The promotion picture that you can also see at the ANN page for this movie.
5 Centimeters Per Second makes up the 6th anime reviewed in this wave of 2007 anime reviews. Done by Makoto Shinkai who also done The Place Promised in Our Early Days, this high-definition rip is a romance (although an unorthodox one) thus will be judged with the same standard as Clannad.
Spectacular scenery, the hallmarks of Makoto Shinkai is sure to be found here.
Story:-
Two childhood friends were separated from each other as their parents relocated to different places due to their jobs. They wrote letters to each other at first, but as time goes on, the frequency of their exchange faded, and the focus then switched to the male protagonist as he lived the coming years through high-school until he reached adulthood.
Compared to The Place Promised in Our Early Days, which is actually the first Makoto Shinkai’s work I have seen, the story in this movie is so much better. This movie excels in every department; an interesting storyline, more visible character developments (no outstanding characters though), faster and more linear presentation and a good ending too. There does not seem to be any weakness I can write about for this movie, so everything is fine and dandy. This movie is a must watch if you are a romantic bunch, and validates the hype I have heard about Makoto Shinkai.
High details even in mundane places like convenience stores.
Character Design:-
Just like The Place Promised in Our Early Days, the character design is the one of the realistic type and non-stereotypical ones. Yet again, brown is the new black. Oh well, there is nothing more I can say in this matter.
All hairs are brown in this version of Japan. I’m pretty damn sure than real-life Japan has black hairs.
Voice acting:-
This is where this movie loses out to The Place Promised in Our Early Days, because voice acting in this movie is just about decent. It wasn’t bad, but certainly inferior.
Another one of those detailed and beautiful sceneries.
Music:-
This anime has good OST, although the ending is a little bit meh.
The rain effects in this movie is inferior to what you can see in The Place Promised in Our Early Days.
Animation/Direction:-
The animation in this movie is spectacular as ever, and the overuse of beautiful sceneries the way The Place Promised in Our Early Days did has been eliminated. But then again, I felt that the quality of the artworks and special effects in this movie is probably not as good as the one in The Place Promised in Our Early Days. See the screenshot’s caption to see what I mean.
Meanwhile, the directing (by Makoto Shinkai himself) is a vast improvement than his gig in The Place Promised in Our Early Days. The plot flows freely, better usage of camera angles and choices/presentations of scenes, especially the one at the end shows more maturity in the part of the director. Probably still not in the class of the one who directed Steamboy though.
The snowing effect is comparable though.
Conclusion:-
9 out of 10. A great improvement compared to The Place Promised in Our Early Days. The next anime should be H2O – footprints in the sand, as this wave of 2007 anime review is nearing its end.
I want to get my hand on this Windows Vasta OS. If I can’t, Windows KP will also suffice.
