Akari - his closest friend, a girl for whom he has developed feelings he cannot express - the year before, while also preparing for his own move away from Tokyo and to a remoter part of the country. We then move to Takaki at the final stages of high school, preparing to move on to the next stage of his life and completely, blissfully ignorant of the feelings Kanae, a girl in his class has for him. Finally, we meet Takaki again as a young adult, twenty six and giving in to disillusionment. The first two segments of the film - titled "Cherry Blossom Story" and "Cosmonaut", respectively, provide the real meat to the affair with the final section, 5 Centimeters Per Second, feeling sadly like a perfunctory and unfinished coda. The closing act leaves you wishing that it had been something more but for the first two acts - self-contained shorts, both of them - Shinkai proves to be pure gold. His animation is stunning, beautifully detailed and impeccably framed with Shinkai showing a masterful ability to mirror the emotion of his human players in his shot selections and pacing. His characters ring startlingly true, the emotional core so strong, their relationships sketched out so simply yet effectively that it could be used as a textbook example of how to show an audience your characters while actually telling them very little. "Cherry Blossom Story", in particular, also shows a remarkable grasp of the editing process, Shinkai nimbly cutting between perspectives and time periods to gracefully sketch out the relationship between Takaki and Akari. Through the first two segments of the film, Shinkai's grasp is remarkable. He manages the difficult feat of capturing both the flush and excitement of young love along with the nervousness and fear that it brings, all the while shooting it through with the sort of wistful melancholy that comes from knowing that you can never have what you most want. It's a complex bit of work that Shinkai makes seem simple and effortless and that, in and of itself, is the mark of a true master storyteller. The final third, however, feels only half done. Akari is engaged to marry someone else and seems a little apprehensive, Takaki is aimless and drinks too much, unsure of his place in the world and purpose in life. Shinkai sets this segment up very well indeed and seems poised to go some interesting, challenging and unexpected places with his characters but then, inexplicably, he opts to instead cut it into a flashback laden romantic music video. Literally. It's a bizarre decision that really takes the heart out of this section but the first two segments are so flawlessly strong that the overall experience is still a very strong success. Keep an eye on Shinkai, he is poised to become a true giant in the animation world in the very near future. The new DVD release from Hong Kong's AVP is very strong. Like all AVP releases the packaging is minimal - though the Special Edition version comes with some lovely postcards - and the subtitles include some minor grammatical errors but the transfer is absolutely impeccable. The more I see of their work the more I become convinced that AVP DVDs consistently feature the strongest transfers of any company currently working in Hong Kong. If they've ever botched a job I have not seen it. Both the single disc and double disc versions feature special features but neither version includes subtitles on anything but the primary feature. by Todd Brown - Twitchfilm.net Read MoreCollapse View More Professional Reviews Feature articles that mention "5 Centimeters per Second: Global Edition (2007) (Blu-ray) (Multi Subtitled) (Region Free) (Japan Version)" YesAsia 2012 Bestsellers - Movies View More Feature Articles This original content has been created by or licensed to YesAsia.com, and cannot be copied or republished in any medium without the express written permission of YesAsia.com. Customer Review of "5 Centimeters per Second: Global Edition (2007) (Blu-ray) (Multi Subtitled) (Region Free) (Japan Version)" Change Content Preferences Average Customer Rating for All Editions of this Product: Customer Review Rated Bad 9 - 9.4 out of 10(5) S. See all my reviews January 11, 2011 This customer review refers to 5 Centimeters Per Second (2007) (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version) Excellent! Customer Review Rated Bad 10 - 10 out of 10 My feeling for this movie is the same as kawai and Momo. If you were separated at the very young age from your first love, watch this movie! Episodes 1 and 3 are my favorites because the feelings are realistic and intense. I enjoy watching the interview with the director. I think he must have gone through what Takaki experienced in his own life! Animation is excellent and pretty! Did you find this review helpful? Yes(Report This) Kevin Kennedy See all my reviews October 5, 2009 This customer review refers to 5 Centimeters Per Second (2007) (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version) Beautifully animated poetic tale of young love Customer Review Rated Bad 8 - 8 out of 10 "5 Centimetres Per Second" is a kind of animated poem of young love, separated into three segments. The first segment begins as a series of letters written by junior high student Akari to her closest friend Takaki. The pair had become friends as small children and their special relationship had only deepened as they entered adolescence. However, a job change by Akari's father separates the friends, as Akari must move to a town north of Tokyo. The story then shifts to Takaki's perspective as he journeys by train to meet his old friend before he and his family relocate to southern Japan. A sweet, melancholy tension grows as their long-anticipated rendez-vous is delayed by bad winter weather. In the second segment, high school girl Kanae silently yearns for the affections of high school senior Takaki. Unfortunately, Takaki is oblivious to Kanae's affection, as he thinks only of his long-lost friend Akari. Kanae finds escape from her silent purgatory by surfing the ocean waves. This heartbreaking segment is told entirely from Kanae's perspective. In the final segment, we jump forward to Akari and Takaki in their mid-twenties. Takaki feels directionless and cheated by life, as it dawns on him that he has squandered his youth yearning for someone who will never be his. The