Today's Anime Calamity looks at the motion picture "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time." And like time, this review waits for no one.
Makoto is having the worst day of her life. She loses her pudding to her sister, falls asleep during a surprise test, almost burns down the school kitchen during Home EC, and is crushed by a student that lands on top of her. While bringing her fellow students’ notebooks up to the lab, she hears a noise coming from the back room. Makoto looks inside, but sees nothing. A sudden noise causes her to trip and fall on top of an acorn-looking object, sending her and her brain through a series of trippy visuals. After she returns to the real world, Makoto heads home. Unfortunately, she learns that her bicycle brakes have been shot; and she is sent flying into an oncoming train. When she is just about to die, Makoto is sent back just a moment’s time before she hits the train. In a state of shock, she runs to her aunt; who tells her of the concept of “time-leaping,” where a person literally leaps from the present, and lands in a past moment.
After learning this new trick of hers, Makoto uses the power of time-leaping to her advantage; such as grabbing the pudding before her sister gets it, singing in a never-ending session of karaoke, acing the surprise test, and avoiding adverse incidents involving her friend Chiaki, who starts thinking of Makoto in another way. Eventually Makoto finds that this new power of hers is limited, so she starts to use it to make things right with everyone, like helping her friend Kousuke to notice a girl that likes him. However, an incident occurs where Kousuke steals Makoto’s broken bike; and is about to be killed with his new girlfriend in the same accident that would’ve killed Makoto. Just as it is about to happen time stops again, and Makoto goes face-to-face with someone who is very familiar to her. Who is it, and how is it related to time-leaping?
To call this film a prime example of animation at its best is an understatement. The characters and the settings are as bright and beautiful as many top-notched Disney flicks. The storyline is whimsical, and it teaches a valuable lesson on how one can spend time correctly (as it is commonly reminded that “Time waits for no one.”) The voice actors and actresses -- like Riisa Naka’s Motoko and Takuya Ishida’s Chiyaki -- are played so well that it even outshines a lot of the real-life teenage stars. The music, composed by Kiyoshi Yoshida, is written so beautifully that if Claude Debussy were alive today he would have tears of joy running down his face. Finally, the movie was told so astoundingly that anyone, from the youngest child to the eldest person, could follow it without confusion.However, what makes me upset about this film is the fact that it was not given a chance here in America. There should’ve been no reason why “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” couldn’t have been picked up by a major film studio, or even a small independent one like Focus Features or Fox Searchlight. How a movie like this was easily brushed away -- and movies like “Disaster Movie” and “Mamma Mia” are given inexcusable amounts of promotion and screen time -- is beyond my comprehension. Granted it’s an anime from Japan, but this is the first time I’ve ever watched an anime that could easily draw anyone’s attention in. Kids, teenagers, college kids, adults, and senior citizens will leave a movie like this with a lighter heart and a thoughtful outlook on life. In laymen’s terms, this movie was made to make anyone feel good; and it does the job perfectly.
“The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” is a five-star movie, hands-down one of the most amazing animated flicks I’ve ever seen. The real tragedy of this flick, as I’ve said, was that it didn’t get the wide release it most definitely deserved. If it comes to your town, I heavily urge you to go see it with your friends and family. If not, look for it on DVD sometime this year from Bandai Entertainment; who should be given a medal for bringing a gem like this to our shores.
This is King Baby Duck: Ain't born to lose, baby, I'm born to win! I'm so Goddamn slick, baby, it's a sin!
Labels: Anime, King Baby Duck, movie review, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
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