Product Details

• Directors: Mamoru Hosoda
• Format: Anamorphic, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English, Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Bandai Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: November 18, 2008
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (98 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001FXG1ZO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,241 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time scored a big hit in Japan in 2006, and has been eagerly awaited by American otaku. Makoto Konno regards herself as a normal high-school student. She's smart, but not brilliant; a little clumsy, but not a klutz; well-liked, but not a social star. Her favorite pastime is playing baseball with her best friends: handsome, studious Kosuke Tsuda and shaggy, offbeat Chiaki Mamiya. When Makoto nearly loses her life in a bicycle accident, she escapes by moving back through time. Her aunt tells her the talent isn't unusual in girls her age, and Makoto begins exploiting her ability. But her efforts to improve the present backfire, making school, friendship, and romance even more complicated and difficult--until she discovers a surprising secret about Chiaki. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo) has remained a popular property in Japan since Yasutaka Tsutsui's novel appeared in 1967: It's been filmed repeatedly in live action and adapted to a manga. Mamoru Hosoda's animated prequel to the original story blends warmth and fantasy in ways usually associated with Studio Ghibli films. The relationship Makoto, Kosuke, and Chiaki share is exceptionally well-drawn, and nicely balances the fantastic elements of the story. (Rated 13 and older: minor violence and risqué humor) --Charles Solomon

Product Description

Something strange has happened to Makoto Konno. Time has suddenly stopped and moved her backwards. With her newly discovered ability to literally leap backwards in time Makoto finds that tests become a piece of cake, embarrassing situations are corrected and she can have her favorite food anytime she wants. Unfortunately her carefree time traveling has adverse effects on the people she cares for. With every successful leap Makoto somehow alters the fate of those around her. This was not supposed to happen and as she races back in time to fix everything, she notices that her abilities are not limitless but with every successful jump she is one step closer to discovering the most wonderful secret in her young adult life.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

122 of 129 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Anime Achievement October 7, 2008

By chocolateislove

Format:DVD

I wasn't expecting much from this movie due to its weird title and what I felt was an awkward animation style. Plus I was an avid Hayao Miyazaki fan, and I did not believe any anime movie could overcome the feel-goodness of his movies in general. I was very wrong.

"The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" (or "Toki wa Kakeru Shoujo") is about a girl named Makoto Konno who, after a strange encounter in a lab after school discovers she has the power to "jump" through time. Literally.

Although it started off slow, the pace made the hackneyed concept of time jumping much more original. Not to mention the main characters were all extremely likable and realistic. I couldn't help but root for Makoto in whatever crazy things she wound up doing in the past. The things she went back to change were trivial things, like a test she failed, or when her friend Chiaki confessed to her. They are all things that ordinary, idiotic people like ourselves would do if we had that power. This story is only something the Japanese could come up with, and I commemorate director Mamoru Hosoda for blending mundane Japanese life with such a fantastical concept like time travel. It's warm, funny, and touching. That is, for the first half.

The second half of the film takes a hugely dramatic turn. It's almost mind-blowing in the way things played out. For spoiler fans, it has something to do with Chiaki (You know, the friend who confessed to her?). Anyways, I loved this shift in the plot, even though it lost some of its precious feel-good elements along the way. Makoto still managed to keep some humor in her crazy ventures, and her personality is not lost in the plot twist. Chiaki's transformation though, I'm still a bit iffy about.

I think this movie is way up there with Miyazaki's films. The perfect blend of fantasy and feel-goodness, along with some dry humor as well makes for an excellent film. I also felt myself warming up to the animation style as well, which was very contemporary, so I wasn't used to it, but I'm now completely in love with it. "Time waits for no one" so go watch this movie!

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless November 23, 2008

By Kellyannl

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

When I put The Girl Who Leapt Through Time into my DVD player, I expected a very good albeit light anime movie. What I got instead was an emotional experience which might be the most moving anime movie I've seen so far.

Makoto Konno is a slightly clumsy tomboy on the verge of the age right when teens start looking at the opposite sex differently whose priority is hanging out with her two best buddies - cheeky but endearing Chiaki Mamiya and evenheaded, gentlemanly Kosuke Tsuda. One day, her bicycle brakes won't work, and she finds herself about to be killed by crashing into a train passing her lane. Fortunately, a miracle occurs - and she finds herself having time-jumped backwards safe and sound.

After talking to her aunt, who had a similar experience, she experiments and finds that she can do it again, begining with small things like preventing the poaching of a snack by her sister. But when things start progressing to slightly more serious matters and she takes a series of jumps in a panic when she realizes that one of her best guys is about to say something to her privately that will take them to a place from which they can't come back that she isn't sure she's ready to go, things take a dark turn and spiral out of control - and she finds that this time, she might not be able to fix what she's done...

Part sci-fi with a neat twist that anyone who isn't familiar with the source material probably won't see coming and part teen drama with an achingly accurate depiction of that critical time in life and personal development, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a warm, poignant work that should be in the collection of any anime fan.

47 of 52 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless, Hilariously, Thought provoking and Tragic film! A Girl who Leapt through time! March 6, 2011

By V.P.

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

Synopsis
Something strange has happened to Makoto Konno. Time has suddenly stopped and moved her backwards.
With her newly discovered ability to literally leap backwards in time Makoto finds that tests become a piece of cake, embarrassing situations are corrected, and she can have her favorite food any time she wants. Unfortunately her carefree time travelling has adverse effects on the people she cares for.

With every successful leap Makoto somehow alters the fate of those around her. This wasn't supposed to happen and as she races back in time to fix everything, she notices that her abilities are not limitless but with every successful jump she's one step closer to discovering the most wonderful secret in year young adult life.

Review
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a rare gem in the haystack that is made up of modern Japanese animation, and I am certainly not the only one who thinks this way either. Having won multiple awards including "Animation of the Year" in 2007 from both the Tokyo Anime Fair and the Japan Academy Prize, there surely must be something special about this movie. It could be the writing. Our main protagonist Makoto is a typical teenager who is clumsy to a fault, lazy, and self-indulgent. At first she does not appear to be a likable character, abusing her ability to travel backwards in time for personal (and often petty) gain. But as she begins to learn that her powers are not infinite and that her actions have consequences, there comes a beautiful epiphany. The most admirable thing though was the way the writers were able to have Makoto's character develop and change seamlessly. It was both believable and heartwarming in the way it mirrors the emotional development of so many young people. Though the movie was ground-breaking, the release itself is quite flawed.

The feature encompasses multiple genres from romance to comedy, drama to Sci-fi fantasy. But none of it is forced and everything feels as though it belongs and is there for a purpose. As the viewer, the portrayal of time travel seemed completely feasible in the context of the feature. There is no ingenious piece of equipment or lengthy transformation sequence. Aside from a little embellishment, it just happens. It could also be the music. The soundtrack features beautiful piano melodies and even a bit of classical Bach. The soundtrack provides an understated accompaniment to what is nothing less than an engaging story which unfolds like a cherry blossom blooming. The majority of the soundtrack comes from the composition genius of one person, Kiyoshi Yoshida, which explains how one piece flows into another so seamlessly. It is after all much easier when one person writes a story from start to finish than when multiple people try to write different chapters and piece them together.

The understated charm continues into the art. There is no fancy detail in the clothing and no pink, lavender, or mint-colored hair on any characters' heads. Although human eyes (particularly that of people of Asian heritage) are not typically very round and do not occupy one-quarter of a person's face. The way the characters have been drawn and the way the world has been constructed in this feature has been one of the most true-to-life that I have so far had the opportunity to see. It could be this aspect of the feature which makes it so easy to watch and the characters so easy to relate to. High definition 1080p Blu-ray doesn't hurt either.

The Blu-ray release of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time includes on two disc, (One blu-ray disc for the movie and the extra feature's disc on dvd), bonus content including behind the scenes content, a music video of the theme song "Garnet" and a talk with the director of the feature Mamoru Hosoda to name a few. But it doesn't make much sense to pay extra for something that could of been all on one blu-ray disc. What should of been done to the release is a blu-ray/dvd combo pack with the extra features on the blu-ray disc alone and reduce the cost to $20 instead of $37 to make for a worth while purchase. There is no slip-case for the release.

Overall, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a must-see feature for anime fans. It is also a great introduction to the world of anime for the skeptics or uninitiated, and family-friendly too. I personally had the opportunity to see this feature before at Madman's Reel Anime event in 2008 but found it even more enjoyable the second time around. This is truly a great addition to any anime collection.