Is 5cm Shinkai's most overrated work?

Another thing I'm wondering is, why was Tanaki losing his letter to Akari such a big deal? They kissed so isn't that enough? Why didn't Akari give him her letter after they kissed?

The other day I watched Hoshi no Koe again after like a whole fucking decade due to entire Kimi no Na wa thing.
It was good, but not even remotely as good as I remembered it to be.

5cm did absolutely nothing to me to begin with, so you might be right. The trains were beautiful, though, and that's enough to make me happy.

>>151575740
I dropped 5cm midway into the movie.
It was boring. I don't get the hype about it.

>>151576524
Was 5cm even a movie?
I always thought it was an OVA.

>>151576403
>The trains were beautiful, though, and that's enough to make me happy.

You can get cool backgrounds in any Shinkai movie though.

>>151576726
more like OVArrated.

>>151576726
All of Shinkai's works are pretty sure, but I'd say 5cm is long enough to qualify as a movie. Garden of Words and Voices of a Distant Star are the ones that felt like OVAs.

>>151576726
I don't even know
I always assumed it was a movie, but if it was a 3 part OVA, I watched one where the subber must have just put them all into one file.

>>151576403
I need to rewatch both Hoshi no Koe and 5cm, but I would say that Hoshi no Koe is better than 5cm.

Here's my ranking:
1. Your Name
2. The Place Promised in Our Early Days
3. Voices of a Distant Star
4. The Garden of Words
5. 5cm
6. Children Who Chase Lost Voices

Although admittedly, I'm a bit conflicted over placing Garden of Words above 5cm just because the former is so short.

>>151576524
So how would you compare 5cm to the other films Shinkai has made?

All of it is shallow shit. It even looks good only when it's still or minimal animation. It's completely overrated.

The comic is unironically better since it expounded the story. Why cant shitkai do that on his films instead? He has fucking potential but he only do good on written literature than in films ffs

>>151577405
>Why cant shitkai do that on his films instead?

Because Shinkai for some reason only wants to make short films. Everything he's made has been under two hours.

>>151577130
Let's see
>The Place Promised in Our Early Days
Lost interest pretty quickly
>Children Who Chase Lost Voices
Also lost interest
>The Garden of Words
Muh feet. Lost interest

I'm not a fan of Shinkai. He takes the same love story and twists it around, his fan throw it around like it's the best thing over. It's not. Looks the same with Your name, not interested. Lost voices was just boring

>>151576524
>>151577563
Maybe you should stick to watching TV anime since you clearly don't have the attention span for movies

>>151577563

Fair enough, I can understand why other people wouldn't like him. My problem with Lost Voices was not that it was boring, it's that it felt more like a Miyazaki ripoff than a Shinkai film.

>>151577647
I just don't care for the same sappy, uninteresting love story being re-told over and over, just with a different premise.
I'm just not a drama movie type person. You know what, your right anon. I'm not a movie person.

I really don't think it's overrated. I think it's his best really. I guess I can see how you might not relate to Tanaki's issue though, and how that might affect your enjoyment of the movie. I don't think it's too far fetched though. People often have some really fucked up relationships that fuck them up later in life, and when you're that young and impressionable it makes it probably even worse. If they had aged the two characters up it might be more believable though. I think Shinkai managed to really capture that feeling of despair when it comes to like being unable to see someone after promising that you'd get together. That killed me. I wish it'd have been longer though, like most of his movies.

Place that was Promised was pretty good I thought but I don't see how you can like that more when it has the same sort of problems. I don't buy the idea that these 2 kids can figure out how to build and pilot a plane. I think it got a little convoluted with all the parallel universe stuff too. It was still good though, imo.

>>151577668
The only one it bears any similarities to is Princess Mononoke and even then the themes that the two movies represent are entirely different. Lost Voices is about how people deal with death in different ways, Princess Mononoke is an environmentalist movie.

>>151577519
Lost Voices was a few minutes short of 2 hours and Place that was Promised was like at least an hour and a half. Those are fine lengths for feature films. 5cm/s, garden of words and hoshi no koe are his only major "short films"

I haven't seen his most recent movie, so excepting that, 5cm is his only good movie, and coincidentally the best anime movie there is.

>>151578173
>Place that was Promised was pretty good I thought but I don't see how you can like that more when it has the same sort of problems. I don't buy the idea that these 2 kids can figure out how to build and pilot a plane. I think it got a little convoluted with all the parallel universe stuff too. It was still good though, imo.

All of Shinkai's films deal with distance and lovers not being able to be together. First off, I liked Place That Was Promised more cause none of the characters were infuriating like Tanaki.

Second, because Place That Was Promised has a sci-fi, alternate history setting, I'm able to suspend my disbelief more (I also don't think it's inconceivable that they could build and pilot a plane. People have built planes in their backyards before and have taken pilot lessons). In contrast, 5cm is completely set in the real-world, so I can't suspend my disbelief as much and am less forgiving of Tanaki being an idiot. I understand that his situation isn't inconceivable, but I still hate him for breaking Kanae's heart.

I also generally like sci-fi and I think Shinkai does a good job at it (Children Who Chase Lost Voices shows that Shinkai should leave fantasy to Miyazaki, and instead stick to sci-fi or real-world settings).

>>151578412
>5cm/s, garden of words and hoshi no koe are his only major "short films".

That's still 3/5 being short films. While I would also consider Lost Voices and Place That Was Promised to be feature-length, I consider anything under two hours to be "short" and anything over two hours to be "long". That's just me though.

>>151578889
If you like 5cm, it wouldn't surprise me if you ending up thinking Your Name was better once you finally see it.

>>151578889

Your Name is miles better than 5cm. The characters, setting and premise is a lot more engaging. 5cm/s spans multiple short films and it's still completely forgettable with very little actual content.

>>151575740
>tfw actually had a female childhood friend who was really friendly and cool
>tfw always attended different schools
>tfw graduating college this year and still thinking of her
>tfw she's had a steady boyfriend for years already

Do you need to be a normalfag to understand Shinkai movies?
I can't relate to any of the characters in them.

>>151575740
I thought the same when I watched it for first time: self indulgent love story where two people with a weak bond that is a fashion (childhood friends) somehow are meant together. Bit when I watched it a second time I thought it was about growing up, and that was Tanaki did at the end, when he just go over his alienated idea of Akari and leaves.

>>151575740
I agree with >>151578173, on the point that personal experiences make 5cm. The film left me sobbing after I finished it, thinking about the first girl I kissed, dated, and had a very sporadic on again off again relationship with over the last ten years. That emotional impact was made possibly only by so many scenes being very reflective of my actual experiences. There's a phenomena called limerance that may help explain where Tanaki is coming from (It's a pseudo mental illness of obsessive love that hits a lot of people with OCD). As someone who went through the motions of other relationships after a few years of holding out for his Akari, I found Tanaki's trying to move on to be very similar to my own.

So, OP, just fall into a retarded love for a decade and you'll like the movie more!

>>151583074
Not OP but feel similarly, and I guess this makes sense. Maybe then it'd be fairer to classify Shinkai's movies more along the lines of "broadly enjoyable" to "specifically targetted" rather then more typical better <--> worse generic rankings. Some of the movies cover themes and have characters that a lot of people can at least somewhat relate to, or appreciate. But I guess 5cm is more specifically a study a certain forms of real mental outliers. That doesn't make it bad or you bad or wrong or whatever, if it's a real thing like you say then that's that, but almost by definition it's going to make it harder to relate to for somebody without any of that.

Guess that's kind of a tradeoff, if you make something like this it could be incredibly powerful to the people who can directly relate, particularly if not much material tends to address their own lives. Simultaneously though it pulls it away. Or you can make something more general, but it might not be quite as powerful to any single person. So you end up with camps where one group thinks it's incredible and others don't get the fuss in any way at all. I can think of a few other anime like that, where it's really polarized love it/meh.

5cm made me feel empty after watching it. Not because it wasn't a happy ending or anything, just the feeling you sometimes get after watching something really good.

>>151584321
>>151583074

I heavily disagree with the notion that 5cm rests on some real specific experience or some real specific targeted demographic. So long as you're not an autist, you can imagine what it would be like to have a childhood love, to become separated before that relationship can play itself out, and so on. It's easily imaginable, and it's something that isn't exactly uncommon.

There's a reason that classic literature doesn't die out. I've never been a woman trapped in a loveless relationship, but because I'm not some aspie fuck, I can read Kate Chopin's The Awakening and feel for the main character and what she's going through.

