The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

You simply can’t hold a film festival without anime. The Japanese continue to achieve nothing less than to reinvent the scope for which animation can be used. Using the hyper-realist depiction of nature we’ve also seen in Miyazaki (and director Hoseda was originally slated to direct Howl’s Moving Castle), this time travel story about a strong-willed, tomboyish schoolgirl is one of the most engaging anime of recent years, which helps to explain its huge success in Japan. At first Makoto, our heroine, uses her newfound ability to leap backwards in time to fix small, everyday problems and to extend her after-school karaoke sessions till her voice gives out. Before long, however, she is creating all kinds of problems for herself and her schoolmates by retracing her steps in time so that she won’t have to grow up and face the moment when boys are something more than just schoolmates. It’s a film for your eye (with character design by the team from Neon Genesis Evangelion) and yes, for your heart as well.

Blending belly-laugh humour, adventure and wistful memories of the twilight of childhood, this feature is, quite simply, one of the best films I've seen in recent years.

Frames Per Second Magazine