(Review) 5 Centimeters per Second: one more side

After its premier in 2007, Shinkai’s Byousoku 5 Centimeter film spawned a couple of literary adaptations. There’s a novel version, which pretty much follows the same screenplay of the film; then there’s a manga adaptation which greatly improves on the third arc and fleshes out Risa’s character (the Tokyoite girl); but there’s also a lesser-known alternative version novel, which is the topic of this article.

Kimi no Na Wa – and the similarities with past Shinkai works.

Shinkai back on top of his game. Kind of.

PLEASE BE ADVISED THIS IS NOT A REVIEW. THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.
Spoilers from the following movies are included: Kimi no Na Wa (Your Name), Byousoku 5 Centimeters (5cm/s), Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho (Beyond the Clouds, the Promised Place)(The Place Promised in our Early Days), Hoshi no Koe (Voices from a Distant Star).

5 Centimeters per Second – An analysis about “love”

Finishing the Shinkai-related killstreak of posts here on this blog, this is something that may sound REALLY random to a few, while actually make sense to others.
I’m still not entirely convinced of it myself, but it’s worth sharing.

Subject: 5cm/s is not a tale of true love.

Shinkai is losing his magic.

As we wait for any news on his upcoming movie in the end of 2015, I revisit once again 5cm/s and grumble about his storyline choices.

Makoto Shinkai is my favorite director from the current industry: known fact.
5cm/s is one of my favorite stories ever: known fact.
If I were on a romantic relationship with this guy, this is the time I’d ask for him to take a seat over there and have a serious talk.

He had something that made me fall in love with …HIS WORK, and I believe he’s somehow losing it after his two recent premiers.
I’ve followed his career ever since he started with indie production “Kakomareta Sekai”, so I’m sure there are others who feel the same way.

The Place Promised In Our Early Days – Analysis [THE Prologue]

aka Beyond the Clouds, The Promised Place. (Romaji: Kumo no Mukō, Yakusoku no Basho)
One of Shinkai’s most enigmatic and open-ended movies, with a hell lot of symbolism and a heartbreaking story.
Also, a personal favorite of mine.
A couple of years ago I found this awesome interpretation by this guy on Fandompost. Unfortunately I was on mobile and could only ctrl+c the text. Ironically or not, when I got home I couldn’t find it anymore.
If you happen to know this guy (or is the one), please let me know so I can give the proper credits to you.
To be honest, this is probably the only analysis I’ve ever read on this movie that I 100% agree with. And the name for this post is part of the reasons why.
The movie is perfect, the storyline is flawless and like he will digress about, everything falls into place …except the prologue. That damn prologue ruins every possibility of a canon happy ending. You simply can’t tell what happens, even after re-watching for tons of times, it’s ultimately down to “your own interpretation”.
Anyway, for his analysis: