The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

starring Riisa Naka, Takuya Ishida, Mitsutake Itakura

directed by Mamoru Hosoda

98 minutes

Seventeen year old Makoto Konno (Riisa Naka) spends most of her time hanging out with her two guy friends Chiaki Mamiya (Takuya Ishida) and Kousuke Tsuda (Mitsutake Itakura). Life takes a dramatic turn for her when she discovers one day, after almost getting hit by a train, that she has jumped backward in time.

She experiments with the ability that she has discovered. She changes the past which alters her life in big and small ways, and the lives of others around her.

She uses her newfound ability to try and avoid dealing with possible romantic entanglements with Chiaki. Later she uses her time leaping ability to try and help Kousuke get romantically entangled with another girl from their school.

Ultimately, she learns that that the time leaping ability won't last forever. She starts to accept that her decisions have consequences just as she learns that there is another layer to everything that's been going on.

Thoughts

This is not an easy movie to describe in detail. I'm not sure that it all makes sense. 

I saw this movie once before, in 2011. I thought I remembered it. There were parts I remembered but there was quite a bit that I had forgotten.

This film is based in part upon a 1967 Japanese novel of the same name. The Wikipedia article about the movie describes this movie as a "loose sequel" to the book. There have been numerous Japanese television and movie adaptations and sequels to the novel. The first was released in 1972 and the most recent in 2016.

Makoto's aunt in this film is supposed to be the older version of the main character from the novel. I neglected to mention her in my summary of the film. She advises Makoto on more than one occasion and tells her niece that she has time jumped.

I love the humor in this film.

I enjoyed this movie when I saw it in 2011. I also enjoyed it this time but I think that I got more out it this time around. I didn't make any notes after I watched in 2011. That was about 4-5 years before I started this blog.