"a chain of short stories about their distance"The three part story is set in the early 19th century and centres around the relationship between a boy named Takaki Touno and a girl named Akari Shinohara. After their elementary school graduation, the pair are separated from each and the story tells of how their feelings for one another remains through the years as they grow up and how it ends.
The story is devided to three segment :
Episode 1 - Oukashou (Cherry Blossoms)
*******************************************
The story starts off by introducing the little couple, Akari and Takaki running along home innocently under the falling cherry blossoms. Akari tells Takaki that the cherry blossoms fall at “5 centimetres per second” and reminds her very much of snow. Akari runs on ahead and they are cut off by a passing train.
It’s now been half a year since they last met at their elementary school graduation and they have been keeping in touch via letters. She wonders if Takaki still remembers her. Soon it’s winter and they’ve finally decided to meet up again before it’s time for Takaki to move to another place again to Tanegashima. Some place that was going to put Takaki and Akari at a much greater distance from each other. Takaki draws up the stations he must go through to get to Akari’s new home at Iwafune and rushes off to catch the train after school.
On the train, Takaki remembers how he and Akari first met and the happy times they had together. They had both transferred to a new school around the same time due to their parent’s work. Being the small children they were and how easily they fell ill, they liked to hang out at the library most of the time. Naturally they became friends but because of that, their classmates started to tease them. However, neither of them were worried about it at all as long as they were together.
Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. Akari soon phones Takaki sadly telling him that she will be moving and going to a different junior high school. She had tried to ask her parents to let her stay but they wouldn’t let her because she wasn’t old enough to take care of herself yet. Akari cries and Takaki doesn’t know how to comfort her.
Back to the present, the bad weather is picking up and snow is causing train delays. Takaki is left standing out in the cold station waiting for his next train. Watching two men crowd into a warm soba stall, he decides to get himself something to drink. But while rummaging for change, he drops the letter he spent 2 weeks writing for Akari.
The train soon arrives but is stopped along the way due to the blizzard. Takaki was very late now and there was nothing he could do while sitting on the train for 2 hours. He remembers how sad Akari was when she phoned him a year ago about how they had to part. She also sounded very lonely in her letters. She must be very sad right now too waiting for him and he hopes she’s gone home.
Arriving 4 hours late, Takaki is surprised Akari is still there. There is a short happy reunion as they share some food together that Akari made. It’s time for the station to close so the couple leaves into the snow. Akari takes Takaki to the bare cherry blossom tree she told him about in her letter. For a moment they stand in silence then slowly, they lean in and kiss. That night, they spent their time chatting together in an abandoned shed nearby and before they knew it, they fell asleep.
The next morning, Takaki takes the first train back to Tokyo. They are sad to part again but Takaki promises to keep in touch via the phone and letters. After watching the train leave, Akari also takes out a letter that she has been writing to give to Takaki personally. Perhaps it was not needed.
Episode 2 - Cosmonaut
*************************
Takaki has a strange dream of walking up a hill with a girl, surrounded by a surreal outer space sky to watch sunrise. The scene quickly switches to Takaki practising archery early in the morning at school in his new home on Tanegashima. A girl named Kanae Sumita is driving her way to school too on her scooter and seems to be going early on purpose to meet Takaki.
It turns out Kanae has a secret crush on Takaki and she just can’t stop thinking about him. Her friends tease her that the transfer student may have a girlfriend in Tokyo. After school, Kanae pretends to be just going home at the same time as Takaki again. They ride home side by side on their scooter. Kanae is evidently very happy that she could be with Takaki alone and thinks to herself, “If I was a puppy I would be wagging my tail non-stop now. I’m glad I’m not one. Even so, I can’t stop smiling like an idiot.”
Kanae thinks back to the time when she fell for him in junior high year two. Takaki had just transferred over but she felt there was something different about him from other boys. As time went on, she studied hard just to get into the same junior high school as Takaki. Now the more she sees him, the more she’s in love with him.
Back to the present, the friends arrive at their usual convenience store to buy something to drink. Takaki picks up his usual drink while Kanae spends sometime picking. When she finally pays and leaves the store, she finds Takaki writing an e-mail to someone as usual. It wasn’t the first time she saw him doing this and it always made her feel uncomfortable. If only the person he was e-mailing was her.
