released 01 oct 09 / last mod 01 oct 09 / greg goebel / public domain
* THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME is a 2006 animated movie derivative of a popular Japanese fantasy novel of the 1960s with roughly the same name -- the movie being something of a rewrite, something of a sequel to the original novel. At the outset we meet Makoto Konno, a Japanese girl getting ready to graduate from high school, who likes to hang around with two guy friends, Chiaku and Kousuke, and practice baseball with them.
One day Makoto wakes up late and from the time she gets out of bed nothing goes right that day -- culminating in an incident where she finds herself thrown through the air into the path of an oncoming commuter train. Much to her surprise, the next thing she knows she's not dead and she's reliving the moments before the train arrives, with her foreknowledge allowing her to avoid the accident. She quickly realizes that he can (very literally) leap through time and starts to use her ability to manipulate events.
Unfortunately, although this is good fun for a short time, it turns out that manipulating events is not so simple and that it can end up manipulating the people around her, generally to nobody's real benefit. Attempts to fix matters by time leaps just seem to make things worse -- and in her fixation on the tangle she's making of things, Makoto fails to really wonder how she acquired the ability to leap through time, much less realize that the answer to that question is right under her nose.
* THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME is a fine piece of anime, being well produced and featuring high-class artwork, along with an interesting script and good character development, plus a well-crafted soundtrack -- I particularly liked the use of Bach's GOLDBERG VARIATIONS. This movie is, however, a low-key production, not to be taken very seriously nor riotously funny -- though it does have some very good laughs -- and anybody after rousing entertainment may find it somewhat dull. Those inclined to be patient will find it rewarding, though even they may concede that it might have had, say, 15 minutes trimmed out of it to the benefit of all concerned.
Still, though THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME isn't anything that would take the world by storm, it is still in the top rank of anime productions, and the people who put it together deserve nothing but praise. Highly recommended.
