`Girl’ Conquers Time, Captures Viewers’ Hearts

A scene from "The Girl Who Leaped Through Time."

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

``The Girl Who Leaped Through Time'' (2006) imaginatively explores the age-old human fantasy of conquering time with freewheeling colors and motions. The film is lively, lovable and thoroughly enjoyable for audiences of all ages and even those who are not animation zealots.

Seventeen-year-old Makoto doesn't make fabulous grades in school nor does she have particular talents, and each day is marked by a series of clumsy mistakes. But the tomboy is bright and optimistic, and spends quality time playing catch ball with buddies Chiaki and Kousuke. One day, after a train-crossing accident, she gains the power to go back in time, or ``time leap,'' and redo everything.

A little bewildered at first, Makoto soon indulges in her new ability, sleeping in without being tardy, acing in examinations and avoiding petty accidents in style. However, what seems to run smoothly at first ends up adversely affecting others. Makoto also discovers that things that are meant to be, like emotional flows, cannot be tampered with, and despite the ability to travel back and forth through time, ``Time waits for no one.''

Mellow musical scores blend with a lovely urban sketch of Tokyo life: the sun setting by a reservoir, the hustle and bustle of streets and an empty high school basketball court. Some scenes are deliberately devoid of music, and the silence fine-tunes the heartstring of characters. A freefall into fantastic, Van Gogh-esque landscapes of swirling colors marks each time leap.

The film was inspired by a best-selling novel by Tsutsui Yasutaka from the 1940s (``The Little Girl Who Conquered Time''), and the protagonist of the novel makes an appearance as Makoto's aunt.

Famed animator Hosoda Mamoru (``Sailor Moon'' the movie, 1995) directed the film while Sadamoto Yoshiyuki (``Neon Genesis Evangelion'') created character designs and Yamamoto Nijo (Hayao Miyazaki's ``Laputa: Castle in the Sky'') was art director.

``Girl'' did not make phenomenal box-office records in Japan, but fared exceptionally well at various festivals. It received much attention at the Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival held in May, and won many awards including Best Animated Film in the ANIMA'T category at the 39th Sitges International Film Festival of Cataloni and the Animation Grand Award at the prestigious 61st Mainichi Film Awards.

The best Japanese animators bring to screen a coming-of-age drama that is both funny and touching as it delves deep into the classic concept of time travel.

hyowlee@koreatimes.co.kr

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