Byousoku 5cm Part 1: Oukashou – Anime Review

I finally got a chance to check out the super beautiful Byousoku 5cm. Apparently sakura petals fall at the rate of 5cm per second. Everyone knows they really accelerate at 9.8m/s²…

Byousoku 5cm is the story of two separated friends, Takaki and Akari. When they were together at school, they were like kindred spirits. Unfortunately Akari had to move away. They still keep in touch by way of writing letters. Ummm… is this anime set in the 1900s or something? You know, there’s a thing called email now?

I guess the whole letter thing makes things more dramatic. Takaki reads the letters from Akari, and even memorized the first one. Having a letter with actual handwriting is pretty cool. I’ll have to try it one of these days.

Takaki and Akari finally decide to meet. But the train that Takaki rides keeps getting delayed from the snow. It really sucks because Takaki has been wanting to meet Akari again for a long ass time. Plus he knows Akari is probably worrying about him. I got felt really bad for the guy.

Eventually, Takaki gets to his destination and the two are finally reunited! I probably would’ve cried at that point, if I was emo. I was really happy though. You get to know the characters pretty well in the 20 minutes or so leading up to their reunion. Just as quickly as they were reunited, the two part the next day. Who knows if their relationship will ever work out?

I should note that the animation is probably the awesomest that I’ve ever seen. The attention to detail is amazing. I feel bad for taking my eyes off the actual picture to read subtitles. I even went back a few times to take in the beautiful scenery. Saying that this anime looks good is like calling Centron Grieve an apprentice level Galleodon!

So yes, the animation is freaking awesome, but I thought the story was just as engaging. Maybe I’m just being sentimental, but I really cared about the characters, and I had only known them for 27 minutes or so. I really have to know what happens next. Will their love fade with time, or will they eventually be reunited and live happily ever after? Damn it, when is the next part out?