I just watched a Japanese anime 5 Centimetres per Second last night and it indeed touched something that deep inside my heart.
I got to know Makoto Shinkai due to the recently his another popular anime “Weathering with You” which caused such captured a huge audiences and created a record breaking in Japan itself.
This had made me curious and want to know why the Japanese Anime is part of the culture in their life, even adults.
My perception towards Japanese Anime is still stopped at the time when I watched Spirited Away years ago. For me, it was just another normal fantasy animation just like My Neighbour Totoro and it is just for the children.
I was attracted with the beautiful crafted sceneries in “5 Centimetres per Second” when I was browsing through on the internet and just clicked into the YouTube link and start to watch it part by part during the day.
I was stunned and it is completely piercing into my heart as Makoto Shinkai indeed really describe one’s emotions and feelings even though it is just some everyday normal moments of lives. The movie is set in 3 episodes: “Cherry Blossom”, “Cosmonaut” and “5 Centimetres per Second”.
The story is set in Japan, beginning in the 1990s up until the 2008, with each act centred on a boy named Takaki Tono. It was take place during a time when cell phones and emails are uncommon.
Episode 1: “Cherry Blossom” 櫻花抄.
It tells the story of the friendship between Takaki Tono and Akari Shinohara in elementary school in Tokyo. They grow closer to each other due to similar interests and attitudes. They developed a deep friendship.
Upon graduating from elementary school, Akari move to the nearby Tochigi, due to her parents’ job. The two keep in contact by writing letters but eventually begin to drift apart.
When Takaki learned that his family will be moving to Kagoshima on the other side of the country, he decided to go and meet Akari since they will be too far apart to visit each other after the moving.
Everything was planned carefully by Takaki, till the day they were supposed to meet, the weather was became so bad and the severe snowstorm delays the train.
As the two finally meet and share their first kiss, Takaki realizes they will never be together again. Stranded in a shed due to the snowstorm, they fall asleep after talking late into the night.
Takaki departs from the train station the next morning, and the two promise to continue writing to each other. As the train rolls away, Takaki decides that the loss of his letter is not important anymore after the kiss, while Akari silently looks at her own letter addressed to Takaki, which she decided not to give him.
Episode 2: “Cosmonaut” 太空人
In 1999, Takaki is now in the third year of senior high in Tanegashima, where the Tanegashima Space Centre is located. Kanae Sumida, a classmate of Takaki, has been in love with him ever since meeting him in middle school but has never had the courage to confess her feelings.
She tries to spend time with him, waiting long after school for the chance to travel home together. However, Takaki appears ignorant to Kanae's feelings and only treats her as a good friend. Kanae observes that Takaki is always writing messages to someone or staring off into the distance as if searching for something far away.
It is later shown Takaki's messages are not being sent to anyone and he in fact deletes them after he finishes writing them. He also has recurring dreams which feature Akari.
After a failed attempt to tell Takaki she loves him while both walking home together, the rocket had just launched to the sky at that moment, both Takaki and Kanae stopped and looked to the sky.
Kanae realizes that she is just like the cosmonaut which explores the unknown into the universe, just like her love to Takaki. He is looking for something far beyond what she can offer and decides not to say anything, though believes she will always love him.
Episode 3: “The Speed of 5 Centimetres per Second” 秒速五厘米
Takaki is now a programmer in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Akari is preparing to get married to another man. Takaki still longs for Akari to the detriment of his lifestyle. Depressed, Takaki quits his job, unable to cope with his feelings for Akari.
Akari goes through a box of her old possessions and finds the letter she had written to Takaki many years ago. Takaki finds himself in a convenience store reading a magazine about the decade long journey of the rocket launched.
Takaki and Akari begin recalling a recent dream. In this dream, they relive their last meeting in the snow-filled train station, and remember the wish to someday watch the cherry blossom together again.
One day while walking down the same road they had while they were children, Takaki and Akari appear to pass and recognize each other at the train crossing, the same place they had promised to watch the cherry blossoms together thirteen years ago, just before Akari moved to Tochigi.
On opposite sides of the tracks, they stop and begin to look back, but passing trains cut off their view. Takaki waits for the trains to pass and finds that Akari is gone. After a moment, he smiles to himself and continues walking as the cherry blossoms stir in the train's wake.
At the last two minutes of “5 Centimetres per Second”, at the speed of 5 centimetres per second, both Takaki Tono and Akari Shinohara found each other. Also at a speed of 5 centimetres per second, they miss each other. The smiles that on his face was not only a relief, but also a calmness and peace.
Even though both met, time could not be reversed, the past could not turn back. It is better to remain the sweet memory, the the long and missed moments hide in the bottom of the heart, finely reminiscent of the pure love that once had.
Akari may also wanted to wait for the train to pass by, but she knew that even both of them meet at that moment, her engagement ring that wear on her left hand would mercilessly stated to her that: They were no longer missed not the distance of 5 centimetres per second… It may be better than both of them just miss each other as it is.
One more time, One more chance. The theme song of this movie might be the best that describe the unfruitful waiting that happened between Takaki and Akari. Or to be more specific, it was a story of a boy and a girl which happened at the speed of 5cm/s, that short but lasting moment for both.
