The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Toki o kakeru shôjo) (2006)

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General		Extras
Category	Anime	Audio Commentary-Director and Voice Actors Storyboard Comparisons-Main Feature with Storyboards Interviews-Crew-Director Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Premiere Event in Tokyo Featurette-Behind The Scenes-At Premiere Music Video-Hanako Oku "Garnet" Theatrical Trailer Teaser Trailer Trailer-Studio Ghibli Collection, Tsubasa, Brave Story
Rating
Year Of Production	2006
Running Time	101:00 (Case: 99)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Mamoru Hosoda
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Riisa Naka Takuya Ishida Mitsutaka Itakura Ayami Kakiuchi Mitsuki Tanimura Sachie Hara Yuki Sekido
Case	Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual
RPI	?	Music	Kiyoshi Yoshida Shigeru Nishiyama Nizou Yamamoto

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Japanese Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The Girl Who Leapt Through Time ia a Japanese animated film aimed at the early teen market. Despite this, it offers much to adults as well and is one of the most lyrical, touching and thought provoking "kids films" in recent memory.

Makoto is a teenage girl at high school. She is not much of a student and spends her free time goofing off and playing baseball with her male friends Kosuko and Chiaki. After a fall in the science room Makoto finds herself possessed of a strange gift - the ability to turn back time. Like any kid she determines to master the ability and turn it to worthy pursuits - cheating on her maths test, getting to a dessert in the fridge before her sister and avoiding a minor accident in home economics!

The power can only be exercised by making an actual leap. This leads to all manner of slapstick falls and provides early humour before life and leaping become more complicated.

Soon enough Makoto tires of these trivial pursuits and tries to use the power for more weighty aims including interfering in the love lives' of her male friends. It is a gorgeous conceit and like the raft of movies that have explored similar veins - Groundhog Day, Suddenly 30 and the Back to the Future series Makoto learns that the more she tries to meddle, even in the pursuit of goodness, the more things come unstuck.

Makoto is not entirely alone in her world. Her aunt knows more than she is letting on and her friend Chiako is just a bit too "different". When Makoto realizes that her own feelings for one of the boys are very real she sets about trying to solve her own problems. Trouble is, the gift of leaping is not endless and a mysterious mark on her arm counts down as the power begins to run out.

As her problems deepen and her leaping become more complicated and desperate so the film takes on a far more dizzying exploration of the time travel conundrum and a more resonant take on love and loss. In scene after touching scene the story becomes an elevated experience.

The film is based on a serial that began in Japan almost 40 years ago. That perhaps explains why the concept of leaping remains so uncomplicated yet quaint. It is really a Groundhog Day for the teen set as Makoto learns the hard way that with great power comes great responsibility.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is animated in fairly traditional anime style although the exquisitely painted backdrops betray the origins of director Mamoru Hosuda as an animator at Studio Ghibli. The film could have emerged from that studio except for the lack of a fantastical element. Well alright time travel is hardly realism but there are no radish spirits ( Spirited Away), giant fluffy animals (My Neighbour Totoro) or talking cats (Kiki's Delivery Service). So too the music plays a huge role with some really haunting themes underscoring the action.

Where the film scores most highly is in the poetry of the imagery and the subtle direction. As the story comes to a satisfying if unexpected close it bodes well for the future of director Hosado.

A superior product.

Video

    The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was presented cinematically at a 1.85:1 aspect ratio.

This DVD release preserves that ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

The film receives a quality transfer. There are a wealth of extra materials but they are presented on a separate DVD allowing the film room to move. As a result there are no problems with compression and the image quality is rock solid. One shouldn't confuse this film with a current-crop CGI showpiece for your high definition home theatre set-up. The colours in this film are delicate and pastel like and the animation quality is strong without being obsessive. The visuals are best described as summer-haze in keeping with the themes of the film.

There are no technical problems with the DVD.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

   The Girl Who Leapt Through Time features two prime soundtracks - Japanese Dolby Digital and English Dolby Digital. Both run at 448 Kb/s.

The purists may wish to preserve the original experience. Having sampled both (and watched the entirety of the film in English with kids) I can say that both tracks are equally excellent. The voices appear to be in audio sync in both versions (allowing for the slight mouth differences).

There is something satisfying for trivia buffs that the actress who voices Auntie Witch in the Japanese track played Makoto in the original live action version of the story back in the 80's.

Otherwise both tracks are without blemishes. The dialogue is clear and the surrounds are used to subtle ambient effect (as well as a couple of directional cues). There is not much action for the sub-woofer as this is a delicate anime.

The soundtrack is comprised of two elements. The music is by composer Kiyoshi Yoshida. It is alternately subtle and stirring and a joy throughout. By comparison some may see the moods evoked in similar ways to the music by Joe Hisaichi from Spirited Away - both positive yet reflective.

Director Hosada uses Bach's Goldberg Variations at key moments suggesting a kind of timelessness.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time features more extras that you can poke a stick at. Collectors will relish the opportunity to explore the film in myriad of ways. Truth be told it is not apparent whether these features are really intended for the target audience of the film.

Audio Commentary - Director and Cast

The cast and director are good natured and the presence of an MC is an essential addition and ensures that the bunch are kept on track and the flow of information doesn't deteriorate into inanity.

Direction Profile- A Talk with Director Mamoru Hosoda (34.24)

Main Feature with Storyboard

A fascinating feature for budding animators this may be a bit dry for the target audience. The director is able to relate many fascinating details about the animation process including the individual animators who worked on certain scenes with their own distinctive styles and techniques.

Premiere Event in Tokyo (13.46)

Behind the Scenes : Premiere Event (9.40)

Hanako Oku "Garnet" Music Video (5.19)

Theatrical Trailer (1.48)

Promo Clip (.32)

   This DVD has received an English Region 2 release which contains the commentary track but none of the other features. Buy our Region.

A reader has pointed out that not only is there a Region 1 release but it is a "Special Edition" with even more features than the Region 4 release. Details are alittle bit sketchy but I have noticed that Amazon prpmotes a few editions, one of which appears to be in a box. According to a site I looked at the boxed edition carries a copy of the soundtrack as well as all the features on the Region 4 release. It is a personal choice as to whether the soundtrack is worth the additional expense (Amazon is selling it at a reduced price of $45.00 (USD)).I will still recommend the Region 4 PAL.

    The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was a surprisingly rich and enjoyable experience. Although clearly aimed at the teen girl audience it is expertly and thoughtfully directed and offers something for an adult audience.

The transfer is good in sound and vision terms and the extras are extensive and detailed if a bit highbrow.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall