The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is an animated film released in Japan in 2006. It was directed by Mamoru Hosoda and based loosely upon a novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui.

This movie is a combination of science fiction and a gentle, but powerful, romance. The lead character is a girl named Makoto Kanno, who is a student in high school. She has two good friends, both male, named Kosuke and Chiaki. After nearly dying from an accident, she discovers that she has the ability to move through time. She saves herself from that initial accident and then, drunk with the possibilities, she frivolously time-leapts to sleep in, get a perfect grade, and endlessly relive a karaoke session. A trusted adult nicknamed Auntie Witch counsels her to consider the ramifications of her time tampering. Soon after Makoto realizes that some of her leaps cause more trouble than they fix, she finds out that she only has a limited amount of leaps and they’re running out. Throw in an intense first love with one of her friends and the mind-blowing time travel paradoxes and you have an utterly engrossing film!

The copy I own is voiced over. The English dubbing is well done. There are few times when the voice doesn’t match the movement of the mouth. Also, the voice actors did a fine job portraying their characters. I could feel their emotions. The DVD also includes several special features including one that shows the original voice actors at a press conference. It was remarkable to see them and hear their responses to questions that ranged from “How did you feel when you won this job?” to “If you could leapt through time, what would you change?”

I liked the animation. The colors were clear and vibrant. The characters were distinct and identifiable. I liked how details of everyday life in Japan were scattered throughout the film. There were signs in written Japanese, school day schedules, and a regular home.

The 2006 animated film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time has a complex history. This movie is just one of the many iterations based upon the original novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui. It is a fantastic adaptation of the basic plot and mood of Toki o Kakeru Shojo (1967). At least, I believe it to be so since I have not yet located an English version of this novel. However, Yasutaka Tsutsui said that it was a “true second generation” of his work.

I highly recommend this movie.

The Wikipedia article about this movie provided info for this entry.