5 centimeter per second.

The movie consists of 3 short stories serving as separate vignettes that tell the tale of Tohno Takaki. The title of the film is an analogy to the rate at which cherry blossoms fall.; it talks of how people start out together and gradually move further and further away from each other. Surprisingly, for a Shinkai Makoto film, it has no sci-fic elements. Still, his usually poetic visual dialogues and stunning angles make this a compiling tale to watch.

In the first story, we're introduced to his story with Shinohara Akari. Due to their parents, they had to move often. A month after he enrolled, she joined the school and as they were both physically weak, they spent loads of time indoors. They had the same mentality towards things and became really close. Yet just before Junior High, Akari has to move, nonetheless Takaki keeps contact with Akari, his best friend via letters.

The story talks of their closeness, how things change as the distance pulls them further and further away. At the end, he meets her and there they both realise that they would no longer be able to keep in touch. The letter he wrote her that was lost on his way was never mentioned to her, while we see her clenching onto a letter adressed to him that was never given. The next two stories tell of how Takaki progresses with life as he holds onto this hope of seeing her again.

In most cases, the main character's mentality about holding on might have made him into our common hero. Yet here, you notice how youthful hope has turned into a burden he carries. The emptiness that came along with each passing moment. The mere act of living causes sadness to pile upon sadness. His refusal to let go causes him to be oblivious to that around him.

The movie is filled with both youthful hope and tragedy. There is such heartbreak as you watch one person move on while the other desperately struggling to hold on. Near the end, we see that even though both characters are in close proximity, they are no longer as before. Indeed, at what point are you giving up before the fight has started ? At what point are you then clinging on to memories that are merely holding you back ?

Distance, space, time, relationships. Themes that Shinkai Makoto has often explored only this time with a sense of painful realism. 5 centimeter per second, the rate at which we all fall away.