It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, everywhere was so quiet, I could hear the birds chirping from a distance, the sounds of the trees as the winds swayed them and of course the weather was perfect for a book or a movie.
I was lying on my bed, scrolling through anime recommendations on Reddit when I stumbled upon a comment:
“If you ever want to cry about the beauty and pain of time, watch The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.”.
I got interested so I searched for it, found a stream, and hit play.
I had no idea how emotionally attached I was about to become.
The plot was sweet and mundane. It centres on Makoto Konno, a cheerful and light-hearted high school girl who is simply fumbling about in life; ever late, ever clumsy, ever unsure of what she wants for the future. However, all this changes because one day she achieves the ability to jump in time.
Think about that a moment: time as a cassette tape, being able to rewind it.
Makoto got this power and begins messing around with this power, using it to arrive at school on time, to relive a karaoke session, to eat the pudding before anyone can (I am not making this up). However, as you will guess, each step up has its cost. She starts to understand that when she changes small things in her life, she actually changes big things in the life of other people.
And when it comes to love, friendship and choices-you cannot just hit rewind all the time.
The feeling was soft, nostalgic even in the first scene. It was all so real; the warm corridors of the school, the cool wind blowing among the trees, the far-away chirping of cicadas. So alive.
Makoto is so real. She is loud, goofy, awkward and you fall in love with her mess. The scene when she is running frantically in the streets (having literally run through time) was funny. Then, however, as the story went on, the laughter became hard knots in my breast.
And there is one scene (no spoilers, though) when it seems that time stops. And there in the frozen silence my heart stood still.
The animation is not glossy but smooth and earthy, like a painting on watercolor. The soundtrack? Soft piano notes that were floating into my ears like fallen petals.
The biggest takeaway for me was simple but powerful: time doesn’t wait for anyone.
We often think we’ll have time to fix things. To say sorry. To confess our feelings. To hold someone a little longer.
But sometimes… time runs out.
Watching Makoto try to change outcomes, to make things perfect, only to realize that some things are meant to happen—that was heartbreaking and eye-opening. It reminded me that what we do now, in this very moment, matters.
The love story in this film is not the one that is loud and dramatic but quiet, tender and painfully beautiful. That type of love that develops gradually, the same way the heat of the sun on the skin.
Makoto is not even aware that she is falling in love with somebody until it is too late.
That hurt. Since in reality, we also lose our opportunity sometimes. And once it strikes you--what you no longer have--it strikes with a force.
Makoto has three friends, both guys. You believe they will stay together. Laughing. Making fun of one another. Coming home together on bikes. However, being a teenager is all about change. and sometimes letting go is the most difficult thing in life.
That's one thing that was so difficult for me when I was a teenager.
It is so sweet and sour. That sense of being able to know how something beautiful is impermanent.
I wanted to live better because of this movie. To quit waiting until the so-called right time. Not through time, but into the things which frighten me. Into the emotions that I was trying to escape. Into life itself.
Thumbnail is designed by me on pixelLab and other images are screenshot from the movie