It's basically all about the Japanese notion of transient beauty and transient love. The movie does a decent job of depicting that feeling of something lost in the current of time but it doesn't really stand up to further analysis and the plot wasn't particularly well thought of.

However, since it's nowhere near the success of Your Name (even when it came out people mostly just praised the technical part of it and the fact that it's a bit of a one man's effort) to call it "most overrated" is clearly contrarian and wrong.

>>151575740
His best work is She and her cat. He should stop trying to do romance and stick with more personal stories about self development where romantic love is not the main plot.

>>151584639
The point I, and presumably the other anon you quoted, are making is that the gap between those who see Shinkai's movies as superb and those who see them as just regular films (good, well executed, or not) comes down to how relatable you find a movie. While this statement applies to all fiction, Shinkai's films have a specific focus on one element of the human experience, and the acclaim he gets comes from the universality of it. 99.99% of the population loves, but comparatively few have lusted for revenge, or fought in war, etc.

>>151575740
I watched that movie a few months ago and I didn't feel anything at all. Am I just retarded and it totally went over my head?

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Kimi no na wa is better. Hiro agreed, don't bother him about it.

>>151583074
>So, OP, just fall into a retarded love for a decade and you'll like the movie more!

Was that experience worth it anon?

Tbh I don't think I can say I've ever been truly in love. Although I still like love stories like Shinkai's other works.

>>151584789
>to call it "most overrated" is clearly contrarian and wrong.

Yeah, that may have been a poor choice of words. I guess I'm just frustrated that everyone always talks about 5cm, and I rarely see discussion about The Place Promised in Our Early Days.

>>151575740

You aren't always supposed to like the main character or support his actions throughout the film.
You're meant to feel frustrated with him as the outside viewer, the writer probably feels this way about their own past experiences.
I see 5cm/s as more of a cautionary tale - don't fucking do what this guy did!
As the film goes on we watch him waste opportunities and ignore people because he's so focused on this increasingly distant (borderline imaginary) relationship.

>Everyone always says that it's heartbreaking that...spoilers etc.
Do people think that Takaki and Akari should have gotten together in the end? That's retarded and breaks the entire point of the film, you are absolutely correct in your analysis.

>I still think being obsessed with a girl for over 10 years is dangerously unhealthy.
Correct.

>tl;dr: Tanaki is an idiot and he ruins 5cm.
This is clearly the point where our opinions separate. I think that's great!
I feel like we agree on almost everything but I liked the movie and you didn't based just on perspective.

>>151585386

It's not a very dramatic or emotional movie. It's just a semi-realistic depiction of a dude that takes too long to get over a childish affection. You would find some meaning in it if you could relate, but otherwise there's not much there. It's mostly just melancholic.

The ending, where he refuses to look back across the train tracks, and finally decides to move on with his life, is still quite nice.

>>151590520

You've pretty much hit the nail on the head. The movie is absolutely a cautionary tale, and one that is quite easy to relate to.

I feel like people have a problem watching certain dramas where the characters aren't good people, don't do good things, make shitty decisions and mistakes, etc. Some people don't seem to be able to move past the fact that you're not supposed to like a protagonist, or support their actions. You're supposed to view Tanaka and what happens to him as somewhat of a tragedy, and be satisfied with the hope that's presented at the end of the film, where he is shown to become less of an idiot.

>>151590878
>>151590520
I don't think it's a cautionary tale, it doesn't try to spread a message. All it does is show you two people. One side gets over it and moves on with her life. She remembers her old love, she looks back on it fondly, but she realizes that the past is past and you can't just pretend the ten years in the middle didn't happen. The other side doesn't get over it and pays for that. He's living in the past and won't move on with his life or even adjust to his new life while waiting for the old to catch up. It's basically about learning to live with the fact that shit doesn't always turn out the way you wanted and at some point giving up is actually better for you, if somewhat less romantic.

>>151590520
>Do people think that Takaki and Akari should have gotten together in the end?

Yes, again, I see /a/nons call Akari a slut all the time for not waiting for him, and talk about how they would have gotten together if it wasn't for that fucking train.

