Review of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (1997) by Anthony V — 27 Aug 2010

4 - Humorous, layered, beautifully animated and thoughtfully scored - this is Japanese anime at it's finest. High school girl Makoto learns she has the power to skip back in time. She uses it at first to repeat moments she likes, and avoid those she doesn't - but eventually this lands her in hot water as the relationships around her change with each modification in time.

In all this, she finds herself maturing rapidly as she quickly learns how regret can be a life altering emotion. How clever to have a coming of age story told with a time travel spin, and yet have some proper depth to it! In fact, there is a certain sadness underlying this story, as though this was the creation of someone who fell victim to the causality of life.

Although centred on high school students, this really seems more a mature adult fantasy than any made to appeal to younger viewers.