La chica que saltó a través del tiempo

What an amazing film this was. Its funny, its heartwarming, its emotional during certain points and if you are in touch with your emotional side, there is a chance that you will cry buckets. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a Japanese animated film that dwells in high school life and all that comes with it, the crushes, the puppy love, the platonic friendship and friendship that soon blossoms into romance. To spice things up a bit, the creators incorporated time travel in the mix and gave it to our klutzy heroine Makoto and the end result is absolutely satisfying as it manages to hit all the right spots and tug your heartstrings. The animation is just gorgeous to look at. It reminds you of a Ghibli movie due to its breathtaking use of rich colors and lavish texture, the film itself almost comes alive with its near perfect animation. The voice work done is perfect as well, integrating it seamlessly into the film thus giving life to the colorful and cheerful characters on screen. While the Sci-fi part and the time travel stuff may not be ironed out to the highest level, I suggest you leave your Einstein mindset right at the doorstep and just enjoy the story that the film is telling. All in all, if you look at it, the film is a touching tale bursting with emotions and it just warms your heart in all the right places. Highly recommended.

Based on Yasutaka Tsutsui's 1967 novel, - which has been adapted several times over the years, including 1983's The Little Girl Who Conquered Time - The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a charming mix of drama and romantic comedy, with a slight infusion of science fiction ideas. Makoto (Riisa Naka) is a high school girl who, through serendipity, gains the ability to leap back in time (but she only manages moments or hours back). She has platonic relationships with two high school boys, Chiaki (Takuya Ishida) and Kousuke (Mitsutaka Itakura), and they spend their time playing baseball.

With her new-found abilities, she does nothing spectacularly profound, and the films intentions aren't to comment on paradoxes or to shift the space-time continuum as is usually the case with time travel narratives. Makoto uses her abilities to repeat events that pleasure her, to ace a school test, and also to avoid certain embarrassing situations with her friends. But as her relationships with, particularly, Chiaki and Kousuke, her leaps become more personally profound, as she attempts to possibly save the people she cares for (within the context of small human moments of danger, and not the usual global/country catastrophes.

I love the fact that in Japan, they do not distinguish between live- action cinema and animated (anime if you like) films, they are all simply movies. Now I'm going to contradict this with a Western perspective: This beautifully animated film is a delight to view, with its traditional two-dimensions, it is evidence to the west that 3D, computer generated animation is not the overbearing format, and 2D is still a genuinely viable medium. The film is filled with charming human moments, both touching and thoughtful. Teenage comedies rarely have this level of tenderness of character, that also explores concepts of fate, the passage of time and the intricacies of small human moments, and the delicate nature of human relationships.

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There are about 10 Japanese films that I re-watch almost every year since their releases. "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" is one of only three such animated films for me.

"The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" is based on a 1967 hit novel of the same title. The original work has been used in numerous film and dorama adaptations, most famous ones being the 1983 film directed by Oobayashi Nobuhiko. Instead of making just another anime adaptation and possibly becoming just another adaptation shadowed by the 1983 film, the producers took a risk by creating a spin-off movie with the setting of about 20 years after the original story. The gamble paid off big time, as the animated film went on to win at least 23 awards worldwide.

The underlying theme in this movie was "the importance of living the moment". Our protagonist was given the power to leap back into time to correct her mistakes, only to realize later that the short-term gains only lead to greater losses that followed. The story was extremely well-constructed to teach the lesson of embracing things the way they are, and never run from confrontations, because once that moment gone, you'll never get it back.

The director for this film did a phenomenal job of pacing and creating many memorable moments, but it was the live-action film screenwriter Okudera Satoko, who really made a difference for this movie by composing a story out of number of time leaps that slowly developed the main characters and made so many epic scenes possible. Many anime screenwriters fail in movies because they incorporate too many characters, as it is common practice in series, into the limited 100 minute time-frame. What's remarkable about this piece of work is that it focuses on only three main characters. Even counting the secondary cast, there are only 8 characters in total who we are given the names of. The limited number of characters not only improved character development, it also allowed the story to focus on the underlying theme.

I was actually very uncertain about the viewing this year because I started watching a lot of TV anime again since the last viewing. However, the only new flaws I've noticed was the excessive still motion in some scenes and most backgrounds, and that the protagonist was being a bit overly insensitive in few instances, which made her character a bit unrealistic. Animation is years ahead of its time, and it still is an excellent example of what happens when music is in harmony with the story/animation. The insert song by Oku Hanako, IMO, is still the best selection ever made among hundreds of Japanese films, anime, and live-action doramas I've encountered. Ending theme is a truly poignant one that really captured the mood and made the story sink in, and the music score throughout the movie has been used perfectly to enhance the drama.

"The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" is a timeless masterpiece that made me want to cherish every moment, and it's a movie I expect myself to be re-watching for many more years to come.

This film is one of those films that comes once in every generation. The voice actors give the characters a sense of realness that makes you suffer or feel joy. The detail of the work is phenomenal and the story doesn't drag or end in a familiar way. I specially like the detail they put to little things as the sliding doors bouncing back open when Makoto tries to close them. This is one of those films that in the end it leaves you a good feeling and not guilty for spending two hours enjoying yourself. When you see this film you might have to find time to think when was the last time you saw something so good.I just wish there's a sequel for it, because I just couldn't get enough of it. But maybe is one of those stories that you wish it never ended but you know that it has to end.

P.S. Now I have to buy the DVD.

Alert: This movie has the most fantastic background graphics, equal in quality to the very best--like cowboy bebop or something from studio ghibli (spirited away). just wonderful color of the sunsets, schools houses etc.

As a teen slice of life/tentative romance/drama the story seems like it could be cliché, but they do interesting things with it, make it more dramatic in the middle, and at the end i was satisfied. the emotional depth sort of sneaks up on you.

Sounds were well-integrated into the film and the voice actors were spot-on in their portrayals.

just a fine experience watching this on here in Asia.

Highly recommended for all, but a must for anyone who's into anime.

wow I'm gonna look out for anything by this studio and director in the future.