>>151592640
Well it really hurts if you only take Takaki's point of view, which is probably very easy even for normal filmgoers since we're stuck on his point for most of the actual story. Now if you detach yourself it's immediately obvious that Akari simply got over him

>that fucking train
The fucking train was hurtful in another way. If you were relating to Takaki, this means he didn't even get to see her one last time. If you were detached from Takaki, this means Takaki is so fucking entrenched that he will not get over it until it smacks him in the face that she doesn't care anymore and that she's moving on with her life, which is itself kind of frustrating.

>>151582833
>>151590520
>>151590568
>>151590878
>>151591451
OP here. I gotta say, I am starting to see what you all mean when you say that 5cm is meant to send a message about the importance of moving on, and how I don't necessarily have to like Tanaki to appreciate the movie.

Maybe I'll rewatch it, it has been a few years since I last saw it.

>>151592758
>Now if you detach yourself it's immediately obvious that Akari simply got over him

Exactly. I think the people crying over how they couldn't be together related to Tanaki too much and therefore couldn't detach themselves from him enough to get the message of the film.

>>151575740
>Overrated
Nobody thinks that it is a masterpiece.
It is just another fake attempt from trolling fans to escalate it to master piece status and then attack it from all angles.
That's too bad, because it has its own merits too

The message and themes went over your head. It was just 2deep4u.

>>151592875
>I think the people crying over how they couldn't be together
That's part of the message too though. Both of them drifted apart lierally due to sheer shitty luck and circumstances completely beyond their control. That's an ancient trope in romance / friendship dating back to Gilgamesh or Nv Wa. The difference in 5cm/s is that Shinkai says "yeah but in real life Prince Louis the Charming would get on with his life and prepare to rule his nation while Bryn the peasant girl would think back fondly but understand that it's time to pick up sewing and cooking from mom instead of waiting dozens of years to be together again."

>couldn't detach themselves
Detaching yourself from Tanaki is really hard on the first watch. That's why it gets better on the second watch.

>>151578279
I agree that they have different themes. What I meant more was the setting; the hollow earth world of Agatha didn't seem particularly original to me. It felt like Shinkai was just borrowing from Miyazaki and past subterranean fiction. Basically, he failed to build an original world for Children Who Chase Lost Voices.

Tbh, Children Who Chase Lost Voices was a good movie, it just didn't feel like a "Shinkai" movie to me. And when I sit down to a watch a movie by a particular director, I expect it to have the director's style. I would also be disappointed if I sat down for a Satoshi Kon film and got something which felt more like Shinkai instead.

>>151575740
I got a degree in film so I'm a bit closer to understanding how film theory and genre and such works.

This guy is the biggest goddamned hack (right up there with JJ Abrams) I've ever seen in anime. All he does is throw together the best ideas from other, better directors into his movies and cross his fingers that they work. The only good thing I've ever seen from him was Voices of a Distant Star everything else has been trash. I feel legitimately sick sitting through his stuff.

God it pisses me off.

>>151593325
>I got a degree in film

So how's waiting tables in LA going? Don't worry buddy, I'm sure producers will love your screenplay once it's done!

>>151590520
Yeah this movie is a clear metaphor for letting go and moving on. It's not even necessary that Akari is actually there in the final scene, what matters is Takaki doesn't chase after her. She's in her past and he needs to move on and he does that.
People keep saying how sad or tragic the ending is but it isn't. It's bittersweet, more sweet than bitter in my opinion.

>>151593325
>I got a degree in film
You sure are using that degree to shitpost about a 2d cartoon on Chinese image board. Your father who paid for that degree would be really proud anon. Keep doing you.

>>151593325
>I got a degree in film
Bitch people with degrees in film are even worse than people with degrees in literature. Reminder that Moby-Dick was absolutely shunned when it came out by literary experts.

>I couldn't believe that Tanaki was still obsessed with Akari so many years later. And when his obsession with Akari made him blind to the fact that Kanae liked him, it pissed me off. I felt so bad for her and wanted this idiot to get over his childhood crush and like her back.
I fucking love it because this is literally the story of my life
>childhood friend, went to the same school
>started dating in high school
>went through college together
>shit fell out
>no contact, she moves to the other side of the world
>get into no serious relationship at all since
>4 years later she comes back
>met again because of common friends, as she left for whatever reason she managed to get my contact number
>asks me for a proper "closure"
>I go to her hotel, try to convince her, get nothing
>that waas 2 years ago
>still salty

Fuck I miss my qt 3.14 ex kgf.

