Review of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (1997) by Benjamin F — 27 Sep 2010

My introduction to Mamoru Hosoda filmmaking, as essentially his debut as more of an auteur in his generation of Japanese animation directors. Now he's one of the only notable directors left in that generation since the tragic recent passing of Satoshi Kon, who died far too young.

The characters are relatable, appealing, and well-acted across the board, giving off something of a Japanese John Hughes-esque vibe. The movie's a lot more humorous than I expected it to be, and the visual humor largely actually works - a rarity considering how tapped out physical comedy is in anime these days. The story takes a lot of unexpected twists and turns, and some of the plot doesn't feel like it fully resolves, but for what it sets out to do, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is very enjoyable. There's a bit of a retro feel to the writing, too - the original novel that serves as the film's basis was serialized in the mid-'60s in Japan.

The animation is lovely throughout and the soundtrack is strong. The character designs stand out while in no way being over the top, as well - this isn't the usual wacky other world you often see in anime full of characters with natural unnatural hair colors. The character designs? By none other than Yoshiyuki Sadamoto of Neon Genesis Evangelion and FLCL fame. Good work.

Overall, I wouldn't quite put Mamoru Hosoda on the same level as Satoshi Kon was, judging by The Girl Who Leapt Through Time alone, but for all that sets Hosoda's work here apart from Kon's wildly strange and original works, it's still a strong debut. I'm looking forward to seeing how his next film, Summer Wars, turned out when it hits DVD in the west sometime in the early months of 2011. Hopefully Hosoda will help to fill the gap left by Kon's passing, considering that Makoto Shinkai mostly lost relevance as a member of this generation of Japanese animation auteurs by demonstrating that he only really has one story and one movie that he just keeps making with different titles.