More Shinkai Goodness!

The last few weeks have been crazy-busy at work. Not that I'm complaining, because being busy is a good thing, but I do look forward to the weekends. A whole two days when I don't have to work. I received my copy of 5 Centimeters Per Second, and I'll be viewing it this weekend. It is Makoto's third feature animation, and the trailer looks fantastic! Granted, Voices Of A Distant Star and The Place Promised In Our Early Days were awesome movies too, but this one looks like its his best yet! Check it out for yourself!

UPDATE. Well, I must say I'm impressed. Its very similar and different at the same time (from his previous animation projects). Tragedy is a common staple, so expect it, but in a very different presentation. Told in 3 distinct chapters of a character's journey, its impressive to see how Shinkai portrays Tono and his journey in life. All of the characters have distinct personalities, adding a sense of depth and realism to the story. You can't help but feel for them as the naturally evolve and develop over the course of the movie. At the same time, the technical production details are astounding, if not even better, to his previous projects. Colors, shadings, gradients, tints ... the realistic and highly-detailed details are amazing, something you would only expect to find in a live-action movie (because the details are carved into the damn props themselves!). There are no action scenes, per se, in this movie, but its not needed. Some sci-fi elements remain intact. Fluidity is a forte of any Shinkai project, and he often animate scenes in ways that are distinct to Japanese animation that western movies and tv series would never be able to leave intact (they're considered a waste of space, if you will. Pity). It really adds to the overall mood, value and artistic expression of the movie. The Japanese voice acting, music and sound effects are stellar as well, bringing the whole story together and evoking the emotions within you that Shinkai wants you to experience for his characters. Tenmon did a fantastic job with the musical score, as always. And yes, the story does have a closure to it. In short, Shinkai Makoto lives up to his previously set bars of expectations, if not surpassing them. Do I recommend this? You bet your your bottom dollar I do! The man is a friggin' genius! Avoid this if you must have moe, boobs, supernatural elements, guns, swords, mecha, explosions, or slapstick humor.