Review of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) by Healingtoolbox — 05 Sep 2019

Don't be deceived by the opening ordinariness. "An avant-garde family story" is what the making-of video says. True. Superb animation, if you enjoy the Studio Ghibli style. Opening a juice packet, moving red and white striped shirt, makes me shudder in empathy with the animators.

Many more examples. The title is misleading. Better would be Kun and the Family Tree. This is an inspired premise: apply Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" to a four year old boy, naturally jealous when all the attention goes off him to his newborn baby sister.

The transition from generic middle class Japanese family minutiae to "Enter the Spider-verse" CGI effects is done gently and naturally, a masterpiece of threshold moments and of how to arrange a gradual transition while keeping the audience involved.

Also remarkable is how annoying Kun, the main character four year old is while still remaining engaging and a character the audience cares for. This is a master class in writing believable 3D characters, not often seen in movies, even less so in animation.