'Time' well spent

Animated film about girl who manipulates time visually, aurally appealing

By Alvina Yeh, staff writer

Oct. 17, 2007

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Dir. Mamoru Hosoda Not rated Time: 98 minutes Language: Japanese

“The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” starts as a typical coming-of-age high school story.

That is, until 17-year-old Makoto Konno, discovers the ability to leap backward through time.

She delights in her newfound power – using it to reclaim the pudding her little sister ate the day before, extending her karaoke session, and finding out the answers to pop quizzes. She soon realizes that her simple changes to time have a much larger effect than she had originally imagined.

The movie reinforces the beauty in the ordinary. Director Mamoru Hosoda pays attention to detail, rewarding those who watch with a close eye. Simple scenes such as young school boys skipping stones in a river to a team of joggers with one trailing behind set the tone of the movie. The audio track also shows great attention to detail. From croaking cicadas, to snippets of schoolyard conversations, each audio effect has been carefully arranged to create a sense of simpler days. The soundtrack features sweet melodies and emotional instrumentals to help carry the plot.

The characters are set in that confusing period in-between innocence and adulthood. Makoto’s acts of time-traveling self-indulgence are purely out of innocent desires to make it to school on time, eat her favorite dinner again and finally hit a pitch in baseball. She and her friends are portrayed with such humanism and humor, it’s hard not to recognize their traits in my own friends.

The movie incorporates several different styles of animation which has been chaotic in other films. Surprisingly, the art directors were able to combine picturesque backgrounds, 3-D graphics, overly simple character designs, and real-life drawings without assaulting my eyes. Initially the character animation may seem crudely out of place in such lush settings. But as the movie continues, the starkly different styles of animation help to achieve a sci-fi impression without being unrealistic.

As in many sci-fi movies, reason and logic are placed to the side. Wondering how their version of time travel works and why Makoto did or didn’t use her power at certain points only ruins the effect of the movie. It’s best not to question in order to fully enjoy the cinematic experience. The hard part is trying not to analyze it afterward and just accepting it for what it is (a beautiful movie) and isn’t (a logical portrayal of time travel).

Despite minor logical fallacies, the movie is beautiful – both aurally and visually. The plot has many opportunities to drag, but didn’t because of the music and little details going on in each scene. The characters are lovable and the story was funny and poignant.

As one saying in the movie goes, “Time waits for no one.” So don’t wait – go out and watch it while I go find the novel that precedes the movie.

Alvina Yeh is a staff reporter for AsiaXpress.com. Alvina can be reached at Alvina.Yeh@asiaxpress.com.