Recent Review: The Girl who Leapt Through Time (Released: 15th July 2006)

"Time waits for no one."

There are, in my experience, three distinct kinds of science-fiction: escapism, exploration and metaphor. With escapism nothing really matters, the pleasures are in the images and the characters. How does the Hyper-Drive on the Millennium Falcon work? Not very consistently, and that's all you need to know. With exploration the science matters much more, obviously not to a working technical level, but in such a way that the story is overtly concerned with the effects of fictional technology on society, such as in 'The Fly' (David Cronenberg, 1986). 'The Girl who Leapt Through Time' is firmly rooted in the third type, where soon-to-be high-school graduate Makoto (Emily Hirst in the English Dub) finds herself able to postpone her important life decisions when she discovers an ability to jump into the past. At first she uses her power to improve her life, such as reliving an evening of karaoke over and over or getting 100% on a class test. Soon though she realises the misery of her friends and peers and sets about trying to make the world better.  

Director Mamoru Hosoda's most famous work previous to this was much of the 'Digimon' anime, so you could be forgiven for approaching his first serious work with some trepidation. This film is loosely based on the beloved novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui, which was adapted twice as a live-action film and a couple of times on television in Japan. I profess total ignorance of these films and the novel, but this animated adaptation is thoughtful and enjoyable – strides ahead of 'Digimon'. Using the relate-able scenario of a character unsure about their future, screenwriter Satoko Okudera paints a believable protagonist who reminds me of many personal friends. Makoto is not truly selfish, but she is at times ignorant, naïve and unsure of herself and her relationships with her friends. Her fantastic new abilities give her an opportunity to indulge in her uncertainty, but she cannot control the results.

Unfortunately in spite of beautiful animation, rounded characters and an elegant approach to time-travel, the film slowly unravels in it's third act into a seemingly endless mess. It is truly a shame as for the most part 'The Girl who Leapt Through Time' holds up as one of the best time-travel films ever made. The film ends at least four times, and wastes much of it's final 20 minutes only to return the characters to where they were at the end of the second act. This combined with the inconsistent rules of the central plot-device results only in confusion and disappointment. If only more time had been spent on writing this ending and considering the ideas of the beginning, this would be an absolute classic. As it is it is still and enjoyable and important addition to the canon of 'time-travel fiction', with enough grace and humour to assure future viewings.

****
(UK Release: 19th September 2008)