The next day, Kanae gets called into the school office for being the only one not filling out a future plans form. A classmate of Takaki wonders why his girlfriend was being called into the office. Takaki denies Kanae is his girlfriend. Inside the office, Kanae doesn’t know how to answer the teacher. She hadn’t thought about her future yet.
Later that evening, Kanae goes to practise surfing again. She thinks about how she wasn’t making any progress in any of the things she’s being doing so far. She hasn’t been able to surf after being taught by her older sister and hasn’t managed to become Takaki’s girlfriend. She finishes up and rides home but finds Takaki’s scooter parked at the side of the road along the way. She finds him sitting on a hill smiling and writing another e-mail on his phone again.
Sitting next to each other, they speak for a moment about their future and Takaki tells her he plans to go to university in Tokyo. On the other hand, Kanae still didn’t know what she was going to do. She folds up her questionaire into a paper airplane and throws it away. They head on home only to be stopped by a roadblock. JAXA’s latest space exploration satellite was being transported and was going to be launched to travel beyond the solar system. It was going to take a few years.
Back home, Takaki appears to be writing an e-mail to someone about having that same dream again. Perhaps to Akari? In the usual dream, he was walking with a girl and couldn’t see her face as usual. But there was something nostalgic about it. Just as he is about to enter an address, he cancels. He wonders how long it’s been since he had this habit of writing e-mails with no addressee filled in.
After the day they had a chat on the hill, the typhoon rainy period was over and the weather was much better and a little cooler. Kanae sets out to practise surfing again. Kanae’s sister asks if she has plans for her future yet but she didn’t. However, she thinks it’s fine that way and just wants to do whatever she can one thing at a time. She runs out to surf and unlike earlier, she could ride the waves this time. It’s been half a year before she managed it. Just in time before summer ended in mid-October.
Back at school, her friends are talking about how someone had confessed their love. Kanae was in a good mood and had decided the thing to do was to confess her love too to Takaki. If she couldn’t do it now, she’ll never be able to do it. After school, Kanae waits for Takaki again and drops by the usual convenience store. While picking their drinks, Kanae looks up hoping to see Takaki looking at her but is disappointed. When they try leaving on their scooters, Kanae’s one can’t move. Takaki decides to walk her home.
Along the path in the afternoon sun, neither of the two friends speak. Kanae looks over at Takaki but again, he isn’t looking at her. The wind blows by. Kanae can’t stand it any longer and begins to cry as she realises something. As she struggles to hold back the tears, she begs Takaki not to be so nice to her.
The brief moment of confusion is broken as the satellite is launched. As Kanae and Takaki stands staring into the sky, she notices how he has always gazed into the distance as if searching for something. She now understands why she saw Takaki differently from the other boys. At the same time, she also realises that he had never really set eyes on her. She couldn’t confess her love to him now.
[Akari has moved on but remembers those cherry blossom childhood days]
Extra's for u're people that love "One more time One more Chance"
Here's the lyrics :
The story is devided to three segment :
Episode 1 - Oukashou (Cherry Blossoms)
*******************************************
The story starts off by introducing the little couple, Akari and Takaki running along home innocently under the falling cherry blossoms. Akari tells Takaki that the cherry blossoms fall at “5 centimetres per second” and reminds her very much of snow. Akari runs on ahead and they are cut off by a passing train.
It’s now been half a year since they last met at their elementary school graduation and they have been keeping in touch via letters. She wonders if Takaki still remembers her. Soon it’s winter and they’ve finally decided to meet up again before it’s time for Takaki to move to another place again to Tanegashima. Some place that was going to put Takaki and Akari at a much greater distance from each other. Takaki draws up the stations he must go through to get to Akari’s new home at Iwafune and rushes off to catch the train after school.
On the train, Takaki remembers how he and Akari first met and the happy times they had together. They had both transferred to a new school around the same time due to their parent’s work. Being the small children they were and how easily they fell ill, they liked to hang out at the library most of the time. Naturally they became friends but because of that, their classmates started to tease them. However, neither of them were worried about it at all as long as they were together.
Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. Akari soon phones Takaki sadly telling him that she will be moving and going to a different junior high school. She had tried to ask her parents to let her stay but they wouldn’t let her because she wasn’t old enough to take care of herself yet. Akari cries and Takaki doesn’t know how to comfort her.
