5 Centimeters Per Second
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5 Centimeters Per Second
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that 5 Centimeters Per Second is a 2007 anime drama-romance in which two tweens who experience first love slowly drift apart as the years go by. It's a tearjerker told in three chapters, each covering a different era in the lives of the main character. The themes of crushes, unrequited love, and angst should be strongly relatable to kids having these feelings for the first time. There are no real issues in terms of content. Characters eat at a fast-food restaurant made to look similar to McDonald's and a coffee shop made to look similar to Starbucks. The lead characters don't fit in at their school, especially when they start to have feelings for each other, and other kids tease them about it.
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What's the Story?
In 5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND, Takaki (Kenji Mizuhashi) is a tween with strong feelings for his classmate Akari (Yoshii Kondou). As they begin to acknowledge their feelings for each other, Akari moves to a different region due to her parents' jobs. When Takaki learns that his family will be moving far away, Takaki tries to see Akari one last time to truly express his feelings for her, but while en route to visit her by train during a snowstorm, he loses the letter in which he wrote to her about his feelings. When they do meet, Takaki faces the painful realization that they can never be together as Akari struggles with her own feelings and unsent letters. They stay in touch in their teen years as Takaki still struggles with regrets and feelings for Akari, even as classmate Kanae clearly has a crush on him. Later, as an adult in Tokyo, Takaki still thinks about Akari, and while passing the spot where they once promised to watch cherry blossoms together, he passes who he thinks is Akari. Will they finally be together?
Is It Any Good?
This is a tearjerker coming-of-age anime about unrequited love and missed connections. 5 Centimeters Per Second is filled with beautiful images and insightful observations about how people who are once very close can slowly drift apart. It's likely to be a little too emo for older and more cynical viewers, but for more sensitive viewers and for kids having their own first experiences of crushes, angst, romance, and heartbreak, it's a strongly relatable movie about the sadness of experiencing how someone you know can eventually become someone you knew.
Such themes are mawkish and sappy in less experienced hands, but the great writer-director Makoto Shinkai conveys a richly rendered world of loneliness, disconnect, and things unsaid and unexpressed through trains, rocket launches, city streets. The only bummer note is at the end, with the requisite anime balladry that overwhelms the sincerity of the movie that had managed to keep it from coming across as too mushy. Nonetheless, the quality and creativity of how the story is told ultimately win out.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about anime like 5 Centimeters Per Second. How is this similar to and different from other anime you've seen?
How does the movie explore themes of first crushes, unrequited love, and angst, and how those who were once close can slowly drift apart as the years go by?
How were the three parts of the movie connected, and how did they show the passing of time and the change in the relationship between Takaki and Akari?
Movie Details
- In theaters: March 3, 2007
- On DVD or streaming: March 14, 2011
- Cast: Kenji Mizuhashi, Yoshimi Kondou, Satomi Hanamura
- Director: Makoto Shinkai
- Studio: GKIDS
- Genre: Drama
- Topics: High School, Middle School
- Run time: 63 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: July 30, 2022
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