Review for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time: 2-Disc Collector's Edition (Review)
Wednesday, 11th August 2010, 17:59

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Extras
The discs come with animated menus, presented in an Amaray case with a hinged central panel for the second disc. The artcards were an HMV exclusive and aren't in the general release.

Disc 1 offers trailers for Origin, Triangle, Naruto the Movie 1, Buso Renkin and Mar.

You'll also find the audio commentary here with director Mamoru Hosoda, and voice actors Riisa Naka (Makoto), Takuya Ishida (Chiaki), and Mitsutaka Hakura (Kousuke). It's a nice, light, informative and anecdotal commentary, one that by the nature of its participants concentrates more on the ADR process and the actor's experiences in making the film. It's interesting to hear that for the actors, working on an animated movie means a 'shoot' of just four days.

On the second disc, you can watch the film all over again, this time as a Feature With Storyboards and Production Staff Commentary. The film plays in one large window, the storyboards are in a small window to the bottom right, and speaking on the film's production are director Hosoda, animation director Aoyama, and assistant director Ito. This is the more technical of the two commentaries, concentrating as it does on the film's production, but it's still kept light and amiable for the duration.

Behind The Scenes is a 34-minute interview between Mamoru Hosoda and writer Tsutomu Furukawa. It's a very useful examination of how the director works with reference to the appropriate scenes from the film.

The Premiere Event lasts 14 minutes, and allows the director, the voice cast and the theme song recording artist to introduce the film to a theatre full of anticipating fans.

You'll also find the preview and the theatrical trailer to The Girl Who Leapt Through Time on this disc.

Conclusion
I'm wavering between a verbose, burst of loquacity that offers a page or two of gushing appreciation, and an inarticulate squeal of joy that accurately represents how enthused I am about this film, but will make no sense to anyone reading it. I'll stick to the middle road and simply say this is still the best anime film I've seen since that screener disc fell on my doormat two years ago. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a perfect peach of a film that tells a charming story, with wonderful characters and with a magnificent imaginative scope. In some ways it's the most accessible sort of sci-fi, where the time travel is a device to tell a very human, heart-warming, comic and emotional story, with the emphasis on character growth.

I'm an inveterate proponent of the original language in anime, and this time I did get to enjoy the Japanese track and found it to be of top quality. Still, thinking back on that screener disc, I have to maintain that TGWLTT's English dub is spectacular. It's a sign of how far dubs have come since the bad old days of Manga Video. The English voice actors are perfectly cast for their roles, and they capture the emotional strength of the characters, the verisimilitude that the story requires without flaw. They carry the emotional weight of the film and watching it you simply forget that it's animated.

Which is something of a shame, as this has to be one of the best animations that I have seen recently. It's courtesy of Madhouse Studios of course, and they bring an attention to detail and realism to the anime that is simply astounding. The character designs are simple but memorable, and the character animation is detailed and expressive. Placed into the detailed backgrounds, the atmospheric visuals and singular vision of a small town at the height of summer, watching the film is a wholly relaxing experience. CG is used sparingly, or at least it only really becomes obvious during the time leap sequences, when an otherworldliness is appropriate. Otherwise the anime has a wholly traditional 2D feel that suits the story brilliantly, while being just as immersive and 'real' as any 3D animation.

As for the story… well I'm not going to tell you more than I already have. It's a film that deserves to be discovered for yourself. But I will tell you that it does what all the best films do; it runs you through the gamut of emotions in its brief run time. You'll be laughing out loud, cringing in embarrassment, your heart will be in your throat, it will have you in tears, and you'll be uplifted with joy. This is one enchanting family film that ought to be on every DVD shelf.

What is it with Mamoru Hosoda's films in the UK? It took almost a year for this two-disc edition to get a general release, and the Blu-ray of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time that was due this April has been pushed back again and again. It's now due at the end of 2010. His follow up film, Summer Wars, was quite appropriately scheduled for September, but delays in dubbing means that it will now be released in February 2011 at the earliest. Incidentally, Summer Wars is another film that I got to see in the cinema, and Hosoda's follow up feature is of similar high quality. It's another film that can't come to the UK soon enough.

Finally getting to see the retail release of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a treat, and yes, it does stand up well when compared to the theatrical presentation. It's the third time that I have seen the film, and not only is it just as good as before, I feel that it has improved with age, certainly I realise just how detailed and lifelike the animation is, how nifty the sound design is, but most of all, how the story is rich and emotionally resonant enough to be enhanced by repeated viewings. If you haven't seen this film yet, then this feature laden two-disc edition is definitely the way to go. It will tide you over until winter, when the Blu-ray release finally makes it to the UK.

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