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I had heard constant positive praise about “Byousoku 5cm” prior to watching it, so I went into the film expecting a lot. Now that I’m finished, I can safely say a few things. First of all, I think it is a well-made film which deserves all the praise it gets. I don’t think that Shinkai is the next Miyazaki (at least, not yet), but I admire how he can manipulate his strengths to produce a great film. If anything, his film seems to be more along the lines of Isao Takahata’s productions for Studio Ghibli. Yet I still get the feeling that even though the animation is wonderful, the writing is detailed and the direction is honest, there’s some kind of “heart” that is so abundant in Ghibli films that is missing. I also think that the third section was a let-down.

Mike of “Anime Diet” has this to say:

“……concentrating on what Shinkai does best: eloquent monologues (its only equal in that department is Honey and Clover) and realistic dialogue which actually sounds like ordinary speech…..”

I also noticed the use of monologues, something which I felt was used in a very believable and heartfelt way in Honey and Clover. I think that their presence in this film adds a considerable sense of artistry, even if they feel a bit more calculated compared to H&C. Mike also proceeds to say in his review that he feels the three parts come to us in declining order of quality. I have to agree. The first section is clearly the strongest of them all, showing us a snapshot of the relationship of the two leads as they overcome obstacles to see each other.

This section, though, doesn’t really focus on getting us to connect with the characters by telling us too much about them (they act as blank slates for the most part), instead it focuses on evoking the emotion of loneliness/regret. What I’m trying to say is that you feel sadness because of the idea of what the film presents, rather than feeling sadness because you love the characters as people so much that you don’t want them to suffer. Only in the second section do you really connect with a character in a more substantial way, and you feel sadness because you want the character to find happiness.

I enjoyed the second part as well, and here we are allowed deeper insight into the mind of a new character who is introduced. Unrequited love can be a tricky thing to portray, it can come off as deeply realistic and sympathetic (like in H&C) or it can feel forced, making the viewer wonder why the character bothers to continue it. But in this film, the relationship feels a bit more natural and you can understand the feelings of both parties involved. There are some great individual scenes – for example, the moment where the main character loses a letter in the wind which had great significance to him. A very hollow feeling of sadness immediately comes to him and the sight of him stopping himself from crying was very well done. However, the sadness is driven more by how the feeling of emptiness is evoked rather than a connection to the characters.

I feel that the third part of the film didn’t really add anything. I expected it to properly connect the first and second parts, or at least the themes explored in them, and give us a satisfying conclusion, but I didn’t feel that it did. For one thing, much of it is taken up by a music video. By this, I don’t mean an insert song. I mean an actual music video with clips played over a song. A new character is introduced but nothing is really done with her. I suppose that I just wish there was more resolution in the final act.

The technical details are all passable. The animation is spectacular, a feast for the eyes, with detail rivaling even Studio Ghibli (though comparing them isn’t fair as they are both aiming for different things). The music relies, as most of these sort of anime do, on tinkling piano solos which aren’t as memorable as those of Honey and Clover. I didn’t think the music used in the music video was too suitable either, but that’s just my opinion.

Watching a bad anime is, in a way, less frustrating than watching an anime that’s good but makes mistakes. I think this film falls into that second category. The director’s knack for evoking mood through dialogue and monologue are noted, as well as the fantastic artwork. It’s lacking a sense of cohesiveness in its third act, but overall, it is a good film just for the way it creates so much out of (more or less) a single idea of loneliness or regret.

Note: From an anime fan standpoint, it deserves four stars at least, for its great production and direction, as well as acclaim across many websites. However, as a personal perspective, it loses a star from me because of the things I mentioned above.