'Byousoku 5 Centimeter: a chain of short stories about their distance (秒速５センチメートル)' by Shinkai Makoto (新海誠)

Rating: 4/5
Gallery of screen captures

[Spoilers ahead]

The first thought that crossed my mind when I finished watching Director Shinkai Makoto's Byousoku 5 Centimeter was a passage from Romain Gary's novel Europa:

Goethe said that's what love is - when you can be with someone and still go on imagining him. When you see the person as he is, you may go on loving him, of course, but only because he reminds you of the other, the real one, the one you go on inventing.

I think this pretty much sums why it is so difficult for Toono to let go of Akari all these years, because he keeps her alive in his imagination and he keeps feeding 'life' into the imagined Akari, even though the real Akari and he are miles apart.

Look at those scenes where Akari and he are together in his imagination/dreams:

My knee-jerk reaction was that this is what 'eternity' would look like if I were to give a graphical representation of 'eternity'. It seems that they are on the other side of time, staring back into the mundane real world.

Which brings me to the next point I wish to raise, why bother to animate a story when you could have shot it with real people in real settings?

Just look at the precision of details:

Why bother to draw all of that when you would have easily captured the same images with a digital camera?

After all, Byousoku 5 Centimeter is a story about ordinary people and does not involve the likes of mecha or magic powers - there is little technical barrier to shooting it with real actors in real street settings or film studios.

I think this question goes into the heart of what makes anime attractive - or, to put it another way, what anime fans share in common that make them attracted to anime in the first place.

I have an untested theory that anime fans tend to be... by disposition not attached to the physical world. They get by with the education mill and then join the workforce - some of them may do extraordinarily well, some less so. Their level of participation in society at large tends to stop at earning their bread - they are just not the type who get anxious in not participating in the mating rituals, climbing the greasy pole etc. I think it is mostly because their mental life is too occupied with something else better than the real world has to offer. It is not that they are maladjusted - they tend to do this by choice.

In other words, anime fans are like Toono. In some corner of their minds, they have already carved out a more beautiful place for themselves, from which they stare back into the mundane world.

I know this by itself still does not answer why the story has to be animated. I just know by instinct that it would be wrong to have it shot on film. Perhaps one cannot explain art after all.

What are your thoughts? I would like to hear some feedback and hopefully I may be able to bridge the gap in explanation.

Comments

[bi]

I very much agree with your theory about anime fans, I could find myself a bit in that description^^'
As for the reason it got animated...Well, try and imagine it a film script. The productors would say that it's not a new story, that there are several romantic movies similar to that (one for all: suki da). Instead you don't have much anime with realistic stories like that, it could be refreshing. And the anime public would nonetheless recognize and appreciate all the details and the hard work put in it. Not to mention the "other world" scene wouldn't be as beautiful with real camera shots, would it? :D

[Wabisabi]

I am waiting for the regulars of this blog to speak up: I expect similar testimonies that they are by disposition introverts rather than extroverts.

Another thing I noticed about anime fans is that they tend to be above average in terms of IT and maths. I am not sure if there is any connection though.

I like your explanation as to why this story should be animated. Though I would imagine that the "other world" scene would be done with computer graphics.

[bi]

Uhmm, well I have some anime fan friends who are very extroverted types. Nevertheless, they have their own world in which they're far more interested to and they live to their very own standards. It just doesn't affect their social life.

Yes, CG would most likely be the choice for that scene, but having a CG scene like that in a movie that tells such a every-day-like story would feel a bit out of place to me. While in an anime is completely understandable and adds to the romantic atmosphere.

[Wabisabi]

Well.. more power to your friends.

I agree that CG in a movie with real actors would be out-of-place.

[intro]

Makoto Shinkai said that he wanted to put some polish on the daily and familiar: http://daike.hp.infoseek.co.jp/03_filmography/5cm.html . The film itself is about ordinary people in what is unfortunately an ordinary situation, in an ordinary world. It was his intention to find beauty in all three. I think he was successful in that regard.

[Nick]

Just to speak up: I do leans towards being introverted (I'll go weeks without human contact if I let myself). I am making a living as a programmer.

I would wonder about the number of anime fans that could be diagnosed as having Asperger's Syndrome. I know I come out positive in just about all of the online tests for it, but I've never been professionally diagnosed.

And I fully understand the feeling of detachment from the real world. You mentioning this actually helped me solidify why I originally had a negative reaction towards the ending of the movie; it has hit far to close to my own personal experiences and reactions for comfort.

Hopefully, I can get my own analysis together soon.