Back to the present, the bad weather is picking up and snow is causing train delays. Takaki is left standing out in the cold station waiting for his next train. Watching two men crowd into a warm soba stall, he decides to get himself something to drink. But while rummaging for change, he drops the letter he spent 2 weeks writing for Akari.
The train soon arrives but is stopped along the way due to the blizzard. Takaki was very late now and there was nothing he could do while sitting on the train for 2 hours. He remembers how sad Akari was when she phoned him a year ago about how they had to part. She also sounded very lonely in her letters. She must be very sad right now too waiting for him and he hopes she’s gone home.Arriving 4 hours late, Takaki is surprised Akari is still there. There is a short happy reunion as they share some food together that Akari made. It’s time for the station to close so the couple leaves into the snow. Akari takes Takaki to the bare cherry blossom tree she told him about in her letter. For a moment they stand in silence then slowly, they lean in and kiss. That night, they spent their time chatting together in an abandoned shed nearby and before they knew it, they fell asleep.
The next morning, Takaki takes the first train back to Tokyo. They are sad to part again but Takaki promises to keep in touch via the phone and letters. After watching the train leave, Akari also takes out a letter that she has been writing to give to Takaki personally. Perhaps it was not needed. Meanwhile back on the train, Takaki wishes that he had the power to protect Akari from sadness and stares out at the passing scenery.
Episode 2 - Cosmonaut
*************************
Takaki has a strange dream of walking up a hill with a girl, surrounded by a surreal outer space sky to watch sunrise. The scene quickly switches to Takaki practising archery early in the morning at school in his new home on Tanegashima. A girl named Kanae Sumita is driving her way to school too on her scooter and seems to be going early on purpose to meet Takaki.
It turns out Kanae has a secret crush on Takaki and she just can’t stop thinking about him. Her friends tease her that the transfer student may have a girlfriend in Tokyo. After school, Kanae pretends to be just going home at the same time as Takaki again. They ride home side by side on their scooter. Kanae is evidently very happy that she could be with Takaki alone and thinks to herself, “If I was a puppy I would be wagging my tail non-stop now. I’m glad I’m not one. Even so, I can’t stop smiling like an idiot.”
Kanae thinks back to the time when she fell for him in junior high year two. Takaki had just transferred over but she felt there was something different about him from other boys. As time went on, she studied hard just to get into the same junior high school as Takaki. Now the more she sees him, the more she’s in love with him.
Back to the present, the friends arrive at their usual convenience store to buy something to drink. Takaki picks up his usual drink while Kanae spends sometime picking. When she finally pays and leaves the store, she finds Takaki writing an e-mail to someone as usual. It wasn’t the first time she saw him doing this and it always made her feel uncomfortable. If only the person he was e-mailing was her.
The next day, Kanae gets called into the school office for being the only one not filling out a future plans form. A classmate of Takaki wonders why his girlfriend was being called into the office. Takaki denies Kanae is his girlfriend. Inside the office, Kanae doesn’t know how to answer the teacher. She hadn’t thought about her future yet.
Later that evening, Kanae goes to practise surfing again. She thinks about how she wasn’t making any progress in any of the things she’s being doing so far. She hasn’t been able to surf after being taught by her older sister and hasn’t managed to become Takaki’s girlfriend. She finishes up and rides home but finds Takaki’s scooter parked at the side of the road along the way. She finds him sitting on a hill smiling and writing another e-mail on his phone again.
Sitting next to each other, they speak for a moment about their future and Takaki tells her he plans to go to university in Tokyo. On the other hand, Kanae still didn’t know what she was going to do. She folds up her questionaire into a paper airplane and throws it away. They head on home only to be stopped by a roadblock. JAXA’s latest space exploration satellite was being transported and was going to be launched to travel beyond the solar system. It was going to take a few years.
Back home, Takaki appears to be writing an e-mail to someone about having that same dream again. Perhaps to Akari? In the usual dream, he was walking with a girl and couldn’t see her face as usual. But there was something nostalgic about it. Just as he is about to enter an address, he cancels. He wonders how long it’s been since he had this habit of writing e-mails with no addressee filled in.After the day they had a chat on the hill, the typhoon rainy period was over and the weather was much better and a little cooler. Kanae sets out to practise surfing again. Kanae’s sister asks if she has plans for her future yet but she didn’t. However, she thinks it’s fine that way and just wants to do whatever she can one thing at a time. She runs out to surf and unlike earlier, she could ride the waves this time. It’s been half a year before she managed it. Just in time before summer ended in mid-October.
