The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The 1st time i saw the movie poster in a local (Singapore) newspaper, i notice somewhat particular about the picture. At 1st i thought it resembles to Hayao Miyazaki's style. But further research on the net, the character was designed by the same guy who create Rei Ayanami and Evagelion mechas, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. Wow~ Then i found out this movie won the hearts of critics and some awards in film fest from France to Germany. Ok, a must watch anime of 2006/7.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo) was directed by Mamoru Hosoda and produced by Madhouse Studio, famous for anime flicks like Death Note and NANA. It was based on a manga of a same name and apparently there's a life-action movie version had been made in 1980s. LOL

The story is about a tomboyish high school girl, Makoto Konno accidentally discover that she have the ability to time leap which, she used extravagantly to avoid being late in school and score a prefect mark in exam. Able to go back in time to redo the stuff she like and fixing past mistakes, little does she realise that in doing so may hurt the others around her. And the more she undid the time, the worst it gets.

The animation was top notch as expected from a big shot studio. The town and backdrop city was rendered beautifully with great detail and nice feel to it. Some scene really capture the impact as the main character fall and roll around. Really like the scene between time and space, and also when time freeze up in the movie.

The storyline was fantastic and may be on par with the movies from Studio Ghibli. The plot, while some scene was a bit slow, was really engaging with all the time travel around. It may sound complicated but the storyline was pretty easy to follow. Watching Mokoto's antics while she undid past was really enjoyable. There was twist and turn and heartaching moments that keep the story more interesting than other time-travel inspired animes.

Still, some of the dialogue was rather strange to accept like the Mokoto's aunt told her that, "time leap was normal among teenager her age but rare", with a nonchalant tone. Go figure. Anyway, the movie is one of the best anime i watch in recent years and worth going out and get the DVD. And do prepare urself emotionly. The scene when Mokoto cries loudly really can make you wanna reach out to console her. I did.