film then resolves into, in essence, a music video comprised of flashbacks of these young lives. The film's animation is gorgeous, rich in detail and stunningly alive. The voice actors do an affecting job throughout the film. And the poetic story is movingly real, revealing the powerful and churning emotions of young love. The first two segments of the film are practically flawless. Unfortunately, the third segment seems oddly truncated by its music video resolution. The viewer gets the sense that the filmmakers simply failed to conceive of a proper ending to their story, so they just queued the music. Nonetheless, "5 Centimetres Per Second" is a wonderful film, one of the best and truest animated features I've seen in a long time. I recommend it very, very highly. Did you find this review helpful? Yes(Report This) kawai See all my reviews August 12, 2009 This customer review refers to Theatrical Animation - 5 Centimeters Per Second (Blu-ray) (Japan Version) Best movie I watched in 2008 Customer Review Rated Bad 10 - 10 out of 10 This is the best movie I watch last year. I had watch it for at least 5 times. The graphic is super nice, the story is even better. The feeling of the characters are so realistic, it remind me of my first love. (My eyes was wet when I watching it) BTW, I really think MOMO did a great review :) Did you find this review helpful? Yes(Report This) mirdominance See all my reviews March 30, 2008 This customer review refers to 5 Centimeters Per Second (2007) (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version) Simply Shinkai Makoto.. Customer Review Rated Bad 9 - 9 out of 10 It's been a while since 'The Place Promised in Our Early Days', so I was happy to see that another movie came out. I bought this the other day and I'm happy that Makoto hasn't lost his touch. I happen to like the complexities, yet simplicities of his stories. His animation is simply beautiful and I love the personality of his characters. Just another great film. ^_^ Did you find this review helpful? Yes(Report This) Momo See all my reviews December 5, 2007 This customer review refers to 5 Centimeters Per Second (2007) (DVD) (Special Limited Edition) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version) 2 people found this review helpful Wonderful Customer Review Rated Bad 10 - 10 out of 10 This movie has revived my love for anime. It has reminded me how beautiful scenes can be created, and how some stories are flawlessly told through anime. This story revolves around the feelings a person has about other people that he meets in life. Love is suppose to be simple and pure, but as we grow, we see that it doesn't always end up like that. This movie shows how we can love our spouse, but even so, a small small part of our hearts will always yearn for a person from our past. What a great movie. And I'm sure that you will have a different view from watching this movie as well. Did you find this review helpful? Yes(Report This) View all customer reviews Write a review and share your thoughts Browse Other Related Categories Movies & Videos Japan Japan Version Anime & SF Studio Ghibli & Classics Classics
Anime in Japanese Studio Ghibli & Classics Classics
Related Items 1 Howl's Moving Castle (Blu-ray) (Multi Audio & Subtitled) (Region Free) (Japan Version) Oizumi Yo Miwa Akihiro Miyazaki Hayao (Director) Tatsuya Gashuin US$58.99 Add to Cart Save for later Usually ships within 7 to 14 days
2 Tales from Earthsea (Blu-ray) (Multi Audio & Subtitled) (Region Free) (Japan Version) Kobayashi Kaoru Fubuki Jun Tanaka Yuko Kagawa Teruyuki US$58.99 Add to Cart Save for later Usually ships within 7 to 14 days
3 Children who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below (Blu-ray) (Normal Edition) (Multi Subtitled) (Japan Version) Shimamoto Sumi Orikasa Fumiko Takeuchi Junko Inoue Kazuhiko US$48.49 Add to Cart Save for later Usually ships within 7 to 14 days
4 Whisper Of The Heart (Blu-ray) (Multi Audio & Subtitled) (Region Free) (Japan Version) Yoshifumi Kondo (Director) Miyazaki Hayao (Producer) Honna Yoko Yamashita Yorie US$58.99 Add to Cart Save for later Usually ships within 7 to 14 days
5 The Borrower Arrietty (Blu-ray) (Multi Audio & Subtitled) (Region Free) (Japan Version) Kamiki Ryunosuke Shida Mirai Miura Tomokazu Fujiwara Tatsuya US$58.99 Add to Cart Save for later Usually ships within 7 to 14 days
All Related Items(8) We Recommend Region & Language: No Region Selected - English
*Reference Currency: British Pound (US$1.00 = 0.84)
Change Preferences YesAsia ServicesShopping Cart
Newsletter (Member)
My Account
Order Tracking
Associate Program
Bulk Order Discounts
HelpCustomer Support
About Shipping
Return Policy
Secure Shopping
Contact Us
Company InformationAbout YesAsia.com
Investor Relations
Job & Career Opportunities
Important information about unsolicited emails Follow YesAsia on: Comment on our website Email our CEO YesAsia.com is an Oricon Chart Partner Shop. See details YesAsia.com is a Hanteo Chart Family Shop. See details *The currencies exchange rates were updated on 2023-02-01. All transactions at YesAsia.com are handled in US dollars, except Hong Kong and Macau transactions which are handled in HK dollars.Prices in other currencies are shown for reference only. See details The content on this page was originally created by YesAsia.com or has been officially licensed, and cannot be reprinted without the permission of YesAsia.com or the original content owners.Copyright 1998-2023 YESASIA.COM LTD. All rights reserved.Terms of Use YesAsia.com Privacy Policy Cookie Preferences Please enable JavaScript in your browser to experience all the custom features of our site, including the ability to make a purchase. Please enable cookies in your browser to experience all the features of our site, including the ability to make a purchase. var tmpcookie = new Date(); chkcookie = (tmpcookie.getTime() + ''); document.cookie = "chkcookie=" + chkcookie + "; path=/"; if (document.cookie.indexOf(chkcookie,0) A loading error has occurred.Please reload the page and try again.Close Cookie Preferences Close We use data cookies to store your online preferences and collect information. You can use this interface to enable or disable sets of cookies with varying functions.
[Anime Movie] 5 Centimeters Per Second (BLURAY) |VERIFIED|
2ff7e9595c
Comments