Makoto Shinkai is a very strange director. With this, I’ve seen all of his major works now, She and her Cat included, but only The Place Promised in our Early Days gave me enough inspiration to write a review about it. It doesn’t happen often, but some movies just aren’t fit for my review-system, and She and Her Cat, Byousoku 5cm/second and Voices of a Distant Star are examples of this. I could be nitpicky, and pick out lots of flaws, like where did these aliens come from, or the lack of a proper aftermath, but that’s not what this movie’s about. All Makoto Shinkai is interested in is pretty graphics and romance, and he definitely delivers on these points.
While this isn’t going to be a fully fledged review, I do want to grab this chance to say a few things about it. Makoto Shinkai is a master in creating subtle feelings, mostly about loneliness, and being away from your loved one. All his works share this similarity. The setting he places it in often doesn’t really matter, and often only is used as a means of creating this feeling.
The Place Promised in our Early Days is, in my opinion, his weakest production. I think that this is because 1) it was too long, 2) it tried too much to be a standard movie and 3) the ending was his only happy end, in which everything was unrealistically resolved in the end (this is because of 2) as well).
My main gripe with Makoto is the following. It’s not really a problem, it’s not really a flaw, but it seems that he’s only good at one specific style. Am I the only one who noticed that his male leads are practically the same everywhere? Okay, the cat may be different, but the male leads in Voices, Place and Byousoku could very well have been the exact same person. Nevertheless, his particular style can be watched over and over, and I’m looking forward to his next movie. He’s also going to be involved in ef in the next Season, isn’t he? Is this as the writer, or is he just going to do the backgrounds?]]>
Voices of a Distant Star
Hmmm… I’m not familiar with Byousoku 5cm/second, but I absolutely *LOVE* Distant Star and Place Promised (the latter especially — I disagree with you on the ending, which I thought was beautiful and entirely appropriate). What is Byousoku, and is it commercially licensed, or can I get it online?
-Tom
Byousoku was released about a month ago. You can find it on Tokyo Toshokan. If you loved Voices of a Distant Star and Place Promised, then you’ll absolutely love that one. 🙂
I agree with you psgels.
On one hand, you have these incredible graphics, and you can really grab the feelings of the characters (I think I cried for Byousoku and voices of a distant star).
But on the other hand, as you said, it’s pretty the same story. And why is it always so sad!!?? I mean, why is the male character always so narrow minded and can’t accept the fact that his love is impossible??
I don’t know about you since different writers have different personalities and get inspiration from different sources.
As for me, Byousoku 5 cm is definitely my all time favourite.. after all, I like metaphorical components.
Well, Mikato is one of my favorite directors and he certainly has a great talent. I must say that his works are very beautiful. um.. I don’t understand what is wrong with the happy end? and it’s not too long – even if it is ‘The place promised in our early days’ isn’t boring, so you can enjoy it’s length.
‘the lack of a proper aftermath’ if that movie had ‘proper aftermath’ it would get boring and lost it’s main idea.
But. They really have something in common – they are nice pieces of art.
Well, Mikato is one of my favorite directors and he certainly has a great talent. I must say that his works are very beautiful. um.. I don’t understand what is wrong with the happy end? and it’s not too long – even if it is ‘The place promised in our early days’ isn’t boring, so you can enjoy it’s length.
‘the lack of a proper aftermath’ if that movie had ‘proper aftermath’ it would get boring and lost it’s main idea.
But. They really have something in common – they are nice pieces of art.