[Wabisabi]

intro:

Thanks for the link!

I agree that it's an admirable effort on his part to recreate a beautifully animated world out of the ordinary world.

Nick:

Did you react to the ending in a negative way? While I must say the ending feels very rushed, I must also say it is the ending that feels right. Shinkai Makoto has the stuff to narrate the part about 'moving on' better. (I for one would probably do a scene showing Toono dreaming the same beautiful otherworld, but alone and looking content or something...)

[k0]

Excellent commentary as always.

I agree with your theory that anime fans tend to be detached from the real world, I'm sure many(fans) would come to an agreement that fantasy is more beautiful than reality, Byousoku 5cm is another fine example that will strengthen that statement. I never really questioned why the story needs to be animated, I guessed it was pretty much self explanatory, at least to me, that Shinkai wants the viewers to go "oooh" and "aahs" at the beautiful details again like how we did with Beyond the Clouds. I think what Shinkai managed to show me was that real life, without the special effects and photography magic, can never be this beautiful.

That said, let me now return to my beautiful make belief world.

[Wabisabi]

I have thought about this for some time: I bet it is not only anime fans but *animators* themselves who are introverts as well.

For example, instead of going god-knows-where with mountains and rivers to film, say, Seirei no Moribito, they prefer to stay indoors and draw the mountains and rivers.

Filming involves a lot of coordination, which in turn involves a lot of interation with people who would not ordinarily interact with. One needs a more extraverted disposition for that line of work.

[Neohybrid_kai]

well, uh, because it would be hard to make a scene where you have to shoot two birds flying over a cityscape? lol

ehm, sorry :)
I agree about the CG theory, using a CG in a realistic film carelessly will result in a mess.
I have another theory, though. I think Makoto Shinkai wants to create a world based on what he wants as the setting. If you compare between the place in the anime and the real one, the anime version feel more.. um, scenic. Some part were added, some were subtracted, and the lighting gives more dramatic vibe.

Now about the anime fans.
I have a small community of anime fans, they came from a wide variety of background and age. But if I have to group them, that would be the mainstream and non-mainstream. Maybe the later is what you would call anime fans.
The mainstreams sees anime as a part of their life cycle (not sure if this is the right world ^^) I'm not saying that they didn't know about the existence of non-mainstream anime, but they are either didn't interest or choose to moves on with the normal life.
While the non-mainstreams (I won't separate this group into the moe-cult follower and the anime-art appreciator, because in the core, it's all about obsession ^^) as time flows, they are either stuck or able to keep up a good balance (because getting out seems impossible, lol).

Some anime fans have a great skill with IT, some others have an abundant interest with art and philosophy. In my opinion, both has a connotation with detached from real world, doesn't it? And sometimes, I think its because anime is about making something that you want comes true by expressing it into pictures. When all that you want has appears, you won't need anything else. Maybe that's also a reason. But I think that's everyone choice.

Those are all merely my theory though :)

[Wabisabi]

I think there are ways to make animals act the way you want when you make a film...

I have another idea for a post that is a sort of follow-up. It is about how anime changes one's perception of beauty in human form. I think I am stuck in this regard.

You see, I readily call certain male anime characters handsome but I am pretty darn immune to male beauty in the real world. I also respond more readily to gorgeous male voice (thanks to seiyuu like Nakata "Gankutsuou" Jouji) than to male beauty in the real world per se.

[tinyRedLeaf]

I think you've made a very sharp observation as to why this movie wasn't filmed in live-action -- I also found myself asking the same question while watching this movie. Why work so hard to make something look so photo-realistic when you could have just filmed it instead?

I think it's not surprising that, out of the three episodes, I liked "Cosmonaut" the best. Apparently, so did Shinkai Makoto. It's not hard to see why -- the sheer glory of starry skys and massive moons could only have been achieved in animation. Doing it in live-action would have required a fair amount of CG, which would have made it harder for a viewer to suspend disbelief.

If you think about it, it's no probably no surprise that many people continue to regard animation as a medium for children's stories, because animation is inherently a medium that is best suited to the fantasy or sci-fi stories that children typically enjoy. Within an animated world, the "impossible" somehow becomes "possible". Ghibli films are hugely successful precisely because of Miyazaki's masterful ability to translate fantasy into gorgeous art.

I've come to a point where I often wonder why I watch some anime series, because I realise that had the anime been filmed in live-action, I most probably would have avoided the live-drama like the plague due to cliched plots and stereotypical characters.

Does this mean I'm an introvert who prefers to escape into a fantasy world, where "reality" is portrayed in a swath of pretty colours? Maybe, maybe not.

