The Place Promised in Our Early Days

Makoto Shinkai is unique in his directing style in that he often places more focus on a character's inner thoughts rather than his or her dialogue and interacting with the environment. While this style has its own set of strengths and weaknesses, Shinkai uses it to his advantage to often show a emotion driven story. Such as is here in "The Place Promised in our Early Days." It is not a good as some of his other efforts, but it is still worth the watch nonetheless. The story is about three friends living in a alternate reality Japan. Japan has been split in have by America who controls the south and "the Union" controlling the north. There is a tower that goes beyond the clouds and the three friends make a promise to go fly up to it using a plane that they salvage and start to repair. One day, one of the friends disappear and story follows the other two friends and how they cope and ultimately try to find and help her. Like I said, the setting is in a alternate history and there are some science fiction influences in the world. However, it does not detract from the highlight which is he story. The first part of the story involves the three friends enjoying their summer. It is so genuine in terms of emotion and the bright lighting and beautiful drawn environments really brings the story to life. The character animations is not the best and the voice acting is OK at best, but the environments themselves are so beautiful that you'll easily forgive the previous complaints. Shinkai excels at portraying emotions of lost and isolation, especially when it involves old friends and lost lovers. It is no exception here. The main character is the most developed here as we hear his inner thoughts the most and his desire to see his lost friend again is interesting. As much as I like this movie, it is hard not to compare it to another Makoto Shinkai film, "5cm per Second." The reason I like that film better is because there was nothing that distracted the main story. It was clear and to the point with nothing distracting. Same can't be said for this movie. There is a lot of background here involving politics and a weird dream/ parallel universe science that gets convoluted and messy and at times, it can get distracting. That being said, if you want a movie with genuine emotion, this is not a bad watch. In a age where anime tends to focus less on story and more and cutesy hi jinks and everyday nonsense of high school students who can't get a girl, "The Place Promised in our Early Years" is a refreshing, emotional, and occasionally beautiful film that won't leave and tears in your eyes, but might leave you staring at the screen even after the credits start rolling.

Read the title a couple of times.

It's lyrical, evocative, even elegiac, and yet could have been expressed in fewer words.

Such is this film.

Formally, it's a pure joy to behold. From sweeping countryside panoramas and old, weatherbeaten structures that somehow plumb deep-seated sparks of nostalgia, to sweetly-embellished details like a softly rattling electric fan, Shinkai creates a vibrant, human environment. The soundtrack is equally enveloping, with heart-melting violin and piano work.

Beyond this is quite a decent film, with believable characters in often hard-to-fathom situations. The boyhood friendship of the two male protagonists is very real -- but their ability to engineer, fabricate, and pilot a sophisticated aircraft at age 15 is purely the stuff of anime fantasy.

And yet, everything, no matter how incredible or convoluted, is wrapped in these Shinkai layers of lyricism and beauty. Through a very sensitive and even transcendent treatment, scene after scene is made to appear pivotal, even if it's not.

And thus we have a film that is almost cloying in its presentation -- it's not layered with pure sugar; most of the time it feels genuine, even if it's becoming self-indulgent. But indulge it does, because the director knows how to indulge gracefully.

Normally style over substance kills substance. In "Place," it gently infuses it with some sort of warm, nourishing milk.

While a popular anime, I find that the title (The Place Promised in Our Early Days) is more interesting than the slow, plodding script. Many will find this film unmoving and uneventful.

The animation is so-so. In only one scene (a mountain background with mist) was I impressed; otherwise it's very typical. I'm honestly surprised by the number of reviews stating this is "beautiful". It's really simply not that impressive animation-wise. I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.

The characters are largely undeveloped. The plot line is simple and mono-directional, without much in the way of suspense, surprise or emotional impact. There are no highs or lows, no real climax to the film, and the ending is weak.

I am a fan of anime and very much enjoy artistic anime. I don't need giant robot battles in order to enjoy a film-- and enjoy many aspects of the drama genre where story is as important as the animation itself. But this work struck me as mediocre in all aspects. I do appreciate that some may enjoy the (very)subdued romantic aspect, but I found it as undeveloped and uneventful as the rest of the work.

As would be expected I give it 5 stars. Neither impressive nor bad... just a slow-moving story, weak plot line and so-so animation.

I gave 4 stars just for the art and the music, but I really got bored a lot watching this, the story makes no sense, it's all so dreamy, so epic, the author wants you to deeply feel all this emotions but to me the result it's an hollow movie with hollow character. I've never fallen asleep watching something, but with this I barely succeeded to end it. I definitively suggest not to watch it, there are so many other beautiful anime to see out there. One thing I've enjoyed is the artwork, the landscapes are really intense and make you dream, but also there sometimes there is too much over production, too many light effects, it seems like a punch in the eye. And I hate when authors use science fiction in this way, by throwing here and there some gibberish theory and then making a mess with a convoluted plot, so that people at the end can say that it leave you with the freedom to interpret it, I find this technique over abused lately, and by the way I've never seen using it so badly like in this case

The director and writer of The Place Promised in Our Early Days is a certain Makoto Shinkai who is otherwise famous for movies like 5 cm Per Second and Voices of a Distant Star. He has been hailed as one of the greatest anime directors or even the greatest, up there with legends like Hayao Myazaki. Since I saw his other two movies first and absolutely adore them, it is needless to say that my expectations for this movie were sky high. Simply put, I was not let down. Unlike the other two movies under the same direction, The Place Promised in Our Early Days has a very definite plot with clear dips, rises and climaxes. All in all, it is an exciting story that puts you in the center of a divided Japan with different powers controlling both sides. The plot might seem dry and overused on paper, but it is quite intriguing once you actually see it in action. Also driving the storytelling forward is this movie's sci-fi twist on parallel universes and how certain people react with them. Again, this movie certainly brings around one of the uniquer feeling tales around, even if it doesn't sound it. Anyone who has seen another Makoto Shinkai movie however will be able to tell you though, that it is not the story that makes his movies special, but the characters and the emotion that few movies come close to matching. Although it is still a huge distant beyond any other movie in this respect, the power behind to emotions is probably the weakest of all three movies. Don't get me wrong; you will still find the characters and their relations hauntingly and irresistibly real, but you aren't AS horrified when a character's life suddenly changes for the worse. Still, the feelings of loneliness, desperation, or exuberance, all of which Shinkai is famous for, are still found in their distinct, amazing way. Since this was the second of the three movies, it also seems as though it is a technical middle-step between the OK animation of Voices of a Distant Star, and the truly breath-taking visual found in 5 cm Per Second. The animation will not disappoint you, and there are some truly clever tricks that are used that make it look truly wonderful, but they won't stand out among the best in the industry. The music might just do that however with its beautiful, violin-heavy soundtrack that creates a great ambiance for whatever scene is currently playing. Also, the fact that the violin is featured in the soundtrack is of relevance to the plot, and makes both the character progression and the music appear that much sweeter.

Although I have criticized this movie a lot, for every thing it did wrong, it did a million things right. This still stands with the truly great anime movies out there and is a great watch for any fan of sci-fi influenced plots that will bring a surprisingly personal tone to the story.