They are not perfect, but since they are almost tone poems of emotion its okay. The tales are bitter sweet lovely and delicate. Part Two a girl in the boys new high school tries to attract his attention. Part one a boy goes to meet a girl who lies at the end of a long train ride. Three interconnected stories about love and loss and how some hearts change and some don't. These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles. If you are a fan of anime or animation in general this is a must see. The imagery is stunning it contains an incredible amount of detail including many reflective objects that I imagine would be a real challenge to create. One day the two of them pass as the walk over a level crossing Takaki turns to look as two trains pass will she be looking from the other side when the trains have passed? The story itself might not be deep but it is touching and beautifully told feeling far more real than most live action stories. The third story finds Takaki working in a job he doesn't particularly enjoy and still thinks of Akari although he has long since lost touch with her, meanwhile Akari is preparing to get married. The second story takes place a few years later and Takaki is his final year of high school, he isn't the star of this segment though that honour goes to Kanae a girl in his class who has fallen in love with him but can't bring herself to tell him how she feels. Much of the episode takes place as he is on the train which is getting further and further behind schedule because of the heavy snow. When her parents move she transfers to a school in a distant town it looks as if their friendship might be over but one day Takaki takes the train to visit her. In the first episode Takaki has formed a close friendship with Akari, a girl in his class. The film is broken up into three episodes each taking place at a slightly different time in the life of Takaki Tono. Having been impressed by Makoto Shinkai's earlier works and having heard good things about this I was keen to see it having finally watched it I must say that I was not disappointed! While it doesn't feature the science fiction elements of those stories it has a greater emotional depth and the backgrounds are absolutely stunning I can't think of any animation where they looked so good. Even though the film has some dubious messages for kids, I'd give this one a 7 for teenage girls, a 1 for adults and a 4 for teenage boys who will most likely want to punch Takaki and tell him to shape up! Now, with time, I find teens who talk like a dying, misunderstood poet to be annoying and hate that I can remember a bit of that in my teen self! All in all, a gorgeously animated film (better than many of the Ghibli films) but also one that has very, very limited appeal and rather annoying characters. It makes me cringe about that period in my own life.a period I would just as soon forget because I thought everything was so gosh-darned profound and important. Can their perfect, undying love stand the test of time and distance? Or, are they just two teens who need to let go and get on with their lives? The biggest problem with this film is the god-awful dialog. However, when he moves away, they promise to remain close and write to each other. She is a rather simpering and uncertain young lady and she is attracted to Takaki because he's a silent, brooding, poetic sort of guy (the sort of guy most adults would think is incredibly pretentious). The story is about a romance between two classmates, Akari and Takaki. For me, the film, though beautiful to look at, was very tough going. Therefore, my dislike of the film should be taken with a grain of salt, as I am a 53 year-old guy who likes anime movies, though I don't love ALL anime. I can only assume "5 Centimeters Per Second" was designed explicitly to teens and pre-teens.