Anime Review: Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Toki o kakeru shôjo)
Kadokawa Pictures USA/Bandai Entertainment

Makoto Konno is having a wonderful school year, hanging out and playing baseball with her two best friends: studious Kosuke Tsuda and offbeat Chiaki Mamiya. What starts out as an unusually bad day for normally lucky Makoto turns into her worst nightmare when an almost fatal bicycle accident nearly takes her life. She is saved when she mysteriously takes a leap back through time.

The sci-fi premise of this movie may sound a bit strange, but the story is unique and wonderful. I certainly didn't expect to like this movie as much as I did. The manga has a completely different ending, and I must say that I prefer the ending in the movie. It actually made me tear up. It's not a sad movie, but a very heartwarming one.

In some scenes, the illustrations are very simple, but overall, the visual imagery is stunning. I can see why The Girl Who Leapt Through Time has won several awards including the Award of the Japanese Academy for Best Animation film in 2007. If you're a fan of Studio Ghibli/Miyazaki films, I'd highly recommend this movie to you.

Available on DVD.
Available for purchase at Anime Jungle and Amazon.com.
MSRP: $29.98

~Allie

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