The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
28 August 2007
Saw bateszi’s post up this morning, one of those things where you read it about and you just have to see it. Waited all day for the torrent, worth the wait, worth the wait.
For all the things I can say about the film, for all my praise and ravings and adoration, the best part of it all was how normal it felt, how simple and sweet, and short and light and colorful, like a dream but not quite a dream, like floating across the sky on some luscious, white cloud. And when it’s all over, you just drop right back where you were.
It’s like finding gold in a river, something, whether expected or not, is the most deliriously remarkable thing in the world. Everything was perfect, perfect, perfect. All the right things happened at all the right times. Just enough humor, just enough suspense, and just enough bittersweet heartbreak that resonates even after it’s over, loud enough and long enough. And, even if it had flaws, which everything inevitably do, I can’t see them and right now, I don’t want to see them. It’s like a happy memory, and you want to keep it as long as possible even if after a while, it gets fuzzy around the edges and you’ll gave to find corks to plug the holes.
I want to do a running jump off a roof, under open blue skies with the wind in my hair, the sun on my back, and with the impression that I can fly, fly across the sky and across time. That’s, more or less, exactly how I feel right now. Delirious, and a bit ridiculous.
Still, it just felt so normal. I’m tired, sometimes, of epic adventures, life changing discoveries, secret powers and destiny and fate, sometimes I want a slice of life. If I could leap through time, I’d retake a pop quiz for a perfect score, I’d go back and eat last night’s dinner, I’d sing karaoke ten hours straight, I’d avoid all of the uncomfortable conversations with friends, I’d play matchmaker for my classmates, I’d save myself from cooking accidents in class, I’d do everything Makoto did. It was extraordinary because it was ordinary. So real, and normal and complacent, like watching life. Ironically, it’s animated, yet it feels closer to being real.
Makoto flying off her bicycle, the peaches, the perfect pink flesh of those peaches sailing through the air, the train, right then, right there, that’s where it got me. There was something so beautiful to that scene, those peaches, those peaches. Watching all of it play out was just amazing. It just got better and better, from light-hearted fun to a romance bordering tragedy. She’s running after Kosuke and his girlfriend, when she trips and falls, looks up in horror and yells “Stop!” over and over and over, and time actually stops. She’s with Chiaki in the street, she’s searching for him, following his voice through the crowd, he waves and then he’s gone. She realizes that she only has one time leap left, dashes out of her house and runs and leaps, runs to find him. She’s crying and she turns around and Chiaki’s gone. She walks, and as the sun sets, he comes up behind her, pulls her close and whispers in her ear.
Perfect, perfect, perfect, down to the very last second where all I could see were the ending credits and a blank screen. Emotional roller coaster and I didn’t even leave my seat, so subtle and so quiet, but it hits all the right notes, pushes all the right buttons, all the right everything. Most unexpected, most delicious slice of life, ever.
In the end, Makoto ended up where she started, the first day she found the time leap. After everything, it rewound back to where it began. I guess, maybe that’s what we’re supposed to take it from it. Live in the moment, because you don’t have the time to think it all through, to go back and do it over again. Remember the past, look for the future and cherish the present.
And, yes, I’d laugh, I’d laugh if you told me you were from the future. I’d laugh pretty hard.
I’m glad you enjoyed the film; at least, it was worth waiting for
Chiaki’s last words to Makoto were quite interesting. If I remember correctly, he said something like “See you in the future”, which was quite sad knowing that they will probably never see each other again. I must admit, I love anime for these kind of whimsical, bitter-sweet sentiments, it wasn’t the typical “Hollywood” ending at all, but it was spiritually uplifting, which in a way, seems so much more important.
@bateszi – I’m glad you turned me on to it. Definitely worth waiting for, XD!
In total agreement with you on this one. The “whimsical, bitter-sweet sentiments” drives me insane. Just thinking of Chiaki and Makoto and that last scene makes me want to strangle someone in a hug.