That last 2 minutes of “5 Centimetres per Second”, it conveys a thought or concept or a feeling, it is the crowning touch of the entire movie. Undoubtedly, the last scene of this anime is such a finishing touch or climax of the entire movie.
Makoto Shinkai used more than 50minutes to make a foreshadowing. Finally, in the last 2 minutes, he released the feelings he wanted to express with just a turn back and a smile.
Takaki and Akari passed by on the railway track and recognized each other. When the two walked on both sides of the railway track, they turned their heads at that instance. At this time, the speeding train blocked both people eye sight and could not see each other. When the train had passed, Takaki found that Akari had left. Then, in the cherry blossom rain falling at a speed of 5 centimetres per second, Takaki turned away with a smile.
In this short 2 minutes, in fact had concluded the story of their past in 50 minutes:
- Takaki and Akari meet at a young age (meeting at the railway track)
- But after that, the two went to different places (on both sides of the railway track)
- Although there is invisible connection or ties between the two in their heart (the two have turned around at the same time)
- But there are so much difficulties lie between them (the speeding train that blocked their eye sight on both sides)
- Takaki was burdened with his own memories and does not accept any new things (the train that is speeding in front that constantly changing but unchanged coaches)
- When the bustling was over, Akari has found her happiness (Akari already left)
- Takaki finally walked out from his own memories and start a new (Takaki turned away with a smile)
I think what Makoto Shinkai wants to tell us that, the pure feeling which we once have would not disappear with the loss of time. Even if this feeling is incomplete for some reasons, but it definitely be a beautiful memory in our heart.
If we longed in the hopes of the past, do not dare to accept new happiness, it will only make our heart harden become old, and die slowly.
Memories is just like wine, a little of wine can let you taste the sweetness of it, but if we indulge in it, it will make us not awake and live only in the memories that our heart longed for.
In the first episode “Cherry Blossom”, Takaki said that he did not know how to be responsible for Akari’s love towards him. Although their first kiss had soften a little of his fear about this.
In actual fact, this question has been bothering Takaki all the time. He likes Akari, and he kept on feeling something is missing in his life and he used his work to fill up that emptiness deep inside him. Eventually, he had to give up his job so that it might ease his live again.
In the cheery blossom that fell at the speed of 5 centimetres per second, in the memories of their past, Takaki took the road ahead. Two persons that walked away further and further, looking forward for their own happiness in the future. Two hearts that once beats together after 15 years, had reached the farthest distance apart on earth.
“…… …… 打开盖子，那封信被夹在了中学时自己最为珍视的薄笔记本里。 那是她所写的第一封情书。十五年前，在与自己曾喜欢的那个男孩第一次约会时，她本想把这封信交给他的。那是个寂静的雪夜，她回忆了起来。
那时候我刚十三岁，我喜欢的男孩住在离我距离三个小时电车车程的地方。那天他约好了会坐电车来看我，但因为下雪的缘故，电车被推迟了，最后他迟到了四个多小时。在等他的时候，我在木质的小站候车室里，坐在暖炉前写下了这封信。将信拿在手中，当时的不安和寂寞感苏醒了。
她再次体会到了对男孩的向往，以及想见他的心情，让她无法相信这些感情居然是十五年前的东西。那仿佛是她现在的心情一般如此鲜活，复苏的回忆甚至令她感到了犹豫。
我当时是真心喜欢他的呢，她想。我和他，在第一次的约会中交换了初吻。我甚至感觉整个世界都仿佛在接吻后发生了改变。所以，我才没能把信交给他。这一切简直就像昨天发生的事一样——是的，真的就像昨天发生的一样——她这样回忆道。左手无名指上戴着镶有小宝石的戒指，代表时间已经过去十五年了。
那天晚上，她梦见了那天。尚且年幼的她和他，在一个雪花纷飞的寂静夜晚，站在樱树下仰望缓缓飘落的雪片。”
“忽然，一种仿佛被什么温暖的东西守护着的久违的感觉复苏了。在思考其中的理由时，他想起了在很久很久以前的那个冬天，看到的樱树。
……那是多少年前的事了？从中学一年级结束，到现在已经快十五年了。一点睡意都没有，他叹了口气合上书，将罐底剩余的啤酒一口喝干。
…… …… …… 接着，他听到了激烈的呜咽——那是自己的声音。 十五年前站台上那次流泪以来，他第一次哭了。泪水无法抑制地向外流淌，仿佛一直藏在体内的巨大冰块融化了一般，他不停地哭着。他不知该怎么办，他思考起来。 哪怕一个人也好，为什么我不能让别人哪怕靠近一点幸福呢。”
——新海诚《秒速5厘米》
貴樹和明里都認為在櫻花樹下的初吻和擁抱是無可取代的甜美回憶，最單純和最完美的感情狀態，一方面感到滿足，另一方面感到悲傷，這一次見面大概就是最後一次了。
我看到《秒速5厘米》的最後一幕時有相同的感覺，好美麗的畫面，好傷心的結局，原來兩個人終究在平交道擦肩而過，並不知道彼此的存在。他們虽然沒在一起，卻永远記得和珍惜过往的回忆，仔细想想，是令人心痛但能理解的現实。
I think there are a lot of us that might have the same story as Takaki and Akari, that is why the animation touched us so much! Indeed it have totally change my perceptions of Japanese Anime forever.
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