Assorted Reviews
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and The Bunny Who Came Out of the Cinemas Enlightened
Title: Toki o Kakeru Shoujo aka The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (時をかける少女)
Scrumptious Meter: 5.0 (be imaginative and think great thoughts about the ending, and you’ll find yourself fully delighting in the show)
The Review
The first time I watched Toki o Kakeru Shoujo dates back to approximately 8 months ago, and the reason why I never mentioned about it in the blog is because I never found it to be anything special. Seleria raved about how she loved the movie (personally, not in the blog, sadly T_T) and I never really understood how she felt, until my second rewatch of Tokikake on the big screen, where I found myself falling in love with the movie, for the very first time.
During my first watch, I invited my oniichan to watch with me. For some reason, he went ahead to watch it, and told me about how boring it was as he found himself sleeping through it T__T I’m not sure if his opinion of the show affected my mood, but I know for a fact that I was uninspired when I finally got myself to watch it. I wasn’t paying attention to the events unfolding nor to the very feelings of the characters. I was using my mere eyes and ears to watch it, taking things that happen literally and shallowly as they are. By the end of the movie, I never understood what the entire point of it was. I just ranted about how the heck Chiaki will be able to meet up with Makoto given the issue of time (and space?) that they’d have to deal with.
The same goes for 5cm per second, which I watched not-so-wholeheartedly. Hence, when I reviewed Tokyo Marble Chocolate, I found it to be more superior than both TokiKake and 5 cm/s. I only have my lack of understanding for the aforementioned movies to blame, and for this, I owe them my sincerest apologies.
From what I realize, it’s so easy to discount a show as lackluster and boring (or that it sucks balls) and whatnot, for the simple reason that you didn’t really understand what it was about. Taking the time to understand what went wrong, what you were missing out on, in the hopes of being enlightened to its real beauty, or at least, enlightened as to why exactly you didn’t get to enjoy it, is what I deem to be the fair review that any title deserves. Owen (or his spirit, now that he’s been MIA in the blogging scene :P) and Stripey (whose blog went down, after his droppage of Kurenai post. coincidence? =__=) have preached about this before, and their voices resound in my head as I type out all this.
It would’ve been fairly easy for me to type out rants about how Tokikake sucks, but I didn’t. After being left unsatisfied by the movie, I knew I was missing something, and felt the need to rewatch it. And I did, albeit months late, and I’m really glad I gave it another chance.
As I’ve mentioned in my Natsu no Sora episode 4 post, I had a newfound appreciation for slice-of-life shows after watching Toki o Kakeru Shojo on the big screen. It’s either because I was watching it at the cinemas — where I really experienced it to the highest levels, with surround digital sound, SUPER BIG screen, and wide live audience who I laughed and cried with throughout the movie’s run — or because I watched it for the second time, so I paid much more attention to it than before. It was only in this rewatch that I actually noticed the scenes where Chiaki has been going to the museum for a number of times 
All my senses were alive and enthusiastic when I watched Tokikake last weekend. I felt as if my heart and mind were so ready to take in everything, and with that, I found myself focused and immersed into the movie, and thus enjoyed every moment of it. I laughed and cried with Makoto, who grew up from being a happy-go-lucky girl, to someone who realized just how valuable every moment of her life (and other people’s lives) was, and that she should never take anything for granted.
Makoto, who represents the quintessential carefree high-schooler who doesn’t think of her future and her present responsibilities made the movie hit really close to home, for the audience who found themselves relating to her free-spirited character.
After watching the movie, and having discussed it with a group of friends who I know enjoyed the show, I found myself fully satisfied with the ending. Chiaki and Makoto’s promise to each other that they’ll meet again someday might seem far-fetched, but not impossible. For one, they have been leaping through time throughout the movie, and it’s highly possible that Chiaki will be able to go back to the past again. If not, then they can just have an Il Mare or Lakehouse kind of romance. It’ll be great if they could have this kind of sequel for the movie 
Whatever it is, just the fact that they found certainty despite the uncertain future is a good enough ending for me.
The greatest thing this movie has taught me, aside from the in-movie values it imparted, is how to best enjoy slice of life shows. (Yes I’ve mentioned it in my previous post but I feel like posting it here as well) Unlike other shows which rely on ambitious storylines, special effects, and moe-moe fanservice, slice-of-life shows rely on the power of its very characters and its surroundings (TokiKake became visually orgasmic for me the moment I set my eyes on the astounding visuals), who may or may not appeal to its audience. Slice-of-life animes usually require its audience to be awed by the most trivial of things — the passing of time in the show, with or without much things happening (which is still significant, and represents something), much about every actions and emotions of the characters, may it be a moment of silence, sadness or laughter.