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>>151593401
>>151593634
>>151593685

>>151594537
>this butthurt
talex grandi

>>151592758

I have to agree with >>151593519
on this one. The film's ending is quite obviously bittersweet symbolism, but much more sweet than bitter.

When they pass each other, both Takaki and Akari immediately turn around to look for each other (they both had a sense of wanting to search each other out, initially), the trains (distance) are keeping them away from each other, and when the trains pass (time passing), Takaki is greeted by the sight of an empty road (Akari had moved on). Takaki stands looking for Akari with a confused expression (he couldn't get over her), but eventually his dark expression turns into a smile, and he turns on his heel and continues along his own path. His own path being opposite the direction of Akari's path obviously symbolizing that Takaki is finally moving on.

That scene is really not hard to understand, and I don't see why anyone would ever think that the scene was simply Takaki getting cucked by a couple trains.

>>151594853
It's not about getting cucked by trains and the symbolism is, yes, obvious, but that's what can make it quite bitter depending on what you focus on. If you focus on Akari not being there, it's neutral. If you focus on Takaki smiling and fucking FINALLY moving on with his dumb ass life, it's positive. But if you focus on the train? The distance and uncontrollable circumstances that shoved them apart? That's when it's bitter.

no, your name definitely is

>>151575740
It's not about chasing a girl for ten years, it's about making her your personification of unattainability and slowly corroding your life with her image and wasting every other opportunity for happiness along the way, all while constantly parroting to yourself that nothing bad can come from pursuit of someone so perfect even though you aren't pursuing her, you're worshipping the idea of her.
Be grateful that you are a confident enough person that you will never understand it.

>>151594930

I, personally, do not think the scene can be reduced down to each element like that. The whole thing is literally a set up to tell us that Takaki is finally moving on, and the rest of it is, thus, meaningless in comparison.

The bitter part, with the distance and circumstances shoving them apart absolutely exists, as seen in the entire rest of the movie, but the ending scene specifically does not, itself, focus on that. The scene itself places its focus on Takaki moving on, and while the viewer can certainly feel bitter over the rush of recollection the movie turns into at that point, the main character only feels that for a second, and moves on.

Overall, I think the scene is definitely more uplifting and hopeful than it is bitter.

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>>151595092
>mfw this is my life
and its not even about a girl

>>151595125
You can't reduce scenes to elements, but you can alter in your interpretation of a scene depending on what you focused on within the scene. It's pretty the same as the scene at the end of Great Expectations - you can view it more sweet than bitter with Pip finally growing up and becoming an actual gentleman instead of a snobbish one and one who is willing to accept that some things simply can't be attained, or you can view it more bitter than sweet because Estella didn't grow up in time and is stuck with an abusive husband.

I only watched Hoshi no Koe and 5cm. I just think I utterly hate his style so much that I'll never touch any piece of media he'll ever do again.

>Takaki the Complete Loser
>Akari is being dicked everyday by her hasband

I can't put up with NTR

I think the only thing you're missing is seeing yourself (in particular, your longing for a different time) in the MC.
The MC was annoying for the reasons you mentioned, but there should also be a chord of familiarity he strikes.
The two could never meet at the end because of what you said: what would they do? So much time has passed and he's longing for something that no longer exists.
If you've read the manga, I think it's heavily implied that he meets his childhood friend again, which is a bit annoying.

I dunno how rated it is compared to his other works but it's still my favorite.

>>151597221
What's heavily implied is that he meets the highschooler again.

>>151598751
ah, sorry, you're right

Shinkai makes many good works.
I notably love 5cm/s.
I have watched it in junior high, and I have been shocked its beautiful world . Especially his nostalgia made me sad.
after school, i run to near video shop and bought the Blu-ray.

>>151575740
You just don't get it. It's not about love, it's about the frailty of life. You will never get happier then in your memories. Life will only bring you more pain and suffer. You will work a meaningless job, you will do meaningless things and then you will die. All of this with one condition - you must have a brain. Otherwise you may just don't think too much and be happy, like that whore.

>>151575740
>The 2nd and 3rd part made me hate the male protagonist so much

That's because you're a kid who only wants the world turn by his rules and get assmad about just the possibility of different opinion.