In any case, coming back to "Byousoku 5 Centimetres", I conclude: it features jaw-droppingly good artwork, but in terms of real achievement, I think Shinkai Makoto still has a long way to go before he becomes the next Miyazaki. But he's only 34 (as of 2007), so his future looks as bright as his starry skies. ;)

[Nick]

In response to tinyRedLeaf's post:

Honestly, I don't think Shinkai will *ever* become the "next Miyazaki", but I have an article about why I feel that way on my blog (see below for link). But, as you say, he is still young and can go far.

Personally, I'd almost like to see Shinkai take on animating someone else's story that strongly resonates with him. Part of me wants to see a more experienced director take him under his wing and develop his approaches better.

But different parts of me knows that either may cause changes in his style. It may cause a loss of one of the "pure" forms of expression in animations (from my perspective). Shinkai is still young and inexperienced as an animator and director, yet that "innocence" is a big part of what draws me to his work. I guess I like watching a director grow through the learning process.

Here's the link to that article: http://anime.nickistre.net/blog_entry/anime/2006/12/03/makoto_shinkai_the_new_miyazaki

[Wabisabi]

tinyRedLeaf:

I think I am a spoiled fan - the CG in 'Cosmonaut' is gorgeous indeed, but I am not happy with pretty CG alone. I think I like the first story best because of the masterly direction of Toono's train journey - excellent tension there.

Live-drama is a different ball game. I don't enjoy the J-drama as a rule, but I am a fan of Japanese cinema. I wish more anime fans would explore Japanese films as well. (See my other blog www.beniguma.info - which I hope to update soon seeing that the fall season of anime is going to the dogs).

Nick:

I would like to see Shinkai Makoto just be himself as well.

I think Miyazaki is overhyped... I think the best anime director alive is Kon Satoshi - but he is not as well-known in the West and it saddened me when I once saw an ad of his film having to stress that he is (I am just paraphrasing here) 'equal to Miyazaki' or he is 'internationally renowned' etc.

[silkytofu]

Interesting theory but sorry, I don't really agree with it personally, although I'm sure what you say may be true in a lot of cases. That's not to say that I'm not necessarily 'introverted' - but I think these things are relative. I mean, there's a lot of people in this world (probably the vast majority) that would consider merely watching something with subtitles as being profoundly weird and abnormal.

If you live in a Western country, watching anime is going to seem introverted and strange to people who are into mainstream local culture. It's a simple case of severe culture shock and becomes associated with nerds/computer freaks/comic book guys.

I personally think that live action vs. animation is similar to recorded music vs. synthesised music. They're both just as valid and important, but some people just tend to appreciate something created from raw or basic elements like animation/synthetic music, rather than something that actually 'captures' complex real-world phenomena such as visible light or audible vibrations. I don't think it's really a case of wanting to lose yourself in fantasy, but more about wanting to experience something new and different compared to the daily reality that you're used to. The mediocre examples simply do it for the sake of the fantasy 'wow factor', but the really progressive creators use other-worldly concepts to offer insight into the real world, and this is where the real strength of anime lies.

Obviously the two worlds of animation and live action are very blurred in recent times with the advent of convincing CG... I think there's a very good reason for this. Artificial creation of worlds and characters offers a lot more scope for stylistic expression because the possibilities are simply more varied.

I don't think either form necessarily equates to good or bad quality art - someone who is creative enough can make something great using any form/medium. Overall I just want to see a good story executed with honesty and emotional expression. I don't care if it's animated or not - I've seen a hell of a lot of bad anime, and a hell of a lot of bad live action movies.

[apologies for excessive waffle!]

[silkytofu]

I feel I should actually qualify my lengthy comment in the context of the original post.

If you look at those screenshots of Byousoku 5 Centimeter, it's a kind of 'hyper-real' representation of the world. I'd actually argue that a camera doesn't tend to pick up the level of detail like the text in the first shot.

It's definitely a stylised view of reality - it's like you put reality through a filter of some kind - optical or even chemical. It's like if you get drunk and wander round a city - you're seeing the same things with the same optical senses, but everything looks different nonetheless!

[Wabisabi]

Thank you for your comments, silkytofu. ^-^

Don't worry about the length of your comments - I mean, people literally write essays in the comment section of this blog. ^-^

Good point that a camera would not pick up the level of detail in the first shot. The focus would probably be blurred.

That's the paradox - 'Byousoku' is so hyper-real that it is almost a fantasy. That's no telling where the hyper-realism ends and where the fantasy begins.