The Girl Who Leapt through Time – Toki wo kakeru shôjo (2006)

Directed by: Mamoru Hosoda | 98 minutes | animation, fantasy, science fiction | Original voice cast: Mitsutaka Itakura, Riisa Naka, Sachie Hara, Takuya Ishida

Look, this is now an attractive animated film. No overly slick and attention-grabbing compositions and computer-generated images, but fine, traditional animation that comes across as sparkling and puts a lot of details into the images. The dramatic, semi-philosophical theme is also not presented in a pretentious way, but rather effortlessly and lightly, in between all the amusing scenes. It once again becomes clear how important an appealing main character is. At the end of the film, it is as if the viewer has actually gotten to know the cheerful Makoto and can consider it a friend.

The presence of these qualities is not surprising when you consider that director Mamoru Hosoda is associated with Studio Ghibli, the label under which Hayao Miyazaki releases his films. As in the films of this animation great, ‘The Girl Who Leapt Through Time’ is characterized by an engaged, human tone, in which the life-changing journey of the main character is also that of the viewer.

A lot of goodwill is created by Makoto’s goodness and cute clumsiness, which immediately makes the viewer embrace her. When she finds out through a near accident that she can literally jump back in time, a fascinating world opens up for her. First she experiments with this gift on a small scale, for example by preventing her sister from taking the pudding intended for her from the fridge. Also, she can now avoid her little accidents, and appear everywhere on time and prepared. Just like in ‘Groundhog Day’ for example, she knows exactly what is going to happen on that one day, and then goes back in time again and again to make that day go perfectly. This makes for a series of funny scenes, with an increasingly cheerful Makoto who seems to be in control and enjoying everything to the full (like being able to eat her favorite meal over and over at her parents’ table by returning to the time travel).

It becomes more problematic when she finds that while things may seem perfect for her, her changes over time may have negative consequences for others. This makes her think about the balance of the universe. About good and evil, and the precise consequences of one’s actions. This brings to her the realization that she has a certain responsibility for the world around her. So from this moment on, she tries to think better before intervening in time, trying in every possible way to avoid misfortune around her. This is also expressed in light-hearted things, for example by letting a girl in love run into an unreachable boy “accidentally”.

Love is also a difficult point in her personal situation, which is wittily depicted in a scene on the bicycle with Chiaki, one of the friends with whom she likes to play softball. She clearly has feelings for him, but doesn’t dare to admit them, so when he asks if she wants to date him during the bike ride, she doesn’t know what to say. So, she chooses to avoid the problem by jumping back in time so that she can make sure the conversation doesn’t end up on this topic. But she fails here, funnily enough, time and time again.

The ending of the film is unnecessarily complicated, but the heart of the film remains completely intact. The funny and touching Makoto and her personal growth within the story make this fresh time travel film an unqualified success.