Our lives have become so dynamic and fast in this world of love, loss, and dreams – wouldn’t it be nice to simply sit back and watch the blossoms fall at 5 centimeters per second?
Makoto Shinkai’s films are reigning over the anime world in this day and age. With his brilliant works from the Garden of Words to Your Name, Shinkai’s works continue to delight us as we are spellbound every time, we lay our eyes on its animation. '5 centimetres per second' is a 1-hour movie that consists of 3 phases. One can also read up on the manga adaptation as well. The manga differs ever so slightly from the anime movie but has its own twist to it at the end.
The falling cherry blossoms and the snow – they fall from up above the sky and then gently touch the ground beneath. The serene beauty and the sorrow which come after they arrive slowly and go away just as quickly is what the stories focus on mainly. The first part is about that. The simplicity of life and the things we often leave behind.
In the movie it said the rockets travel at 5 kilometres per second – to reach a place far beyond our reach and yet we humans yearn to go there and look at what’s out there. This is because we are curious. And to know which lies beyond our reach is in our nature. Much like the souls of this story who constantly are on the lookout for something which seems to be out of reach.
The snow and blossoms fall at 5 centimetres per second. Their slow steady speeds – falling at terminal velocity finally closes this poetic saga with a musical episode and the end is left abstract. Much like our lives that we live and breathe through every day. Not everything goes in accordance with our plans. People meet and bond and then they fade away like the seasons till the year goes around to bring the same seasons to a new year.
'5 centimetres per second' is an anime, poetic from its first tones to its last one.
