5 Comments for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

• 1. chocolateislove  |  August 31st, 2010 at 7:38 pm

  Review by chocolateislove for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
  Rating:
  I wasn’t expecting much from this movie due to its weird title and what I felt was an awkward animation style. Plus I was an avid Hayao Miyazaki fan, and I did not believe any anime movie could overcome the feel-goodness of his movies in general. I was very wrong.

  “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” (or “Toki wa Kakeru Shoujo”) is about a girl named Makoto Konno who, after a strange encounter in a lab after school discovers she has the power to “jump” through time. Literally.

  Although it started off slow, the pace made the hackneyed concept of time jumping much more original. Not to mention the main characters were all extremely likable and realistic. I couldn’t help but root for Makoto in whatever crazy things she wound up doing in the past. The things she went back to change were trivial things, like a test she failed, or when her friend Chiaki confessed to her. They are all things that ordinary, idiotic people like ourselves would do if we had that power. This story is only something the Japanese could come up with, and I commemorate director Mamoru Hosoda for blending mundane Japanese life with such a fantastical concept like time travel. It’s warm, funny, and touching. That is, for the first half.

  The second half of the film takes a hugely dramatic turn. It’s almost mind-blowing in the way things played out. For spoiler fans, it has something to do with Chiaki (You know, the friend who confessed to her?). Anyways, I loved this shift in the plot, even though it lost some of its precious feel-good elements along the way. Makoto still managed to keep some humor in her crazy ventures, and her personality is not lost in the plot twist. Chiaki’s transformation though, I’m still a bit iffy about.

  I think this movie is way up there with Miyazaki’s films. The perfect blend of fantasy and feel-goodness, along with some dry humor as well makes for an excellent film. I also felt myself warming up to the animation style as well, which was very contemporary, so I wasn’t used to it, but I’m now completely in love with it. “Time waits for no one” so go watch this movie!

• 2. Kellyannl  |  August 31st, 2010 at 8:08 pm

  Review by Kellyannl for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
  Rating:
  When I put The Girl Who Leapt Through Time into my DVD player, I expected a very good albeit light anime movie. What I got instead was an emotional experience which might be the most moving anime movie I’ve seen so far.

  Makoto Konno is a slightly clumsy tomboy on the verge of the age right when teens start looking at the opposite sex differently whose priority is hanging out with her two best buddies – cheeky but endearing Chiaki Mamiya and evenheaded, gentlemanly Kosuke Tsuda. One day, her bicycle brakes won’t work, and she finds herself about to be killed by crashing into a train passing her lane. Fortunately, a miracle occurs – and she finds herself having time-jumped backwards safe and sound.

  After talking to her aunt, who had a similar experience, she experiments and finds that she can do it again, begining with small things like preventing the poaching of a snack by her sister. But when things start progressing to slightly more serious matters and she takes a series of jumps in a panic when she realizes that one of her best guys is about to say something to her privately that will take them to a place from which they can’t come back that she isn’t sure she’s ready to go, things take a dark turn and spiral out of control – and she finds that this time, she might not be able to fix what she’s done…

  Part sci-fi with a neat twist that anyone who isn’t familiar with the source material probably won’t see coming and part teen drama with an achingly accurate depiction of that critical time in life and personal development, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a warm, poignant work that should be in the collection of any anime fan.

• 3. Joshua A. Edgar  |  August 31st, 2010 at 8:47 pm

  Review by Joshua A. Edgar for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
  Rating:
  Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RA3OF1SWUBXAF This is one of my favorites now. Good story, great plot twist, not something you would expect to like at first. Highly recommended.

• 4. jmpg  |  August 31st, 2010 at 8:53 pm

  Review by jmpg for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
  Rating:
  The story about a girl who conquered time was first made popular by the much-revered novel by now legendary author Yasutaka Tsutsui. Since then, it has seen many other variations and adaptations including one television series and a couple feature-length live action films. Now this story has finally found its way to the world of animation. And the results are fantastic.

  One school day, an ordinary girl unknowingly gains the ability to “leap through time”, enabling her to travel to different stages from her memory. After learning how to control this power she has discovered, she begins to realize the responsibilities and consequences that result from using it and how it begins to affect her and those around her. It really is a unique blend of melodrama, romance, comedy, and science fiction, but you will hardly notice any genre while you are watching. The voice-acting and sound are quality, and the character designs by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Wings of Honneamise, Evangelion) are superb. The movie’s artistry is remarkably subtle for an animated feature even without much impeccable detail, making the whole visual presentation very fitting for a story of its kind.

  Believe me when I say you don’t have to be familiar with the story in order to enjoy it, and for those who have already seen previous incarnations of Tsutsui’s novel this will be yet another take on a classic that will be very much to your liking. Overall, this was terrific and I recommend it to anyone who wants to treat themselves to a good movie that will keep you interested from beginning to end. It managed to capture the Japan Academy Prize for Best Animation of 2006, and it did so for good reasons. See it now!
  

• 5. Cassey Castillo  |  August 31st, 2010 at 9:19 pm

  Review by Cassey Castillo for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
  Rating:
  This is a fabulous movie that really touched me. The story is quite brilliant. It gets more and more interesting as you watch the plot unfold. I cried during it, but not because it was a sad movie. It leaves you with a positive feeling.
  
  The animation is an interesting style. Not like many other anime I’ve seen.

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