072 The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (時をかける少女, 2006)

Through our discussion of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, we touch on stillness, accurate depictions of teenagers, beautiful sound design, the concept of ma, theorize ending meanings, and discover we may be anime people...

 

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (時をかける少女, Toki o Kakeru Shōjo) is a 2006 Japanese-animated science fiction romance film produced by Madhouse, directed by Mamoru Hosoda and written by Satoko Okudera. Released by Kadokawa Herald Pictures, the film is a loose sequel to the 1967 novel of the same name by Yasutaka Tsutsui and shares the basic premise of a young girl who gains the power of time travel and repeatedly relives the same day in a time loop, but with a different story and characters than the novel. Riisa Naka voices teenager Makoto Konno, who learns from Kazuko Yoshiyama, Makoto's aunt and the protagonist to the original story, that Makoto has the power to travel through time. Makoto begins using the time-leaps frivolously to fix problems.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was released on July 15, 2006 and received positive reviews. The film won numerous awards, including the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year. The English version was licensed and produced by Kadokawa Pictures U.S., with dubbing supplied by Ocean Productions, and released by Bandai Entertainment in 2008 and re-released by Funimation in 2016.