This is most likely the reason why some people can’t seem to enjoy slice-of-life shows (especially pure slice-of-life types). In this genre, you need to rely on your very own senses, and allow your heart and mind to drive you throughout the show. The events (or the lack of it) in these animes are presented without much fancy effects, and hence you can’t enjoy it without taking that extra effort to immerse yourself into its world. But more importantly, I think you need to have peace (or the willingness to have peace) and a sound mind so other biases won’t get in the way of your appreciation for the show. It was only having done all this that I found myself loving TokiKake 
In the end, my only gripe for the show was that there wasn’t enough Chiaki x Makoto raburabu to make me fangurl happy 
P.S. A big thanks to Hazy for accepting my invitation and accompanying me to watch this movie despite the heavy rain. Here’s to hoping for more anime movie showing on cinemas! And I hope Kaeboo will be able to join us then!
filed under: Assorted Reviews
Discussion
15 comments for “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and The Bunny Who Came Out of the Cinemas Enlightened”
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I liked this movie the first time I watched it lols and those shows you mentioned (5cm per second etc), I really loved them the first time I watched them too. usagijen, you are strange lols
Watched this 2 days ago.
It was boring at first, but by time Chiaki confessed to Makoto for the first time, I’m hooked!
This show totally blew me away. I really love it.
Heh, I loved it from my first watch. I agree wtih you, we need to watch slice-o-life shows with more of an open heart rather than an open mind. The whole film felt kinda surreal to me, yet at the same time everything felt very nostalgic.
I could really empathize with Chiaki’s desire to change or even relive some parts of her life, after all we often feel that way but if the ending thought me anything its this; you can only live life once, and that there are really many ways you can mess it up. So, we’ve got to cherish the time we have.
Man, I love slice of life shows.
I love slice of life stuff. It was my first watch and I found it awesome! I guess what made it even more awesome was because I saw it on the big screen on my first watch. TokiKake had the right elements… the wit, the humor, the emotional journey, good story, relatable and enjoyable characters. I do wonder why I never bothered to look it up before despite hearing positive things about it ages ago. Orz. (perhaps it was my mañana habit kicking in?).
Thanks to you too, I’m glad you invited me since I wouldn’t have been able to watch it otherwise.
Until next time! ^_^
@blissmo: blame my mood swings
@Setsukyie: the love angle made me love this more, just sweetttt~ I was quite shocked the first time I found out that Chiaki’s from the future though, like woah O_O Took a few seconds of total disbelief
@Ez: Yes, and in everything, we can only move forward. No use sulking over the past and all those regrets. Sigh, this was very nostalgic indeed. Oh and you meant Makoto and not Chiaki, did you not?
@hazy: I blame my laziness for not rewatching this show too
This movie was just awesome, watching it in the cinemas made the experience all the more awesome~
I liked this movie the first time (the second time was just me peeking over my dormmate’s shoulders as they were watching it recently, but that was just a scene or two) in about the same way I liked 5cm/s… Liked like, but not LIKED LIKE OMG THIS IS THE MOST TOUCHING PEACE OF BEAUTIFUL ARTWORK EVAR JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE SAYS!!! like -_-” I probably have to watch them again in a less cynical mood I suppose.
Glad to see that you gave this movie a chance again, and that the situation fared better for you this time around.
Works seen as “slice-of-life” definitely require more of an effort to watch, as there’s not much that screams out ENTERTAINMENT there. But I feel that when you do that, the satisfaction you can receive can be pretty great.
@issa-sa: lol yes, watching this bias-free is such a… liberating experience, if I might say
@N: definitely, and when you’re moved by the scenes, it really hits you. hard. The experience is so personal and heart-felt, and that’s what makes you feel more proud of having enjoyed it
I actually just watched this for the first time last night. I’m not sure I’d call it “slice of life” like the TV series genre; it certainly went at its own pace, but from the moment Makoto found that her jumping had repercussions she hadn’t thought about, I was riveted.
That said, it was not always awesome, but I tend to hold theatrical anime to a higher standard (probably like most people). It certainly entertained and provided a little emotional hook without being too over-the-top.
And some of the directing was really fantastic — like the scene toward the end when she ran to the ball field and couldn’t even keep up with the “camera,” which made it seem even more desperate.
@otou-san: how about sci-fi-ish slice-of-life?
The overall down-to-earth mood of this movie (despite having those sci-fi-ish elements) grabbed many people, most of whom have already given their praises the moment they saw this. I must be getting old for not exactly remembering the scene you mentioned, though it’s motivating me to watch the movie again ^-^
I’m really glad you appreciated this one the second time–though I loved it the first time, it only became an emotional gut punch the second time for me as well. The writing and acting are of a different order altogether compared to most TV anime. In many ways it almost feels like a lost Studio Ghibli film, somewhat akin to Whisper of the Heart.
Lo and behold, no surprise that it came out in 2006, which is one of the greatest years for anime, ever.
@Mike: I missed a lot of animes in 2006, makes me kinda sad that I missed out on a lot of ‘em. Well it won’t hurt watching those great works at this time of ‘drought’
I loved it too
And I came across this site when looking for other anime-films like this one, or maybe even better! Any ideas? (oyher than Spirited away/Howl’s moving castle..)
I’ll check out’Whisper of the Heart’, which was mentioned by Mike.
I don’t know why I missed this post. But yeah, the ending was the capstone of the story. The movie was totally awesome.
@Dili: I haven’t watched many Japanese animated films actually, but I do know for a fact that Hayao Miyazaki works are always good stuff. Kiki’s Delivery Service, Tonari no Totoro, among others. If you’re willing to plunge into a visually stunning yet heart-wrenching movie, you can always check out Byousoku 5cm, or other movies by Makoto Shinkai.
@Mike: tsk, you’re too busy with your books, I understand