Back at school, her friends are talking about how someone had confessed their love. Kanae was in a good mood and had decided the thing to do was to confess her love too to Takaki. If she couldn’t do it now, she’ll never be able to do it. After school, Kanae waits for Takaki again and drops by the usual convenience store. While picking their drinks, Kanae looks up hoping to see Takaki looking at her but is disappointed. When they try leaving on their scooters, Kanae’s one can’t move. Takaki decides to walk her home.
Along the path in the afternoon sun, neither of the two friends speak. Kanae looks over at Takaki but again, he isn’t looking at her. The wind blows by. Kanae can’t stand it any longer and begins to cry as she realises something. As she struggles to hold back the tears, she begs Takaki not to be so nice to her.
The brief moment of confusion is broken as the satellite is launched. As Kanae and Takaki stands staring into the sky, she notices how he has always gazed into the distance as if searching for something. She now understands why she saw Takaki differently from the other boys. At the same time, she also realises that he had never really set eyes on her. She couldn’t confess her love to him now. To Kanae, Takaki was a very nice guy but he was always looking for someone else far far away. Far away from Kanae. Even so, she will always love Takaki.
*****************************************
Grown up, Takaki has moved to Tokyo and appears to be working as a programmer now. As a cherry blossom petal falls onto his desk, he goes out for a walk at the very same place he spent his childhood days with Akari. As he walks past the train crossing, he has that strong feeling he would see Akari again.
Later that night, on his way home from work, Takaki gets a phone call from a girl. He doesn’t answer.
The next morning, grown up Akari is together with her parents at the train station. She’s leaving to make preparations for her wedding. She hops onto the train and after finishing her book, she gazes out the window. Akari had a dream last night of when she and Takaki were still two young children. It must have been because she found that letter she wrote long ago.
Back at Takaki’s messy apartment, he receives another message from his new girlfriend. They haven’t got in touch for sometime and there’s something she has to tell him. We learn her name is “Risa Mizuno” It’s clear Takaki isn’t going to see her. Just living his life was tiring him out and filling him with sadness right now.
He soon receives another message from the Mizuno saying that she loves him even now. Apparently they had been together for 3 years. But even with the 1000 e-mails they’ve exchanged, they still couldn’t get any closer together than 1cm apart. As the days continued, Takaki continues to drown himself in work but don’t know what he’s really after. Soon realising how tired he was, he quit his job.
At night, Takaki walks into a convenient store nearby his home and picks up a magazine showing how the satellite “ELISH” he saw 9 years ago with Kanae had now flown beyond the solar system. He and Akari has also been having the same dream. The dream when they were still 13 years old and walking in the snow fields knowing one day, they will be able to see the cherry blossoms falling together again.
The song “One More Time, One More Chance” by Masayoshi Yamazaki breaks out and there is a flash of past and present scenes. We see Takaki wandering around alone in Tokyo while Akari meets up happily with her future husband. Their relationship had long dwindled away but life goes on for the two and the memories will remain with them.End Story :
[While Akari meets up happily with her future husband]
[Akari has moved on but remembers those cherry blossom childhood days]
[Takaki also smiles remembering how cherry blossoms fall at
“5 centimetres per second”]
Extra's for u're people that love "One more time One more Chance"
Here's the lyrics :
| Original / Romaji Lyrics ************************* | English Translation ********************* |
|---|---|
kore ijyou nani wo ushinaeba kokoro wa yurusareru no | If I lose any more than this, will my heart be forgiven |
kuichigau toki wa itsumo boku ga saki ni oretane | When our path cross each other, I am always the first to turn |
itsudemo sagashiteiruyo dokka ni kimi no sugata wo | I am always searching somewhere for you |
sabishisa magirasu dake nara dare demo ii hazu na noni | Anybody should be fine if it was just to ease loneliness |
itsudemo sagashiteiruyo dokka ni kimi no sugata wo | I am always searching somewhere for you |
natsu no omoide ga mawaru | Summer's memory is revolving |
itsudemo sagashiteiruyo dokka ni kimi no sugata wo | I am always searching somewhere for you |
itsudemo sagashiteiruyo dokka ni kimi no kakera wo | I am always searching somewhere for your fragment |
itsudemo sagashiteshimau dokka ni kimi no egao wo | I always end up looking somewhere for your smile |
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