ANI-MOVIES: *The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The first unofficial movie released by Studio Chizu was 2006's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Based on the 1967 novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui who also wrote the book Paprika that Satoshi Kon turned into his own anime film, this story has been adapted multiple times in different formats including live-action motion pictures and a TV series. The anime movie was produced by Belle writer Mamoru Hosoda with a screenplay by Satoko Okudera who also wrote the script for Summer Wars. The film is a stand-alone story which acts as a pseudo-sequel to the original 1967 book with the niece of the book's main character. In the book, a girl named Kazuko discovers she can leap back in time to a few days thanks to coming into contact with a man from the future, although in the book she ends up having her memory erased of the whole event, but in the anime movie Kazuko seems to somehow maintain her memories. The dubbing was provided by the Viz Entertainment regulars from Ocean Studios and was first released in English by Bandai, and later on by Funimation. Even though this was eventually redistributed under Studio Chizu, it was initially produced by the geniuses at Madhouse to many accolades.

Makoto is a typical Japanese high school student, not excelling with high grades and somewhat klutzy, but she has two platonic boy schoolmates, Chiaki and Kosuke. Her aunt Kazuko usually referred to as a witch works at restoring paintings at a museum, and Makoto comes to her when she has a strange encounter where she literally leaps through time after nearly hitting a train with her malfunctioning bike. Turns out Kazuko had a similar experience when she was younger which only briefly gets referenced to in the movie, but this makes her think that time leaping is a common thing for some people in her family. Makoto uses her newfound ability to go back to the past reliving similar experiences but exiting whenever she wants, plus she doesn't seem to have to deal with any pesky paradoxes like running into an alternate version of herself as each leap sets up a totally separate timeline for her just slip into. This has a serious caveat to it as it effects the lives of the people around her, this bringing the strange message she first saw when she gained her power which states the "time waits for no one". Makoto learns that a girl has deep feelings for Kosuke, so she tries to set the two of them up, while at the same time Chiaki tries to ask Makoto out. There is a major twist that lays out the entirety of the final act which plays outside of Makoto's control as her supply of time leaps begins to run out, and the giveaway is very convoluted with lots of dangling plot threads and unanswered questions. Ultimately though, the focus of the story is more character-based and how people's relationships can be shaken by even the most minimal changes.

The finale does spread a large emotional doubt on how to interpret the original intentions of this adaptation of a 40-year-old book which just resolved everything by giving all the characters involved with amnesia. However, this remake doesn't make people forget and instead Makoto has to deal with the consequences of her actions in both the present and altered present, even as she comes to terms about how she feels about her friends and what kind of future she wants to walk into. Mamoru Hosadu made this a visually stunning film with many scenes just taking in the beauty of the mundane world in the background which is something he'd utilize in future productions like Wolf Children and Mirai, although Mirai seemed to have a better grasp on the concept of time travel than this film did. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is more of a character study than a fully realized story and borderlines being episodic as it's broken down into to the 3-act structure, especially at its conclusion. The anime movie is at best a loose adaptation of the source material, and the film is charming most of the time, while simultaneously leaving a hard impact with some of the revelations we learn about upon the way. This delivers as a solid quality animated production, but the time tripping can leave the viewer wanting to know more about the true history of some of these characters which this film doesn't deliver on.