Two Top-notch Japanese Animation Movies From Makoto Shinkai

I have been following Japanese animation or anime ever since I was 7 years old. Throughout the years, there have been many anime series which I really like but most of them are series and not movies (or OVAs). However after watching a short movie by Makoto Shinkai in the year 2003, I immediately fall in love with his works and here are 2 of my all time favorites.

Voices of a distant star

This short 30 minutes movie (also known as Hoshi no Koe in Japanese) is the first movie-type animation which I have watched. I watched it in the year 2003, a year after it was released in Japan. I’m not a big fan of romance-type story but after hearing good reviews from other anime fans, I decided to give it a try.

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And I was stunned. This movie is not your normal superhero flick. It is a very touching and heart warming story about 2 high school students who fell in love with each other. This movie is produced by one of Japan’s most promising directors Makoto Shinkai. This is only his second attempt in movie making and he already managed to win numerous awards such as the 2002 Animation Kobe (Best Packaging), 2002 Japan Otaku Award (Gunbuster Award), 2002 AMD Award (Best Director) and 2003 Seiun Award (Best Media of the Year).

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Besides that, Makoto Shinkai is also the only person behind the entire making of the movie. The other person who helped him with this is his wife, who is the voice behind the main female character Mikako.

The story is about Noboru and Mikako falling in love with each other only to be separated by fate when Mikako is forced to join the UN Military as a soldier to fight against the raging alien race. The squadron she is in has been sent to the outer reaches of the galaxy and each passing day brings her further away from Earth, where Noboru is. The only way they keep in touch is via text messages or SMSes. However, as time goes by, the distance between both of them becomes further and the duration for the SMSes to arrive becomes longer – days, weeks, months and years.

This story is actually based on Makoto’s own experience with his wife. Both of them were having a long distance relationship before they finally got married.

The animation in the movie is beautifully done and the story is very touching. I nearly cried when I first watched this movie.

Byousoku 5cm

This animation is the latest work of Makoto Shinkai. The 1 hour long movie, also known as “5 Centimeters Per Second” was released in 2007 and consists of 3 interrelated segments. Rather than focusing on his favorites ( science fiction and fantasy), he decided to make this movie based on the current world and the problems faced by most of us be it time, love or relationship with other people.

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The title “5 centimers per second” actually signifies the speed at which a cherry blossom petal falls to the ground, slowly drifting apart from the tree – a sign of how someone passes through time with people entering and leaving their life. The entire story revolves around 2 childhood friends who love each other and how fate separates them apart from each other as they grow older.

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The story, written by Makoto Shinkai himself, is top-notch. It is a heart-rending movie, like most of his previous works though I must admit it is a little bit depressing towards the end. The animation is also top quality with scenes from few selected places in the real-world Japan. The animation is so beautifully done that every scene can be made into a wallpaper. The music scores used suit the mood of the movie very well.

Overall, this is a must watch for all animation lovers. It’s just too beautiful for anyone to miss out.

As someone who has just established his own animation studio not long ago, Makoto Shinkai’s achievements have become an inspiration to many future animation directors. His works are not just beautiful but they are unique as well. One wonders what would be his next move after he came out with such a good quality animation in “Byousoku 5cm”. However, one thing that all of us animation fans can be sure of is that Makoto Shinkai has never failed to impress us with his works.

I just cannot wait for his next movie. Hope you all will enjoy this short review.