The short film “Five Centimeters Per Second” follows Takaki and Akari, two close childhood friends who are torn apart as their families move further and further away. Knowing their relationship would never be the same they are tested into keeping the spark in their love and friendship towards one another alive. Despite the distance created between them, they keep in touch by writing letters to each other and promise to meet one last time before the distance between them becomes too great. The film is cut into three distinct but connected sections that show how their lives play out as they create their own paths in life.

Although the film had a relatively short run time of one hour and three minutes, watching the film left me with a lot to unpack. Knowing Makoto Shinkai created the film, I knew I was in for a treat as many of the other films he has created such as “Your Name,” “The Garden of Words” and many more films that I watched and enjoyed. Each of the divided parts had so much to reveal in terms of information and character progression. What I loved about this film is the juxtaposition created between Takaki and Akari, especially as they begin to live their separate lives. Other aspects such as the beautiful animation and musical score elevated the film to another level.

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Cherry Blossom

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The first of the three acts called “Cherry Blossom” was primarily used to set the scene and establish the childhood relationship between Takaki and Akari. What I love about this act is how well the story is laid out and how emotional it gets early on. The way that the film starts with a second person’s point of view through one of the letters Akari wrote uniquely adds a new layer of depth throughout the film. Although we don’t get to see a whole lot of bonding between them the phone call revealing their separation alludes to their tight bond with one another. 

The mood to this act drastically becomes more melancholic as it seems as fate wanted to prevent their last meet up. This created suspense as it quickly turned into a race against time. Paired with the cold gloomy atmosphere, this act put me on the edge of my seat to see Takaki’s mission to declare his love and ultimately say his last goodbye.

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Cosmonaut 

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The second act served as a time jump which followed Takaki’s development since his separation from Akari in his junior year of high school. What jumped out at me first was the beautiful animation of the cosmic night sky. Overall, the animation of this film was excellent but the quality in scenes such as these really jumped up and amazed me. 

Although this act served to show how Takaki was dealing with the events from the previous act, I love how it was told and narrated through Kanae who is Takaki’s classmate and her love interest. This act begins to show how static Takaki’s character starts to become as we are given hints throughout the act that he hasn’t gotten over Akari despite the several years that have passed since. I also love how Takaki’s character development seemed so realistic. Anyone who’s ever been in love would know and relate to his difficulty in getting over the person he loved. This not only affected him but Kanae as well as she has finally comes to realize that Takaki never really thought about her but thought of someone else. The musical score and animation also contributed to a depressing theme as feelings were ignored and hearts were broken.

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Five Centimeters Per Second

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The last act served as the juxtaposition between how Takaki and Akari moved on and individually grew as a person. I love this contrast in character development as we can tell that Takaki’s feelings for Akari have held him back from happiness and are full of sadness at his end. As he still looks for his purpose in life he is met with shortcomings and is still held back by his feelings for Akari. 

On the other hand, we finally see Akari for the first time since the first act and we are shown that she is doing considerably well as compared to Takaki. Unlike Takaki, Akari was able to accept reality and was not to be held back from her personal growth.

What had to be my favorite part of this act was the ending as it mirrored the very beginning of the film. This scene had to be my favorite as it ties into the realism in which is not common to come by anymore as most films become cheesy and succumb to “Deus ex Machina.” The ending is certainly bittersweet but we are finally given closure as Takaki is hinted at starting his journey towards personal growth without the setbacks of his past.

I loved this film and I believe you would too. If you had an hour to spare I would recommend you use that time to watch this film. Although depressing you ultimately gain a sense of satisfaction from it. Being rated TV-PG this film can be watched and enjoyed by a wide array of audiences. 

The verdict has been determined as I rate “Five Centimeters Per Second” a solid 8/10. It is available to watch on the app/website Crunchy Roll.